The Black Bean

We almost ran out of gas today. At a non-descript station somewhere in Idaho we fill up and breathe a sigh of relief. 21 gallons and sixty some dollars later Brian decides to check the oil. He comes back to the door all flustered, “I can’t check the oil because something fell all over it!” He grabs a rag and slams the door. Jes, Benja and I look at each other. Benja, still half asleep, tries to decide if it sounds serious enough to warrant venturing out from under his blanket. “Will you guys see what he’s talking about?” Jes and I jump out. Turns out something resembling a black inflated bean has broken loose from the engine compartment and is hanging limply from a cluster of wires. Brian thinks it’s important, so we decide we have to do something about it. Unfortunately I don’t have the proper size bolt, so we dig around for something comparable. Brian’s sleeping pad is tied up with a piece of insulated wire salvaged from the internet connections he had torn out of the relief center in St. Bernard. I trade him for a piece of twine and he gets to work. Gee, we sure are creative! One quick-fix later we are on the road to Spokane, and all seems well. “That being said, we should stop by a hardware store,” says Brian, always the pragmatist. Thank goodness for Brioscorea! -Valisa