Quick Stream of Consciousness on I-5

Almond trees along I-5 look like cherries blossoming, but they ain’t. I love California, but it also breaks my heart. Beauty in the “wrong” place isn’t so beautiful. A billboard advertises silicone breast implants through the naval. It’s all sick. But there’s wellness too. A holding field  that winks to what is true. Wondering if there are many different versions of freedom, or honestly only one. Don’t know yet, chewing that one over. Depends on how wide you adjust the lens. Heaven or Hell, depending on the view. I walk into a CVS looking last-minute for a watch, and Paul Simon’s “Father and Daughter” plays on the loud speaker. All of a sudden, my eyes wet. How do we deal with all this? How do we cope with loving and feeling and mourning in such extremity? Questions for a lifetime, questions for this “era.” Anyway, some gas room bath stations are cleaned with dignity, and others overflow with the bile. Whatever piece of the pie we’re occupying, it’s all about the dignity we do it with. Dignity. That’s a world I’ve not marinated on much, but it seems high time. Dignity and sanity go hand in hand. My cousin and I marvel at the color of the pink walls and the flowers in her yard and the pets that blink slow in the sunlight. I smile when I see the vultures at cruising altitude out of the corners of my eyes, riding the thermal waves. Even when I roar at the ocean, “Okay universe, what are you doing?!” my skin tingles at the bigger picture. Dignity and sanity. Attitude and rhythm.  Step by step. Great artists talk about how art becomes great when we get out of the way to let the truth take over. Steady on the road, steady on the road.

Two songs that are good by the band Rising Appalachia: I Believe in Being Ready and Occupy, and one song that is good by Yusuf/Cat Stevens. And another one by Andy Frasco & the UN.