Julie

Mother always called
those two weeks
her vacation from cooking,
since we ate all 3 meals out;

that two week trip,
usually educational
to Gettysburg or DC,
tromping through museums.

I think mother felt it was
her job to expose me
to history, to walk the halls
and battlefields of the past.

Father was more interested
in the diners, out-of-the-way
greasy spoons that served up
eggs over easy and bacon,

or swimming in each motel
pool, doing cannonballs
to splash mother, who sat dry
in a chair, objecting loudly.

All day riding in the car,
map spread out, I was official
navigator – father passed on
his love of maps to me;

I researched the Triple A book
for motels, those with pools
is all he would consider, how else
could he splash my mother?