Gonna try and lift my spirits here by remembering a better day... A lot of hard work and a little bit of luck once gave me the opportunity to perform, scream my guts out, sweat until the endorphins kick in, and meet new people from all walks of life in all parts of the country most nights of the week. The only downside besides missing close friends and family was the toll that just going and going for weeks and weeks without a rest would take. Whenever we got a day off it was a big deal. Although money was tight, I took the advantage of exploring every town I could whenever I was fortunate enough to have the time. Wed driven for hours and finally stopped and checked into a somewhat nice hotel. Compared to the dives we usually ended up in, it seemed like a five star hotel. We were all so exhausted that sleep came fast and sound that night. When I woke the next morning the room looked just like all the rest of the rooms had looked night after night except this one had a view. The big picture window looked out on a rapidly flowing river that snaked its way through all the buildings and storefronts below. The sky as I remember it was overcast which highlighted all the lush green trees that had just begun to spring back to life after the long dark winter months. As I got dressed I had to keep quiet because I had learned that most people are able to sleep in on their days off and dont like being woken up...I on the other hand have always felt the need to occupy every waking hour with some activity or another. Where that strange psychological quirk came from, I dont think I want to delve into trying to figure out right now... Walking and exploring has always been one of my favorite activities. As I recall, this small town was somewhere on the upper east coast miles north of New York. All the buildings seemed to be built differently, almost as if constructed to withstand the harsh cold winters; more brick and heavier glass windows, solid, compact and a bit rigid, quite a change from the laid back stucco bungalow structures Id grown up around my whole Southern California life. They all seemed much older and more compact as if they were built in an era where people didnt need as much stuff to get by. The first thing that struck me were all the huge old lilac bushes in every front yard. Lilacs dont grow too well if at all in this climate although sometimes the little lilac garden up at Descanso Gardens north of Glendale seems to thrive in certain years, but they look a little out of their comfort zone. These lilacs were bursting with all sorts of colors : pink, white, magenta, blue and of course the beautiful pale purples. There was that faint smell of lilac that waltzed through the air..I was tempted to cut a few to take along on the walk and use almost like smelling salts but I didnt want to take the chance of getting caught or attacked by a watch dog. A little further on I wandered into an old downtown district. All along the streets people had lined up along the curb. In the distance I could hear a marching band coming closer so I decided to stick around to see what was going on. Soon, coming down what must have been the citys main street appeared a procession of Circus performers dressed up in colorful bright flashy costumes followed by all kinds of Elephants, tigers, camels, llamas, monkeys. I felt at that moment as if Id been transported back to another era that Id only seen in old movies and reruns of the Andy Griffith show. Even back then I wasnt digging the animal part too much because I felt that they belonged in their natural environment sort of like those lilacs in Descanso Gardens, and I wasnt digging the thought of them being taken from where they belonged and forced to work. After the Circus parade I continued walking, and after awhile another urban environment appeared. This one seemed not quite as quaint. into the streets out of the store fronts and cars flowed some funky bottom heavy beats and throbbing bass lines that made it kind of hard not to keep rhythm with each step. Out of doors drifted the smells of incense and essential oils. A store window lined with posters lit up in strobe and black light caught my eye and drew me inside. Behind the glass counter were all sorts of smoking paraphernalia, goods from india and Africa and other far off locations. What caught my eye was a button with a hand made X done up in green yellow and black reflective tape. I plunked down the money for it right there on the spot thinking that this was a strange place to be selling a button promoting the L.A. band X, and pinned it on to the front of my baseball hat...I was wondering why the locals were giving me sort of confused curious looks... I found out months later the button didnt stand for X the band but for Malcolm X.. I thought that was just as good, and I managed to hang onto that button for many years after that day.. I dont have the button anymore but lucky for me I still carry the memory that day. If you managed to make it through this long rant, thank you for indulging me. Writing this seems to have helped out my bad mood a little . Sometimes I write better on Facebook because I dont have the luxury of over thinking... Hope your day is going well and if it isnt- it might not seem like it now, but things are gonna get better. xo
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 01:29:29 +0000
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