Red and orange
The clouds outside look like a giant marshmallow this morning. My head feels the same and I linger in bed savoring the extended sleep. I drift in and out of slumber. At one point, Bill’s voice can be heard as he gives a tour of the various outdoor spaces. At last, I climb out of the bed and begin the day.
The yoga studio delivers its typical peaceful setting as I go though an hour of yoga and 15 minutes of tai chi. It then hits me that I want to wear red and orange today. My colors are typically dark and with the over cast sky lingering I need some color therapy.
I throw my big green bag of laundry into the back of Skip’s yellow cream truck and head down the hill. There’s a spot for me right in front of the laundry mat. As I get out of the vehicle, a homeless man approaches me and asks, “Do you have a match?”
I am biased against this man. He spends a lot of time here trying to get change from the folks who are washing their clothes. My response is minimal: “No.” I don’t make eye contact, look down and mentally dismiss him.
He’s sensitive to my response and tries to get some of the energy of my attention which I always with hold from him as much as possible. He says: “Are you mad at yourself?”
I recognize that ignoring him further will only tweak this tweaker and so I say: “No are you angry with yourself?” He’s over weight, scruffy, mustache and obviously drunk even though it is around 1 PM.
“No, I just want a match.”
“I am sorry, I don’t have a match. I cannot help you. Have a nice day.”
“That’s OK, I’ll ask some body else. Have a nice day.”
The laundry all fits into a triple loader. The timer says that 27 minutes will pass before its completed the various cycles of rinse, soak and spin. I head to Second Helpings – a thrift shop. Many of the elderly frequent this store and today is no exception. There’s a back room with stereo equipment and some speakers catch my eye. That’s when Demetria walks out of another backroom and we engage in a brief conversation. She compliments my choice of wearing orange and red today. Her new Gateway laptop is a bit for confusing for here to operate and she asks me to come over and help her become familiar with its basic operation.
Time to toss the clean and wet clothes into the dryer. As I pull up, I see the homeless man, who is in his early 40’s I’d guess, wearing a scowl and talking angrily to himself.
I feel compassion for him. He puts on a front but when the mask is down, the cloud of anger, pain and sorrow surrounding him, becomes tangible.
Demetria’s house is not hard to find. I knock, she opens the door and I walk in. Her small apartment is filled with amazing pieces of art. She takes me to a small backroom where an old school Dell laptop sits on a table. I end up showing her how to get online. Next, I connect with live streaming audio from a radio station (Pacifica-kcrp out of Santa Monica). We talk for a while and I learn about the new man in her life. They’d broken up 32 years ago before getting back together. Their reunion is an inspiring story for those of us who are terminally single.
The yoga studio delivers its typical peaceful setting as I go though an hour of yoga and 15 minutes of tai chi. It then hits me that I want to wear red and orange today. My colors are typically dark and with the over cast sky lingering I need some color therapy.
I throw my big green bag of laundry into the back of Skip’s yellow cream truck and head down the hill. There’s a spot for me right in front of the laundry mat. As I get out of the vehicle, a homeless man approaches me and asks, “Do you have a match?”
I am biased against this man. He spends a lot of time here trying to get change from the folks who are washing their clothes. My response is minimal: “No.” I don’t make eye contact, look down and mentally dismiss him.
He’s sensitive to my response and tries to get some of the energy of my attention which I always with hold from him as much as possible. He says: “Are you mad at yourself?”
I recognize that ignoring him further will only tweak this tweaker and so I say: “No are you angry with yourself?” He’s over weight, scruffy, mustache and obviously drunk even though it is around 1 PM.
“No, I just want a match.”
“I am sorry, I don’t have a match. I cannot help you. Have a nice day.”
“That’s OK, I’ll ask some body else. Have a nice day.”
The laundry all fits into a triple loader. The timer says that 27 minutes will pass before its completed the various cycles of rinse, soak and spin. I head to Second Helpings – a thrift shop. Many of the elderly frequent this store and today is no exception. There’s a back room with stereo equipment and some speakers catch my eye. That’s when Demetria walks out of another backroom and we engage in a brief conversation. She compliments my choice of wearing orange and red today. Her new Gateway laptop is a bit for confusing for here to operate and she asks me to come over and help her become familiar with its basic operation.
Time to toss the clean and wet clothes into the dryer. As I pull up, I see the homeless man, who is in his early 40’s I’d guess, wearing a scowl and talking angrily to himself.
I feel compassion for him. He puts on a front but when the mask is down, the cloud of anger, pain and sorrow surrounding him, becomes tangible.
Demetria’s house is not hard to find. I knock, she opens the door and I walk in. Her small apartment is filled with amazing pieces of art. She takes me to a small backroom where an old school Dell laptop sits on a table. I end up showing her how to get online. Next, I connect with live streaming audio from a radio station (Pacifica-kcrp out of Santa Monica). We talk for a while and I learn about the new man in her life. They’d broken up 32 years ago before getting back together. Their reunion is an inspiring story for those of us who are terminally single.
posted by Dij at 6:37 PM
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