Itinerary

Amarillo. Flat plain of prairie dawn, summer morning. Cool air against the rushes, a field full of grass. Drove to Tahoka, will make stop in Lubbock soon. Hope everything with you all is okay. Got your letter as I was coming back from the hotel in Albuquerque. Will write later.

Avril. 14th, you subset offstation of water draw. Drove to Old Ruin near the border. There is no circuit here, you have to take the 67 Road back into town for them to give you what you need. Beans and coffee this morning. Stopped by some taco stand by the side of the road, near Brady, half past noon when I made it into Big Rock (Big Spring). So sorry about last night. All of my love to you and the kids back home.

Dallas, Fort Worth. Too cool a morning for all you professional types. Suburbia gleams in its pretentiousness. Dad gave me keys to the pickup this morning. One little dot on the yellowed page of a phone book at a gas station outside of town. Coffee. Rodeo tomorrow. Wichita Falls, and the endlessness of fields and farms. Clean, manured air. Pink-skinned men in flannel shirts and shitkicker boots at supermarket today. Must be comin’ in from harvest-time already.

Parallel, new station on the side of nowhere. Pancakes. Got your letter just as we saw some of your folks in the other county. Poor lovely soul, your grandma. What a shame it was to hear that your relatives would fight so viciously over her things like that. What a lovely day. Driving clear to El Paso, if we can beat the night. Planning to visit you in Presidio for the evening. Will write back as soon as possible.

City of Sleep. Book of Dreams. Overhead broad pale moon in cold desert night. Killed a rattler on the side of the road changing a tire. Scared me out of my mind. Another endless day, another long shadowed, broad shouldered afternoon. Long shadows after sunset. Skyline looking south. Not sure what to think, much less do. Pickup doing okay. Not sure of where to go, either. Wish you were here.

No caress, no love so good as yours. Was good to feel your big strong arms in mine again, to let you look long in my eyes all evening. Never let me go. Can’t drive back to Amarillo now. Can’t stop thinking about you. Keep wishing you were in the passenger seat holding my hand, talking to me like you used to. Life just isn’t fair.

Empty basin. Midland. Not much to talk about here, only that we met Isaac again, had dinner with him in the same kitchen we had dinner two years ago. Talked about the good times. Took off his shirt and showed me the scar he got in Iraq. Slept on the same couch I slept on two years ago.

Here ’tis. Northern Hospital, where they had the terrible tornado.

Brush and fog. Lovington lies ahead, then back through Clovis, and down to Shafter, and then to you. Another long night passed now. Coffee this morning in the Holiday Inn by the side of the road. Ahead lies the mountains. Not sure why things are the way they are between us. Keep wondering where all the cars keep on going to from here.

Isaac called again last night, hungry for me and Dairy Queen. Told him either he goes or I come to him. Watched local neighborhood football game out in cool weather. That time of year again. No drain, no hay comida is all I hear. Crossed over a mountain. Spent another night in tears.

Midland Sky

Right now, I’m suffering with a persistent cough and fever. I don’t know where or whom I got it from, but for the last two days it’s affected my singing, so much so that I’m cracking on high notes that I usually get at with ease. Yesterday I completed transcribing Jobim’s Oficina for piano; it sounds great, and Letty said that I sounded pretty good. She especially liked how I enunciated the words clearly, and was equally impressed with my playing skills.

Things have been quiet. I had a little MySpace drama earlier, but all is well. Yesterday I took a trip to apply for work at the County Courthouse in Brownsville. It was recently renovated, and it is indeed beautiful to behold. The rotunda is set in stained-glass, its traditional designs evoke neo-classicism and Beaux Arts, and it overall was pleasing to me.

After that we went and applied over at a packing plant, then home and meeting tonight. Now I am talking to my surfer friend Rick, who has become enamored of me.