18 April 2003 16:57
there is mud all over my right shoe, for i stepped in quickgrass outside the dorm.why can't the good guy fight his arch-nemesis at the start of the movie, progressing on to the easier goons; instead of at the end when the good guy's half dead from killing all the progressively harder goons?
i love driving by the airport at night. over a mile in length, the road passes parallel to the secondary runway (the one we most often use). at the south end is our hanger, towards the north, the main terminal. the fbo is there too, with it's lit exterior, and the beacon next to their hanger. the beacon flashes past, green white green white green white. then the approach end of hte primary runway becomes visible, the blue of the taxi, green of the threshold, white of the edge lighting, it draws me.
the speed limit for that section is 65mph. at the nw corner of the airport is a light, and the limit slows to 50 (often a hard step to make). i have the window rolled down. it's not really night, the sun went down 15 minutes ago, the air is etheral, the smell of spring is in the air. it smells like honeysuckle, but i see none.
on the right is a gated driveway, heading back into the trees. in wrought iron a header crosses the drive, "Bar K Ranch." the gate has two american flags, one on the left, and another on the right, facing the opposite direction. is there a law about displaying a flag, stars always in the top left? for this one is in the top right, mirror image of the other.
i have "every breath you take" by the police up loud, for it fits the mood. on the right is the gas station that i once gave a fellow flight student a lift to and back, for he ran out of gas back at the airport.
sitting at the light, i wait to turn left. the other direction goes yellow, red, the green chevy pickup beside me and i both start, covering the first two feet before our ligth turns green.
crossing the river, the wet smells waft in. i used to live on a river, it smells good.
the road comes to a bend, and i speed through. it is an interesting corner. the parking lot at the strip club is half full already, the three liquor stores are ablaze with light as the night deepens. like usual the gas station's parking lot is full of pickups, a local cafe hangout. out of place, on the outskirts, a ramshackle hut with a barbeque pit out front. often i drive by as smoke drifts lazy across the road. a grizzled black man tends the grill, making his living in competition with the more profitable businesses around him, his small and cobbled setup reminding me for all the world of jamaica.
this next stretch of road runs north, the last shades of sunset on my left. a dead bird of some size lies in the other lane. i don't know if i've ever seen a stretch of road with such a high death rate to wild animals
i hate these stoplights. indiscrimately they favor the other direction
lights shining everywhere, i enter town. overhead, i see a kingair circling to land, his lights clear and sharp against the failing twilight. surging forward, i run my second red light for the day. if lights were better synchronized, i for one would run fewer red ones. if speed limits were higher, i for one would break fewer of them. if stop signs were changed to yield signs, i for one would obey more of them. "Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death."
why are people very willing to blow the speed limit by 10mph, but never run through a four way stop without stopping? what is so much worse about running a stop sign than speeding?
last summer here was a wonderful, hateful experience. i like the summer, the smells, the warmth, the activity. but it was deadening, i was bored stiff a lot. that and i'm not particuarly fond of the smell of the quads.
i cleaned my mouse today. it was in much the same state as my keyboard. it's clean now.
it's time to go to supper.
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