But night would come and with it the mountain moon and the lake would be moon - laned and I'd go out and sit in the grass and meditate facing west, wishing there were a Personal God in all this impersonal matter.

I looked up at the dark sky and prayed to God for a better break in life and a better chance to do something for the little people I loved.

It was my dream that screwed up, the stupid hearthside idea that it would be wonderful to follow one great red line across America instead of trying various roads and routes.

Life must be rich and full of loving--it's no good otherwise, no good at all, for anyone.

My witness is the empty sky.

It made me think that everything was about to arrive - the moment when you know all and everything is decided forever.

This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do.