The Beginning of the World

I have discovered that when time is not on my side (heading to work late from the Cape), it is best to take 528 I95 and exit at 407 because you can go 80 most of the way. Not very fuel efficient, but definitely way faster.

This is the beginning of the dry season here, so already there is a combination of brush fires and controlled burns constantly making the air smoky and murky. Driving in to work early last Friday, I was somewhat distracted by the visual effect caused by the remnants of one of those brush fires.

The sun wasn't really up yet, but was getting pretty close to rising. The sky was less dark (rather than lighter) and the silhouettes of pines and palms and other taller trees could be seen intermixed with the bumpy landscape of brush, and the occasional twisting turns of "rivers" (ditches) snaking their way through the wetlands that line many parts of the local highway system.

Because of the near darkness and the haze of smoke remnants and fog (OK smog), the landscape took on a surreal quality that immediately brought to mind the phrase "primordial soup". I found myself watching the mist to see if new forms of life were stirring in its midst, waiting for their legs to be strong enough to bring them up onto solid ground.

Nothing interesting happened, and I got to work unmarked by random monsters in the mist. But my imagine was wild all day long...

Hair

Not the movie. Not the Broadway musical.

On my head. Or rather, off my head. Yep, I did it. I said, "I have had enough of always grabbing my hair and stuffing it in a ponytail. I am long overdue for a fresh new style."

So I took part of my tax refund and visited my good buddy Michelle at the salon. She said, "Hey stranger, nice to see you. What are we doing today?"

I replied, "I'm sitting in your chair and you are making my color fabulous and taking off 1/2 of my hair."

And here is the part that explains why I love having Michelle as my stylist: She did not pause, did not balk, did not hesitate in any way. She took a quick critical look at my hair, asked if I had any ideas, and looked at the pictures I was eyeing in the big book of hair. She told me the ones she thought would be best on me, and which ones might be a little more maintenance than I could stand. In a few brief moments we'd worked out exactly what was going to happen.

My hair now sits just on my shoulder, the shortest it has been in about 6 years. Not the shortest it has ever been, but that was an extreme situation because I was trying to get rid of a dye job gone terribly wrong. I also have bangs again for the first time in about as long.

In short (yes, the pun is intended), we really did get rid of at least 1/2 (or maybe 3/4) of my hair. So far, I have styled it after 90% of my washings and I LOVE IT!!! (Those extra exclamations are specifically for Deb, grammar-holic that she is.)

I was kind enough to warn Yaw that the next time he would see me I would have shorter hair. On first sight, he was fairly neutral. For a couple of weeks he really didn't talk about it. He didn't really say anything much until Easter Sunday when he was helping me put on my claddagh cross. When I pulled my hair up so he could clasp it, he finally said, "I'm used to you having so much more hair to move when we do this," and gave a little frown.

I told him, "Oh, it will grow back." (But I'm not sure how long it will be before I let it grow again. I'm kinda liking not sitting on it...)

Oh, yeah!

The truck is fixed (again). Only $278! Lucky me, I hadn't spent my tax refund yet. It's all gone now, but at least I can still drive to work and earn more money so I can get another tax refund next year because I work way too hard, don't get paid nearly enough, and pay way too much in taxes every year.

I think that might have been the second longest run-on sentence I have ever written. But nothing can top Mara when she's on a roll. :-)

St. Augustine

St. Augustine is nice. I'll have to go back though. I only saw the time share and some cool shops in town. I need to go back with unlimited time and unlimited funds. Or at least less limits on each.

The place had to be settled by a mix of Spanish and Scottish. You've got the architecture stemming from Spanish influence and the place is full of golfers, which was invented by the Scottish.

Seems perfectly logical that the Scottish would invent golf. It's a game you take up to relax, but is really hard to master (Scottish do everything the hard way); you play with the intention of relaxing, but get raging mad and throw your clubs at a tree; you drink ('nuff said) and drive your golf cart into the lake. OK, when it was invented, I don't think there were golf carts, but still...you get the picture, right?

I wonder how they came up with the name golf. I can't help thinking about Caddy Shack and Bill Murray's boss talking about gophers. I wonder if it really started because some big, drunk Scot was tired of gophers digging up his yard and started whacking little balls at their heads, deciding that if it went into the gopher's hole, he won something. OK, don't anybody take these words as gospel. It's early and I haven't had any coffee yet.

Mardi Gras. Every year Cocoa Village has a big weekend with a fair--the usual; rides, food, games, music...--and a parade. Yaw and I went tonight and roamed the booths and finally decided to ride two rides.

Each of us had picked one ride that we really wanted to try. I picked the ferris wheel, something I've always loved. Yaw picked the Wipe Out, one of those ones that goes in circles really fast and goes higher and lower. Yaw enjoyed the Wipe Out but was stunned by the forces it put us through.

The ferris wheel, while less exciting than the Wipe Out, was a much greater pleasure to me. Especially when we were at the top. It was located closest to the river where it overlooked about 20 sailboats resting along the pier, their masts bobbing in the light wind. Looking out over the village itself, I was treated to a quaint city scene with lights in the trees that line the main drags, and crowds of happy people walking, eating, riding, playing. Laughter and music are all around us.

The wind will build tonight, and it will stay in the 60's tomorrow; there are tornado watches all over Brevard County. Earlier today, my cell phone rang when I was at work. My sister, who never calls me in the daytime, saw our weather on TV and wanted to make sure I wasn't in the middle of it. I assured her I was looking out a window with sun shining through it. No guarantee it would stay that way. I was supposed to call her when I got out of work, but I was distracted by a malfunctioning clutch. I will have to call tomorrow and apologize.

I am not looking forward to whatever words the dealership has for me. I'm sure something has to be replaced, and I'm equally sure that if it's the whole clutch, I will once again be donning my battle armor.

driving across the first bridge, the sky behind is dayglo pink; the sky ahead a crystal clear blue interspersed with clouds of steel blue, lavender and white. the northern skies in between are mostly steel gray with rain falling to earth to wash away the day's sorrows.

by the time i reach the second bridge, the sky behind has become blazing oranges and peach with a haze of gray running between the layers; the sky ahead shows more of the blue, but to the south and north the rain is more bold. the vab is veiled behind a curtain of rain.

when i reach home, twilight is touching my front yard as i step to the front door and greet the fur bellies.

the rain will help the plants. i am sleepy, but i am willing to accept that in exchange for air i can breathe. bring the rain; save the planet. mother nature will have to do this for me, as my black thumbs cannot be trusted with the lives of green things. only plants that survive best when completely ignored are safe in my hands.