Sunday, June 26, 2011

Day Thirty

I woke up in my wildlife park quite uneaten by bears. I had not been stomped on by a moose nor kicked by a frightened deer. A turkey, I prefer to believe, stood right outside my tent and muttered threats, but I just ignored him. You wouldn't want to mess with one of these fellows. They look like emus. I have never been closer than one hundred yards or so, but you can tell they're just huge. They bully the other birds mercilessly and walk everywhere they go.

I enjoyed another leisurely day. I let the hole in my foot set the pace. It is not the largest wound you will ever see but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. It is remarkably deep. I think it reahes to my soul. It is right on the back of my left heel and even when it is behaving it makes me walk rather flat footed on that side which eventually makes the opposite knee unhappy. It sort of zigzags its way up my spine.

You see, it all has to do with that the-thigh-bone-is-connected-to-the-knee-bone jazz. I ain't sure of the physics of it. I just know that if you get one little toe out of line you wind up aching all over. So I barely walked today. And I spent a lot of time staring at the lake. And the sky. And eating desserts made from huckleberries.

I did eventually reach Hope and East Hope, where I stopped at an art gallery cafe and had a lovely bowl of soup. I ain't a big soup eater, as a rule, but it was really good. It had garbanzos in it which is in keeping with my theory that more foods should have garbanzos in them. And there were mushrooms and it was subtly flavored; you could taste each individual vegetable. I also had spinach quiche. And a sandwich. It was all the kind of food I imagine rich people eat. In California.

After lunch I re-bandaged my feet and admired the artwork. I am afraid most of it failed to move me. Then the writer's workshop people came in and we all sipped wine and heard them perform vignettes from their play writing class. It was all very sophistcated. I was in an arists' colony.

Now I suppose I have as much right as anyone to call myself an artist. I have conceived and created and bled. These very sentences came at a cost. And I've always liked the idea of being surrounded by people similarly engaged, who understood the pain of creation. But think I am doomed to solitude. I just have too much to say.

Everyone was nice to me and our charming hostess turned me on to a great campsite. I am as far from the highway as I've ever been, though I am reassured by the odd passing car. I am on a sort of river delta, on what is pretty much an island. It is the Panhandle Wildlife Management Area. I can hear an owl and a great many frogs. Earlier I saw an eagle.

On the way in I met three dudes riding vintage BMW motorcycles. I mean really riding them; these things were beat to crap. Nice looking bikes, though. I wish I had one. I also had a long talk with three fisherman about parole hearings and court-ordered substance abuse counselling. You learn things out here, you do.

Later their friend came. He had a Roman nose. Not like you'd see on coins, exactly. It was a lesser Roman nose. Perhaps broken. Like one of those Romans who came in and cleaned up the coliseum after the lions were through with the Christians. Anyway, he was a bear hunter and told me that if I didn't move my tent I could be eaten by a cougar. Apparently I was on the exact sort of spot where cougars most like to eat people.

I moved my tent. And now I have cougars to add to my list of scary scary animals. You learn things out here.
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3 comments:

  1. Forgive me James, I'm gettin old and slow and you are a gracious being...for pointing out the obvious in your subtle hints, such kindness goes unseen...but I saw the light. My stupid query about how you knew a diver when you saw one... in a flash of sudden understanding I saw the obvious, the thing that in your compassion for your friend you could not mention - Huckleberry fins.

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  2. Take time to heal your wounds can you?

    Although we haven't met I can't help being honestly concerned. I'd ike to see who could provide the best "the very best walking shoe" that is breathable to help the healing begin.

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  3. If you must continue....then....

    I put my right hand in,
    I put my right hand out,
    In out, shake it all about. repeat with your feet then do the hokey pokey and shake it thats what it's all about.
    Our feet are our soul support.

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