Across the water, a skyline of trees. The sunset makes rainbows in the river. There is a highway somewhere out there. The traffic noise fades with dying light. To live in such beauty and still be miserable. My soul is truly broken.
In the morning the sun will return. If I sleep I will greet it with hope. If not, acceptance of another day of not living up to expectations. One of these days the big switch in my head will click and all will be well. I will go forth and fulfill me destiny.
My favorite time of night. The bars are just shut and all the happy/horny couples head for bed. Groups of failed hook-ups laugh off their failure as they wait for the bus. Then, there he is, the lonely loser walking home alone. No one will ever miss him.
His fancy shoes clip clop unsteadily down the empty sidewalk. My sneakers squish in the last remnants of the earlier rain, but he’s to drunk to hear or care.
Then I curse myself. A nearly silent electric car passes me and slows near my meat. He stumbles in. God, I hate Uber!
Her face looked like carved marble but was soft as cotton. My pursuit of her was pure folly. She wasn’t just out of my league, she was playing a completely different game.
I was drunk and barely coherent when I saw her at the bar, sitting alone, and went over to ask her out. It took a couple tries before she understand what I was trying to say. She took my phone out of my pocket and entered her number.
My friends tried to convince me to wait to call her. I ignored them. We went to dinner that night.
Checkout time is 11AM. Pat was the first one awake, at 10:20AM. Rush, rush, rush. We were only a few minutes late out the gate, but now we’re all exhausted.
We stopped at a WalMart which turned out to be in New Jersey. The problem with that is they charge you $6.50 to leave New Jersey. Cause nobody would pay to get in.
9/26/19 – Fixins
I fixed a couple things around the RV today. Got some errands done online. Pat did some cleaning. It’s not all fun and games in the big yellow truck.
9/27/19 – Amish Country
We’re in New Holland PA. Just east of Intercourse. We saw buggies and honor-system produce stands and lots of hefty women in long skirts doing yard work. And big horses. Like, can pull down a barn all by themselves big.
Because of the nice weather the campground is full and we are stuck on the back lot which can only be reached by going the wrong way down a one way street. No cable or wifi on the back forty, just drainage ditches and darkness.
9/28/19 – Black Vultures
Walking Abigail in the woods today we were swooped upon by what I thought were giant crows or ravens. We weren’t being attacked. They just wanted to scare us away. Turns out the birds were black vultures. They have five foot wingspans and tiny heads. A bit smaller than turkey vultures but way cooler-looking.
9/29/19 – Intercourse
We drove through Intercourse PA today. My inner teenager insisted.
9/30/19 – Yo Yo Weather
We are in a strange place. Rather than a continuous temperature arc, it wanders up and down all day and night. Dress in layers, y’all.
10/1/19 – October
The summer is gone. The month of my birth is here. We are in Delaware. Not far from where the rest of my family had a get-together last year. I couldn’t make it then. Bad timing.
Seriously, we are at the Sodom Mountain Campground. Pat has yet to turn into a pillar of salt. That means a lot to me.
I tried climbing the mountain but only made it about half way up. Above that the trails were too steep and loose rocky for me.
Next stop Gomorrah Valley?
9/20/19 – Hopewell Junction
Hopewell Junction is not a town. It is a “hamlet” within the town of East Fishkill, which is of course, just east of Fishkill New York.
9/21/19 – Writing Day
Got a whole bunch of writing done today. Perfect day for a bike ride but no safe roads around.
Pat is making pumpkins.
Abigail complains that we aren’t feeding her enough but the vet says she’s a good weight.
I’ve been sitting in this chair for too long.
9/22/19 – Pennsylvania
We are in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. No two people pronounce it the same. When you point that out they all say that they pronounce it correctly and the other people must be from New Jersey. New Jersey is two miles away.
The woman checking people in at the campground is extremely bored and makes jokes to pass the time. The old couple in front of me were not amused. She was so happy when I joked back.
9/23/19 – Bonking
Went for a long bike ride today. Too long. I had to change my route due to poor road conditions. This happened a couple times and added many miles to my trip. Oh yeah, 90 degrees. In addition the hills were again much larger than Google Maps suggested.
I finally got to the bike trail I was aiming for and it was wonderfully flat. For the first five miles. Then it was a nightmare of impossibly steep hills with horrible surface. The trail was dirt, covered by gravel, covered by moss, covered by rotting leaves.
When I got back to the paved road it leveled out a bit, but I was so worn out it took me over an hour to go the last five miles. Such fun.
9/24/19 – Rest Day
Took a day off to nap and do nothing.
PIX
Ice cream truck in a childless campground
Someone ignored the no grills on the wooden table rule
The torrential pain swept across her body. She did not scream. There were no tears. A slight tremor. The ghost of a wince. She sipped her tea and contemplated her cards. Her cardmates gossiped on, unaware.
Later, back in her room, she takes three of the gray pills her nephew sends her from Mexico. She drowns them down with the vodka her neighbor with the limp leaves in her milk box every Sunday Morning. She leaves money for him but he never takes it.
Nobody else knows what has become of their former mayor. Praying for death. Weeping for relief.
She stood beneath the neon clock waiting for him. I knew it was a him. It’s always a him and that’s where they always wait.
Judging from her amazing looks I imagined that he would be her equal. She was elegant and angular. Maybe he would be the same. Or maybe he would be round in contrast. Kind of like me, but dressed better.
I never found out. He never came. At twenty past the hour she gave up and left. It wasn’t till she was gone that I thought maybe she was waiting for me. I need better clothes.
