Sunday. April 28th. 2013. “Eggs… eggs… taste so good without their legs!” AJ sings. Four of them sizzle in a frying pan along with hot dogs. I peel the silver seal off a can and the scent of coffee wafts up. A knife scrapes against toast. The coffee machine gurgles and pops. “The world’s largest [...]
Having found some great little niches for ourselves, we spent a second week in Quincy, Illinois. We’re still staying with the librarian Kathy and spending most of our time with her renter, the student artist AJ.
Saturday. April 27th. 2013. The crooked clang of tin raindrops. My uterus clamping down on itself like a crinkled sandwich wrapper, forcing out horrible farts. My day is going to feel like swimming in a garbage sack full of the last sips of a million Pabst Blue Ribbons. Change your perspective. You feel how you [...]
Friday. April 26th. 2013. The Quincy post office doubles as a nuclear fallout shelter. An aggressive wind blows my tattoos off as Garth and I walk toward the thick, broad-shouldered stone structure. Our friend, Tom, sent us a copy of Mark Twain’s Mississippi River travelogues all the way from Ecuador. He’s trying to get [...]
Thursday. April 25th. 2013. “Good morning,” Aunt Beck says softly. “I’m making an omelette if you’d like to come have some. We’ve got to get on the road soon.” She was offered a caretaker job and must start tonight. The drive back to her home in Arkansas is 9 hours. After we finish the mushroom, broccoli and [...]
Wednesday. April 24th. 2013. The sunny kitchen smells of Yerba Mate and Rosemary Tea. Aunt Beck gives me a huge hug and goes back to singing songs in her nightgown. Charlie sits at the table, smiling quietly. “Do you have a can opener?” AJ asks me. “I took ours to the studio and forgot to [...]
Tuesday. April 23rd. 2013. “Oh, good! You’re still here!”Kathy says, as Garth and I emerge from AJ’s room. “I saw your things were packed and gone!” “We moved into AJ’s room so you can have your living room back,” Garth explains. “You know, there’s a double bed down in the basement that you’re welcome to [...]
Monday. April 22nd. 2013. Snip. Sniiip. Sniiiiip. Garth’s hair is incredibly thick, but my little scissors eventually make it thru, leaving us with a 17-inch long ponytail, rubber-banded and ready to ship. The coif he’s been growing out since 2009 is about to be auctioned off on Eaby. His now chin-length hair starts to curl [...]
Sunday. April 21st. 2013. The painting has changed. AJ worked on it until 6am last night. It looks beautiful and balanced and a lot of my favorite bits still shine thru, but a wave of depression and disconnect washed over me when I look at it. I’m not completely sure my mood has to do [...]
Saturday. April 20th. 2013. I turn on the water, wash little rolled-up balls of dead skin down the drain. The fungal infection on my foot is healing. The scar tissue stretches and peels like chewed Laffy Taffy. It doesn’t hurt at all anymore. Garth and I go to McDonald’s to drink coffee and use the [...]