some parts of a day

Yesterday, just as I was about to close, at 5 PM, a couple came into the shop. Although it was closing time and I wanted to go home, I ended up talking to them for half an hour. Thier names were Larry and Carol; he looked a bit like Alan Alda crossed with a PDR teacher, she was tall and thin and had a thick mane of hair pulled back simply with a black tie. You could tell they had money, but you couldn't tell much else just by looking at them. She had a tattoo on her left forearm which I saw when she came over to ask about Claire Ryder's wood work, and it was her own calligraphy design for a pheonix, rising from the ashes.

As they were leaving, he said, "It's good that you're doing all this travel now, because if you want to go into medicine, you won't have the time later." "Oh, it's true!" I said, laughing. Carol pointed to Larry. "He knows all about it," she said, stepping out the door. "Oh--he's--you're a doctor?" I said. They smiled and said yes and left.

After pulling the signs in, I got on my bike and headed for home. The sky was that traditional blue with white clouds, but they were all different shapes and sizes. Some parts of the sky had those speckled crumbs of cloud scattered across it, another part had three wisps rising up and ending in clots. I passed all my neighbours' houses, Kathy Kerr with her horse barn and tractor, the MacDermids with thier old farmhouse and many cars.

At or around 9 Jenny came to get me, in Einar's truck. Will and I went over to the land, "The Oregon Boys", the commune...whatever you want to call where Einar lives. It was the first clear night we've had in a week, and the moon was rising full. It was cool like fall, and we sat around in a tight circle while Alec and Galaad played gypsy-sounding guitar. A nice restful way to end the day.

Off to work. Enjoy your day!