Derek falls from a tree
Derek is an Ojai legend: a tall thin man with dark skin, a white beard, white hair and a penchant for wearing clothes that have helped him create his own fashion genre. I stopped by on the bike where he lives at Iratia's. She must have heard the loud engine because she had the front door open before I announced my presence. "Come on in" she says.
Her place has all kinds of paintings, artifacts and photographs on the wall. Most are from Africa. The floor is covered with layers of rugs from Persia. As I walked in, Liza greeted me. She is the one that applied the OM to the back of my head (it's still there). I then noticed Derek sitting on the floor, legs covered with a thin, worn tan blanket.
"How you doing?" I ask.
"Not so hot."
"What happened?"
"I fell out of a grapefruit tree."
Derek described how he reached for the fruit with two hands. Each foot stood on its own branch. One of the branches broke and he fell six feet down and landed on a curb. He's been chilling ever since it happened yesterday. He took a bath in epson salts. Iratia put in a couple drops of Lavender oil.
I ended up asking Derek about the Fourth of July Parade gorilla performance art. It turns out that Derek was there and was able to observe the reaction of the audience as The Constitution was taken over by corporate pirates. According to Derek, Most people were perplexed and subdued. A decent amount of folks reacted positively, cheering and laughing. While a small minority disapproved. One guy followed behind the float and loudly booed. No one join his protest of the protest. Derek overheard one man saying: "This is not a forum for politics."
Derek enjoyed the reaction of the judges as the float went by their stand. He said that the woman announced them as they were listed in the manifest: "Oh, here's Mission Accomplished of Fox Street. Isn't that nice?" Her smile disappeared when the other judges looked at her sideways.
Earlier today, my CBR 900 refused to start after a great meal at Farmer and the Cook. The side street has a very slight decline. I gave it my best, pushing the bike faster and faster, hopping on it and quickly popping it into second, attempt no dice, before the bike's momentum dies, I quickly pop the clutch again and grrrrrr I am mobile and leave the area in a hurry.
Tonight, Daryl and Devin joined me for my run around the Nordoff track. I did not go all out with the Casa Barranca Mile Challenge approaching. We ran the first two laps together to warm up. I then left them both behind as I took off and ran a 5:50 mile. I then jogged around the track two more times and then walked around it one more time. Devin says that his knees are bothering him after a long hike on Sunday. In fact, he's asking to see if the race can be postponed until Friday. It has already been pushed back to Thursday. This suits me fine. Every day, my legs, lungs, heart and will get stronger. I want to beat 5:30. I am competing with the clock. I do not think that Devin can run with me. Who knows though? He's pretty coy.
Her place has all kinds of paintings, artifacts and photographs on the wall. Most are from Africa. The floor is covered with layers of rugs from Persia. As I walked in, Liza greeted me. She is the one that applied the OM to the back of my head (it's still there). I then noticed Derek sitting on the floor, legs covered with a thin, worn tan blanket.
"How you doing?" I ask.
"Not so hot."
"What happened?"
"I fell out of a grapefruit tree."
Derek described how he reached for the fruit with two hands. Each foot stood on its own branch. One of the branches broke and he fell six feet down and landed on a curb. He's been chilling ever since it happened yesterday. He took a bath in epson salts. Iratia put in a couple drops of Lavender oil.
I ended up asking Derek about the Fourth of July Parade gorilla performance art. It turns out that Derek was there and was able to observe the reaction of the audience as The Constitution was taken over by corporate pirates. According to Derek, Most people were perplexed and subdued. A decent amount of folks reacted positively, cheering and laughing. While a small minority disapproved. One guy followed behind the float and loudly booed. No one join his protest of the protest. Derek overheard one man saying: "This is not a forum for politics."
Derek enjoyed the reaction of the judges as the float went by their stand. He said that the woman announced them as they were listed in the manifest: "Oh, here's Mission Accomplished of Fox Street. Isn't that nice?" Her smile disappeared when the other judges looked at her sideways.
Earlier today, my CBR 900 refused to start after a great meal at Farmer and the Cook. The side street has a very slight decline. I gave it my best, pushing the bike faster and faster, hopping on it and quickly popping it into second, attempt no dice, before the bike's momentum dies, I quickly pop the clutch again and grrrrrr I am mobile and leave the area in a hurry.
Tonight, Daryl and Devin joined me for my run around the Nordoff track. I did not go all out with the Casa Barranca Mile Challenge approaching. We ran the first two laps together to warm up. I then left them both behind as I took off and ran a 5:50 mile. I then jogged around the track two more times and then walked around it one more time. Devin says that his knees are bothering him after a long hike on Sunday. In fact, he's asking to see if the race can be postponed until Friday. It has already been pushed back to Thursday. This suits me fine. Every day, my legs, lungs, heart and will get stronger. I want to beat 5:30. I am competing with the clock. I do not think that Devin can run with me. Who knows though? He's pretty coy.
posted by Dij at 10:07 PM
1 waves:
I miss Derek, and his calm which is like the breeze .. I trust he is ok.
I happened to miss the event on the fourth, as I was going through my own personal revolution.
I am happy that you recorded it here, very interesting information -- videos would be nice but the image in my mind is very clear.
Ojai has many different types of people, a lot of whom aren't seen until just the right moment ..
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