I'm sure the people of Shackelford county are good, upright citizens, but they're also a bit trigger-happy when it comes to making 911 calls.
No fewer than four of them called the police about me today, oblivious of the fact that neither under state nor federal law is it an offence to walk along a road or push a stroller.
Still, dialling 911 was probably the most exciting thing they'd done for years, so who was I to deny them the simple pleasure of wasting the emergency services' time? I once called the fire brigade and told them my school was burning down, so I'm a fine one to talk.
When the fifth police car stopped by (he was just passing and making sure I was OK), my patience was wearing thin. Couldn't he put out a message to say stop harrassing this guy, he's trying to raise money for cancer and he's not doing anything wrong? So he very obligingly did.
When I went to the restaurant down the road for dinner, they asked if I was the guy who was doing the walk. I told them I was, and asked where they'd heard about me. On the radio, they said. Which radio? The police scanner, which everyone listens to round here. Then they told me that dinner was on the house. It was a good end to a frustrating day.