So over here, I did the brain dump of the last trip I took, to Colorado to visit my folks and do the high school reunion thing.
Since I have become my father, who is punctual to a fault, I was, unsurprisingly, the first to arrive at the brewpub for the 4-way meeting with J, my official BFF, and T and P, all of whom were high school friends. T and P were unable to attend the actual reunion for various reasons, but were in town and wanted to get together, so we did, the night before the actual reunion started. P brought his new wife along. She took a picture (I must ping him for a copy), followed some of what we were saying, and then tuned out in favor of women's gymnastics on the telly.
I have no clear idea of P's politics; he works at Los Alamos, which might say something (or might not). J is extremely conservative, and engages in the culture wars, posting cheap shots (and links to the late lamented National Review) on facebook. Occasionally T comments there as well, along the same lines. He spent time in the Navy (as did I), and he's still a defense contractor.
So here I was, standing on the sidewalk outside the Rock Bottom, thinking of strategies to avoid political discussion. Which, as it happens, was unneeded, there being too much important catching up to do. But it occurred to me that I was happy with where I've ended up, on the political ideology scale.
This word happy is not one I've applied to myself at all, in quite some time.
And I'm not sure if it was having actual responsibilities to other people, as opposed to being expected to sit and think grand thoughts, but, kind of suddenly and kind of surprisingly, I'm feeling sane.
I missed my mind.
One other remark about the reunion thing. I spent Saturday with friend C, who had moved in across the street when I was in first grade. 50+ years ago now. The tie-dye t-shirt I was wearing was seriously worn out; I like bright colors, and hey, Boulder was the Hippy capital of the free world in the 1960s, so what better place...
We wandered up and down the Pearl Street Mall (it was an actual street when I was a kid, but there are no cars there now). The shops there are mostly catering to tourists; there's a book store, lots of coffee shops, art galleries, and clothing stores. One, whose main product seemed to be toys and kites, seemed promising, but no. However, the woman behind the counter recommended a shop. Most of the clothing stores had a rack outside the door of brightly colored, often tie-dyed, women's clothing. C made a point, whenever my eye wandered, of saying it wasn't really me, whatever it was I was admiring. It seemed kind of gender-cop-like.
But I think my failure to engage on his admiration of female classmates and (much younger) Pearl Street Girls more or less convinced him I'm queer, in some undefined way.
Anyway. I should ride my bike some before it gets dark. The purchase price included a tune-up within 90 days, to readjust after the cables stretch a bit; make sure the seat is the right height, etc. I'll also buy some lights, since the sun's going down noticeably earlier nowadays.
Since I have become my father, who is punctual to a fault, I was, unsurprisingly, the first to arrive at the brewpub for the 4-way meeting with J, my official BFF, and T and P, all of whom were high school friends. T and P were unable to attend the actual reunion for various reasons, but were in town and wanted to get together, so we did, the night before the actual reunion started. P brought his new wife along. She took a picture (I must ping him for a copy), followed some of what we were saying, and then tuned out in favor of women's gymnastics on the telly.
I have no clear idea of P's politics; he works at Los Alamos, which might say something (or might not). J is extremely conservative, and engages in the culture wars, posting cheap shots (and links to the late lamented National Review) on facebook. Occasionally T comments there as well, along the same lines. He spent time in the Navy (as did I), and he's still a defense contractor.
So here I was, standing on the sidewalk outside the Rock Bottom, thinking of strategies to avoid political discussion. Which, as it happens, was unneeded, there being too much important catching up to do. But it occurred to me that I was happy with where I've ended up, on the political ideology scale.
This word happy is not one I've applied to myself at all, in quite some time.
And I'm not sure if it was having actual responsibilities to other people, as opposed to being expected to sit and think grand thoughts, but, kind of suddenly and kind of surprisingly, I'm feeling sane.
I missed my mind.
One other remark about the reunion thing. I spent Saturday with friend C, who had moved in across the street when I was in first grade. 50+ years ago now. The tie-dye t-shirt I was wearing was seriously worn out; I like bright colors, and hey, Boulder was the Hippy capital of the free world in the 1960s, so what better place...
We wandered up and down the Pearl Street Mall (it was an actual street when I was a kid, but there are no cars there now). The shops there are mostly catering to tourists; there's a book store, lots of coffee shops, art galleries, and clothing stores. One, whose main product seemed to be toys and kites, seemed promising, but no. However, the woman behind the counter recommended a shop. Most of the clothing stores had a rack outside the door of brightly colored, often tie-dyed, women's clothing. C made a point, whenever my eye wandered, of saying it wasn't really me, whatever it was I was admiring. It seemed kind of gender-cop-like.
But I think my failure to engage on his admiration of female classmates and (much younger) Pearl Street Girls more or less convinced him I'm queer, in some undefined way.
Anyway. I should ride my bike some before it gets dark. The purchase price included a tune-up within 90 days, to readjust after the cables stretch a bit; make sure the seat is the right height, etc. I'll also buy some lights, since the sun's going down noticeably earlier nowadays.
| < This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us | Back on tour, one two three > |
