Homeless - 28

Good day to all,


Well, it seems that I'm not quite the ghost that I envisioned myself to be; an individual that comes and goes as silently and stealthily as a whispering breeze, a fleeting shadow that leaves no trace or sign of arrival or departure, no trail or track to betray my existence, comforting aromas of honeysuckle and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies permeating the air where I pause, causing others to ask "Who was that masked man"? It's not that I think people in general are a bunch of dumb asses; rather I take into account the average person's lack of attention to detail. To illustrate, answer the following questions. What did your significant other wear to work two days ago assuming that no uniform is involved? If you don't have a SO and assuming that uniform footwear is not required (i.e. steel-toed boots) what type of shoes did your boss wear yesterday? If you do have a SO and workplace uniform attire is required, which talon does our national symbol the eagle hold the arrows in?


Last Wednesday night around 1 AM, I was sitting in the truck doing a USA Today crossword by the light in the parking lot. The night was muggy and too warm to rest. I was going to a place that had AC for a couple of hours of sleep after I finished the crossword. I had eaten light that day, a banana and some crackers, anticipating an uncomfortable night and I can endure the stress better on an empty stomach in those conditions. The lot was empty except for a couple of parked vehicles and there had been a few that had taken a shortcut through to avoid the traffic light. It was at that time that a vehicle pulled in and approached my position. I thought "oh, boy..." - I had written before of late night visitors and thought that this was another one. The vehicle pulled up and I recognized the driver. She was one of the the two ladies that I'd had written about in previous posts that were kind to me and generous with their food and drink and, yes, the authors of those insidiously devastating Jello shots. She asked me what I was doing and I knew by the glint in her eyes that she had put it together about my circumstances. I replied that I was doing a crossword and she told me I was a terrible liar. Anyway, she persuaded me to sleep on their crouton since it was too hot. I didn't take much convincing since I was standing there in shorts, sweating, tired and feeling yucky. I followed her to their apartment where her roommate had prepared the crouton and warmed up a few bites to eat. I showered (we'll get to that shortly) and we talked while I had a few bites of lasagna. All went to bed and I stretched out on the clean sheets that covered a much softer pallet (we'll get to that shortly also) that what I was used to and it seemed my entire, freshly showered, non-chlorine scented body sighed in relief and was asleep in a couple of minutes. I slept for almost four hours but that was the most restorative rest that I experienced in some time. In the morning I thanked my benefactors and departed with a lunch that one of them had packed for me which was much enjoyed at the quiet pool several hours later at lunch time. I was invited to stay again on Thursday night and accepted, getting nearly eight hours of deep sleep. I left early the following morning, again with a packed lunch that I enjoyed Friday and Saturday. Both lunches contained significant quantities of fruit and veggies that, in my mind, haven't been getting enough of lately and had the odd thought of being afflicted with that bane of ancient sailors, scurvy.


Now, let's touch on those showers. By the way, her bathroom was clean, almost as clean as I kept mine though the bottom of her tub was slicker than snail snot. I've already shared with you about that particular aspect of my usual hygiene care. I used her body wash, shampoo and hair conditioner which didn't have the most masculine aroma but I liked it and was a most welcome departure from the chlorine scented concoction that is publicly provided that I've been using. I had to do something with the shampoo that I've done never before - lather, rinse and repeat. I had thought that the shampoo and hot tub water were doing a good job but not so, buckwheat. It's enough to get by on but the difference has been readily apparent since then. My hair has gotten longer during this stage of existence, so much so that I'm having to tuck it behind my ears to represent a vague semblance of order - it hasn't been this long since the disco days. Usually, during the course of a day I wet it slightly to keep it in place and it usually stays like that even when there is a light breeze but not since that traditional cleansing. It's being blown everywhere and even getting into my eyes. Yes, I need a haircut but am unwilling to allocate funds to that end and I've made my feelings clear of a do-it-yourselfer or going Britney. Another thing about the hair; I may have mentioned that I have grey; in fact a lot of it. Grey seems to easily reflect environmental contaminants such as smog, sun, chlorine and whatever else that is in pool water and becomes slightly discolored. When I was a home-with person, I brought a product that addressed that issue quite handily but now finances and priorities have been altered. I was trying to think of a low tech solution (read cheap) when the thought of baking soda came to me. I checked Heloise.com for that topic and found some information that if you mix a bit of baking soda with shampoo, it will do the trick. I'll let you know. After viewing all the reported uses at that website, I have no doubt that MacGyver had a number of occasions to employ such a versatile product at times through his career. And, yes, there is at least one guy that accesses that website.


Now let's touch upon my sleeping arrangements. As you know, I'm currently quartering in...quarters that represent a significant reduction of area that I enjoyed before the lifestyle change that included a king-sized bed for over two decades. Upon unfolding out of the truck in the morning, I was experiencing an unaccustomed stiffness that took a couple of minutes to work out by stretching and walking a bit. I had the concern that perhaps age was a significant factor for this new wrinkle of existence though I'm not that old. Not so, Maynard! After each night's sleep on the cruton, I awoke without that pronounced joint stiffness. So if you're experiencing similar symptoms, I would suggest that you check what you're sleeping on. Maybe a new mattress is in order...or a new sleeping partner depending on how volatile their sleep movements are...or maybe a new house but good luck on that these days. With what's going on with the mortgage industry, any of your offspring that was born late will reflect negatively on your credit report.


And now I'm going to stray to the arena of non-linear. I'm writing this under a light in the parking lot of the small strip mall whose 7-11 is closed due to some remodeling, the same lot where she discovered me three nights ago and came to that particular realization about me. She told me that night that she uses another route home but for some reason she took this particular way. She also shared with me that she saw me several days ago in the early morning in another parking lot during her morning commute and wondered what was going on. Some would label the situation chance or from my point of view, luck...but not me, not anymore. Words like 'luck', 'chance', 'impossible', and certainty' have a much reduced value and appropriateness to me almost to the point of being invalid concepts, meanings that have no realistic parallel beyond the boundaries of the intellect. If there hadn't been 'numerous complaints' that forced me to relocate to another night time position, would she have discovered me in that other location and came to know about me? Human beings are creatures of habit. Why was her normal route deflected to my location at that time? Did the spirit of the universe intervene to allow me the opportunity for quality rest or was it preordained? Did the spirit decide that her and her roommate's destiny cross mine in this manner and for what purpose? Does every decision, no matter how small, contain the potential for downstream consequences that far exceeds the perceived significance of the original act? For example, taking a few seconds to hold open the door for someone who is laden with packages allows that person to gain that amount of time in their schedule that alters the result at a traffic light interaction that may affect the vehicle that is following enabling it to wait so that it avoids a possibly fatal accident down the road. Viewing such a chain of events through the template of rationality, one arrives at the usual intellectual conclusion concerning the objective relationship of variables in our daily world but viewed without the analytical aspect of our perception yields a subjective reverberation of another type of pattern of interconnectivity that has a different flavor, one that exists beyond the boundaries of the linear thinking process. Maybe this subjective assessment is an aspect of human intuition...


I'm a structured type of guy. I make plans and I expect everything to go by the numbers with little to no deviation. None of this ad lib stuff. Maybe that is an attribute that I brought to my previous profession or maybe it was fostered within me during the course of the years of college education. So when I'm confronted with circumstances like these, I pause to consider the lack of rhyme or reason in the structure of the situation and it seems that I've been noticing them more of late. Perhaps it's because that my mind is not so cluttered with thoughts of the normal concerns of an urbanite.


Questions without logical answers, situations that cause wonder about purpose and goals and destiny, events that alter your normal way of thinking and behaving leading to another type of outlook ...


I've reread what I've written above and it sounds like I had one too many bong hits of some Hawaiian pot, the pakalola stuff. I haven't done that since the disco days either. I had a T-shirt long ago that was brought back for me that had an image of an elephant stampeding through the jungle with a large batch of greenery clutched in his trunk and a determined gleam in his eyes and I assure you that the greenery was not vegetation from the plains of the savanna. The flora also went by the name of 'elephant weed' which, after the initial introduction, I found the term quite apt. Anyway, that particular type of pot is some kind of potent stuff, believe you me. It will knock your genitalia down to the dirt, I'm talking about right down to the bedrock, baby. If you ever get the chance while you're in Amsterdam sipping some 'turbo' coffee...


Well, it is nearly 11 PM, the night is pleasant for a much welcome relief, the air is drier and there is a southerly breeze that is strong at times, enough to ruffle my hair. I was going to work out tonight but it seemed that I how I spent it, writing this, was more satisfactory. I feel a pleasant tiredness and am looking forward to some sleep. It's been a good day and I'm content with outcome.



Hopefully, the spirit is not setting me for an abrupt contract termination.


David


P.S.

I know the couch is called a fruiton, you dumb ass....