Monday, September 15, 2008

At the library.

This library is my living room. I sit here for hours in a comfortable chair, and let all my my electronics charge up.  Each one of the nine comfortable chairs is located near an outlet.  Each comfortable chair is grouped with two other chairs in front of an enormous picture window that looks out over a small mountain with sparse tree coverage.  The window has coverage all the way from floor to tall ceiling.  The large grassy mountain located directly ahead has huge shadows moving slowly across on a day with clouds.  My perch here is unparalleled in excellence. This is, by far, the best public library setup I have ever seen.
I’m sitting here in this chair with my headphones on. I’m watching It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and I’m still slightly feeling the effects of the psychedelic mushrooms that I ate up on the mountain hours ago with ramen noodles and tomato sauce.
I had a good time up on the mountain.  I had a large portion of mushrooms that I had obtained using the barter system.  I gave some traveling kids a large bud of excellent marijuana, and they traded me these shrooms.  We traded our drugs like they were made out of Pokemon cards.  I drank a huge push-button cappuccino and we talked about sugar beets, and my upcoming fortune.  We talked about where we sleep.  I have a palace, they use the park.
My parking spot up on the mountain provided solitude and an excellent view of the valley.  Moss-covered pine trees provided the shade for my private piece of the slope. I didn’t know if it was a good idea to eat all those shrooms. I didn’t know how much was there, so I ate them all, just to be sure. Things were definitely strange, but everything remained under control. In fact, everything seemed pretty normal in a certain slightly twisted way. Things did not get visually strange, beyond a slight shifting of details. I wandered away a little bit, and sat on a huge rock in the sun. I moved between sun and shade, inside the van and out.  I got twisted up in my blankets and the softness of my bed, but I was able to get out again fairly easily. And… I got a little lonely.
This with living in a van and traveling to new places where I don’t know anybody can be a lonely proposition for a guy without a strong yappy personality.  I’ve enjoyed this time very much, and I’ve enjoyed all the solitude.  But now that time has passed, I miss being with people who I know. I’ve barely socialized at all here.  I reflected on this. I was invited to a party happening today. I found out about this yesterday.  It’s a work-related party, and I knew right away that I would not be going.  I thought about this, and laughed out loud.  Never again in all my days am I allowed to complain of feeling lonely if I’m turning down party invitations.  I didn’t want to go to the party though – and I plan to leave town the day after tomorrow.  The time for friends here has passed.  I’m excited for the next mission.
My business on mountain was finished as soon as I realized that it was Monday.  The library is open until 8 o’clock on Mondays.  I’d had enough reflection.  I returned to town, feeling fantastic.  The mountain was cool and breezy, but back in town I had to remove my long sleeves.  The valley holds the heat, and the difference in temperatures was significant and notable. I baked out my van at Safeway before going to the library. I spent some strange time on the computer, feeling great.

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