June 2010
198 posts
I saw a bird fly out of the under brush. It flew into traffic. The bird did not know where it was going. A motorcycle approached. The bird flew at the biker’s head. The biker ducked. The bird continued flying. It better understood where it was.
An ostrich tried to follow us. Dummy cart has a way of speaking to all things. All beings love him. At first I think I mistook his simple manner for a lack of intellect. I think I finally understand him. It only took me a thousand miles. I think I’m going to stop calling him ‘dummy’. I’m not sure what I’ll call him instead. I asked him. He shrugged. Five minutes have...
Veronica, Pete, and Peter were on their way to Barstow to buy an air conditioner. Pete said, “i saw you walking in Odessa on the way to work a few days ago.” Peter didn’t say anything. He is a dog. Veronica said, “We didn’t know his name was Peter until after we got him.” Pete said, “He’s like a damn human.” I asked if they knew the television...
Jesse Nunez is a security guard at a closed youth correctional facility in Pyote Texas. He found me washing a shirt near the main entrance. He said, “They’ll lock you up if they find you here.” He took me to a park. He said, “No one will fuck with you here and if they do. There’s a sheriff. This large black guy with a handle-bar mustache. If anyone fucks with you just...
I’m lost somewhere in Midessa, the stretch between one and another. Midland is gone. I’m still not 100% sur Odessa exists. I’ve read books about it. I’ve watched movies and tv shows based on it but it still feels madeup. Even the google maps image of Odessa doesn’t feel real.
Never sleep in a well-groomed public park
Last night when the day was winding down I stopped at a public park in Midland. There were picnic tables and a playground. I enjoyed a nice dinner and when the sun went down I changed and went to sleep. The care of a well-groomed public does not end at the fall of light though. Around 11:30 the sprinklers came on and I began to get wet. Luckily, nothing but the clothes I had worn that day and my...
Last night I settled down in the parking lot of the department of public safety beyond Big Spring. I had tended my wounds and was eating some dinner when a highway patrolman pullled into the parking lot. He had a lip of tobacco. He said I would have to move along. He said there was a picnic area five miles up the road. I began walking. For the first time I could hear rattlesnakes. Both sides of...
The Baumer Family reunion officially ended yesterday. Momtown and Dadtown found me on the road around ten and brought me some donuts. They’re now on their own roads. Dummy and I are back to ours. It was sad to see them go. The journey on west would have been an easy one if they kept following, bringing me lunch and donuts every day, but that wouldn’t have been the road. It would have...
I slept in old gasoline last night
There was a car for sale under the same awning where I slept. None of the gas pumps worked. There is nothing more beautiful in America than dead gas stations. An old camper had been gutted. The sun rose in my left ear. It started with birds chrping and faded into an eastern red. Somewhere inside today there is a Big Spring. I will sip from it.
Today was spent walking with dadtown and momtown. They drove down from Maine so we could be together as a family on the dad holiday. Dadtown decided to walk in the morning with me. Before we left we ate the continental breakfast. I ate everything twice. Dadtown had oatmeal. The night before he said, “I want to get white pants so we match.” I told him there is only one astronaut. He wore gym...