Pencils
The day looked blue and sunny from within the confines of home but the air was cold and the wind, though not as strong as yesterday, still managed to infiltrate its way into small spaces. I took the bus downtown as I wanted to get to my bank as soon as possible to withdraw all the money before they applied it to some long overdue debt. I didn't manage to get there in time, but now that the debt was covered, I just extended my credit to the same amount again and voila, I still have the same amount of money. Weird that!
I didn't stick around downtown for too long as there was a strange kind of energy. A little more upbeat but still tentative and exploratory. I felt really fingered out wherever I went so I tried to keep to the back routes, along railroad tracks to the mall for cheap coffee. I mean what can you do, when you spend days counting every penny it makes it hard not to buy things where they are cheapest. Sometimes it's half as much for five dollars worth of stuff, so Wal Mart it is. Buy in bulk, sell some things at cost, and count on the spontaneous sale to make the money. Sure something that costs a buck fifty somewhere is only 80 cents here, but when have you ever walked out of Wal Mart and only spent money on what you came for. Well actually I do it a lot but that's only because I'm dirt poor, well mostly.
The back lanes are very dull. Brown grass and lots of stems of dormant weeds that will be wild with green and thick when the spring is here long enough to bring them out of their shell. I fully intended to continue along the tracks home but I stopped at Safeway for tobacco, cheapest in town, and by force of habit walked around the corner and towards the school, for the zig zag back road trek up the hill.
I stopped at the willow trees, planted long ago to line the school property. Willows on this side and cottonwoods along the back. They spread white seeds of fluff in June and whirl into corners like piles of cold snow. These willows so tall now they grow new sprouts from their base. Every year the city trims them back for their sudden burst of growth throughout summer. Funny how they look close up, like pencils stuck in a sponge awaiting a sharpener to hone them for their intended purpose.
I didn't stick around downtown for too long as there was a strange kind of energy. A little more upbeat but still tentative and exploratory. I felt really fingered out wherever I went so I tried to keep to the back routes, along railroad tracks to the mall for cheap coffee. I mean what can you do, when you spend days counting every penny it makes it hard not to buy things where they are cheapest. Sometimes it's half as much for five dollars worth of stuff, so Wal Mart it is. Buy in bulk, sell some things at cost, and count on the spontaneous sale to make the money. Sure something that costs a buck fifty somewhere is only 80 cents here, but when have you ever walked out of Wal Mart and only spent money on what you came for. Well actually I do it a lot but that's only because I'm dirt poor, well mostly.
The back lanes are very dull. Brown grass and lots of stems of dormant weeds that will be wild with green and thick when the spring is here long enough to bring them out of their shell. I fully intended to continue along the tracks home but I stopped at Safeway for tobacco, cheapest in town, and by force of habit walked around the corner and towards the school, for the zig zag back road trek up the hill.
I stopped at the willow trees, planted long ago to line the school property. Willows on this side and cottonwoods along the back. They spread white seeds of fluff in June and whirl into corners like piles of cold snow. These willows so tall now they grow new sprouts from their base. Every year the city trims them back for their sudden burst of growth throughout summer. Funny how they look close up, like pencils stuck in a sponge awaiting a sharpener to hone them for their intended purpose.
posted by dave at 6:14 PM
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