I. Startling Things: Passing trains. But only when the wind is moving in a certain direction. When it’s blowing from the west, the crashing waves startle me. And when there is no wind, the silence.
People’s minds. The unawareness of those living all around me and the actions I see played out. Endless chattering voices. Sleepwalkers in the daytime who get revved up by waiting in a long lines anxious to order their vanilla lattes that may or may not be chugged down and possibly followed by a jot to the beach with their beach cruiser baby strollers.
When those same people yell at their children.
The woman who flips my friend and I off as we pull into my driveway at night. She is the one who thought she recognized my neighbor as she proclaimed, “Hey you! Oh, sorry. You look like my friend Martha from the methadone clinic.”
Saturday people riding their bicycles in colorful outfits on the 101. People who are always getting work done on their tattoos—some angels, some demons.
Rich people experimenting with fancy hallucinogens they somehow obtained from the Amazonian jungle. When they are no longer experimenting, but believe they are not addicted to anything.
Fit people in their yoga classes, practicing pranayama and complicated asanas as one of their daily “workouts”. At night, seeing the same ones through the glass, loudly socializing, smoking cigarettes and drinking martinis as one of their weekly rituals.
This startles me, but I don’t bat an eye. I only get twitchy when they say to me, “Where have you been?”
II. One of the Pleasant Things: One of the pleasant things is I have the ability to forgive and forget easily. I give all my unpleasant reminders to the passing freight trains, and all I have to do is breathe. Those startling rail screeches and obnoxious horns take away the regrettable past, dark memories and lies.
III. Something Easy to Do: As the trains conjure up dust bunnies around my trailer home, I sweep away everything I don’t want to keep.
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