It's a rainy day today
It's raining this morning so I decided to stay home instead of going to the coffee shop. Last time I missed seeing Vinny, the barista who opened that day said he was worried about me. Vinny and I have exchanged numbers since, and I warned him that, if it's raining, I might not show up.
CAT, on the other hand, has spent the morning happily purring to himself. Ruby told me that he has taken to crying when I'm out walking. Yesterday she watched as he spotted me out the window, ran to the front door, and started crying, as if he were yelling, "It's this door, you big dumb hairless ape! You've almost found your way back home again!"
I've set up the TV to display photos I've taken. The one of the bicentennial coin that Vinny gave me is displayed. This brings back the bicentennial… It was the first time I got one of those silver dollars…
I was six years old. We were going somewhere in the van, not just sleeping in it. We were in a place transitioning from high desert to low desert, probably somewhere in New Mexico. There were large boulders, short cliffs, and shallow gullies. It was a perfect place to climb and explore… too low for things like wild asparagus, but I loved collecting piñon nuts and such as well, and I knew there would be plenty. My mom didn't seem to want to stop, though.
We spotted a group of people just sitting, looking down a slope. My mom pulled over to see what was going on. I was excited. We walked over to see what was they were up to. Apparently they heard a rumor that the government was going to be transporting a nuclear missile to a nearby silo, so they all decided to celebrate the bicentennial by protesting this. We sat and watched the railroad tracks with them for a bit.
While we waited someone asked me if I knew what the bicentennial was. He explained that our country had been around for 200 years. That sounded impossibly long to me. He fished around his pockets, found a silver dollar, and gave it to me as a keepsake.
When a train finally came, they all stood silently holding up signs. We watched the train slide past. My mom then told me to get back in the van and we left them sitting, waiting for the next train.
I only walked 3.5 miles yesterday… this week is going to be a lazy one. I might not even break 20 miles for the week.
