July 2012
As you can imagine we have been absorbed in the British Open for the last four days.
We decided to come into town Saturday night so that we could have room service this morning. It was a very wise move. We were up at 5am and enjoyed the luxury of having breakfast delivered without missing any of the golf.
She drove her car so she hurried off to church while I headed to the mountains in my truck.
There is a watermelon on ice in the bed and I intend to soak until late tonight. The hot water is great for my legs.
I danced the ghost dance in the warm pool. The buoyancy of the water relieves the pressure and pain from my knees, allowing me to move gracefully and laterally.
It reminds me of who I once was, and what my body did. When my mind clears, I reflect on the fact that not far from here on the side of a lake they danced the first ghost dance - in a time now gone.
It is quiet in the mountains with the occasional hawk leisurely patrolling his realm. I drift off to thoughts about her yard.
I have been working hard to repair the damage done to The Lady’s lawn. The irrigation system had been chewed in a bunch of places and as a result I have had to resod large portions of the lawn.
It is not that hard to understand, with it being so dry all the animals can smell the water, so I built them a little ground level drinking fountain with stone and a two foot bowl.
Hopefully they will drink here and not chew my repaired 5/8” plastic water feed line. Already we have seen a family of quail with the little fuzzballs swimming in the fountain while the male watched for hawks. There are tons of rabbits around her property but I have yet to see them drink.
Last week we heard the coyotes playing near our window in the night and we found a disemboweled rabbit in the back yard one morning as a little gift.
She borders the BLM land and it is beautiful up on the hillside overlooking the world with all the high desert wildlife and the city lights.
It has become a bit of a habit of mine to drive back early in the morning with a cup of 7-11 coffee and a nice Maduro to enjoy the trip.
Summer is moving along and I continue to jam all the life possible into each day. I hate everything about winter and dread the thought of the coming darkness.
Winter - Chicago Rail Yards
The Lost Years
I had found a nice boxcar in the middle of the boxcar graveyard. The graveyard lay below Soldier Field in a maze of tracks that stretched forever.
I understand that the area has been gentrified and that the Mayor now lives on my old turf - strange how it goes.
But it was a nice boxcar with a door that worked and new wood inside. I could lock the car/home in the day and unlock it at night - a very sweet deal.
Because there was no water near, I had to cross the freeway on the overpass for the rail line to get water at Soldier Field. Not that I drank too much water in those days but occasionally.
Normally I would stop at the corner, pick up a six pack and a chicken wing dinner then head thru the yard to home.
Because I threw my chicken wing bones out the door there started to be a regular zoo of critters stopping by at night to see what was on the menu.
One night I had a couple of gallons of water so I put out a small bowl of water and changed the world.
From then on it was a family of possums, a pair of pheasants, numerous critters and the largest raccoon I had ever seen visiting the local watering hole.
The raccoon would crunch the chicken bones with the most frightening sound I can describe. It was clear that he could eat your hand with no problem whatsoever.
One day on my trip back from soldier field I saw the raccoon dead in the freeway. Both sad and foreboding.
But the winter ended and I survived. One day the weeds were covered with spider webs and then in a remarkable dance of timing, a few days later the insects appeared.
I moved on - but the memory of the animals visiting the watering bowl at night in the rail yard will always remain.
As will the number $19.10. That is what you earned for a day’s labor from the labor pool. You got a $3.00 draw in the morning for bus fare or lunch or perhaps a nice 16oz. cold beverage.
And it was plenty.