Rain Is General All Over Austin

***

And now we have the rain.  Nothing wild or weird, just a steady little limp drizzle of a thing.  A rain in need of Viagra, a fizzle of a drizzle.  But enough to cause some damage.  A few minutes ago I witnessed a young man on a motorcycle crash just a few yards from where I'm sitting.  He was moving along very slowly when the rear wheel suddenly developed a mind of its own and decided to go thataway while the bike had other plans in mind.  He hit the pavement--BLAM--and just as quickly was on his feet, pulling the bike back upright and jumped back on, only to think otherwise.  He got off and walked it over to the sidewalk, where I went and asked if he was okay. 

Yes, just minor scratches.

You're lucky, I said.

Yep.

And he rode off into the sunset, hopefully a bit wiser about oil slicks getting down with a bit of wet.  Me, too.  Slow and steady wins the day.

I'm starving.

Not really.  I ate a bowl of rice with soy sauce a few hours ago, but that's all I've had for the day, aside from a coffee at McDonald's.  Two creams, two sugars, two cups. 

Hungry, yes, but starving, no.

Just feels like my insides have been scooped out leaving this huge vacant empty space.  A vacuum.  The emptiness of Inner Space.  Ohwell.

When the letter didn't come, I was thinking this:  well, your day has just been rearranged.  You won't be off to buy the tobacco.  You won't be heading for McDonald's for a meal.  Nope.  You're gonna ride up to Veggie Heaven and eat some free rice.  Which I did.

And thinking this, too:  that I would meet someone, see something, find something, do something I would not have done otherwise.

Well, yes.  That's fairly certain.  Met the Creeper.  Saw the Wreck.  Made a judgment re Brave New Books.

And found something.

What happened was I found a cell phone at McDonald's and have been trying to contact someone who can get in touch with the owner so I can get the bloody thing back to him.  And (cough) hope for enough of a reward to buy something to eat, y'know?

And I saw a motorcycle wreck.

And I checked out Brave New Books and have concluded it's a twisted little place where conspiracies scurry about like insects hiding from a major insecticide spraydown.  They were playing a film and when it started blaming the "worldwide Jewish financial moguls," I lost all interest.

Behind me the Stones are singing about Ruby Tuesday.  How dated it sounds!  I am suddenly back in the mid-60s, a young man full of angst and anger, ready to take on the world, and far too often... drunk.  I miss the energy, but you can have the angst and anger.  And the drunk.

Jesus.  Elton John.  1973.  Honolulu.  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.  Remembering those grotesque portable cassette players we toted around back then.  Still young then.  Not yet thirty.  Still lots of energy, lots of hope, lots of anger.

If they don't stop playing this music I'm gonna find a very low building and contemplate jumping.  Maybe a porch on a very low building with lots of shrubbery around it.

Most of the passing cars have their wipers turned off.  Perhaps I should wander down to McDonald's and see if I can hustle up something to eat.  Or try to catch the food truck at 6 PM, should it happen today.

It will.  It will.  Just believe.

Down here on the street it's so easy to fall into Magical Thinking.

I am trying to create a Magical Day and not having a whole lot of luck at it.

Stay tuned for Magical and not-so-Magical Happenings.  As they come down.

Peace.  Food.  Foam mattresses.

***