8-sometHIng
am
fiRst cup of coFFy in the paLm sPrings desert, CA
iM.
such a dork!...
...uP
till yesturday i thought we were going to saN. diego..
but keN. (well informed and prepared traveler with
his atlas 2002 with the protective plastice sHield)
corrected me..
it's
paLm sPrings! .. you doRk! ..
the
last visit i haD. with mZ. eVil in the city had misdirected
my neXt traveling adventure's destination.. somehow
he had mentioned saN. dieGo.. my tWo blonde braincells
went with it.. and that sTuck.. so it was a suPrise
to end up in the baLmy paLms.. in the desert..
aNd
we are here! .. first time for me! .. had a gReat
dRive through the mojaVe desert with the caS.ad de
reX. liFe's soundtrack tapes playin .. gReat for dRiving
music and need to make copies for keN. to go along
with his video of our tRip..
we
maD.e it to this big little southern california suntanned
town tucked aWay under huGe rocky mouTains.. early
evening and had some time to kill .. so keN. took
me to the areal lift.. and we watched the lifts climb
up the side of the mountain wHay up high were they
promised some most fantastic sites of the scene below..
we didnt take the lift .. we just watched .. we didnt
have enough time.. nor did we want to pay the 20 bucks
for a lift.. we had time to kill .. but not that much
for this eX.perience.. so we watched others.. and
i absorbed this rocky mountain high.. i wHas feeling
around me..heh!
we
sTopped next at this very 50's looking visitors center
.. gReeted by a "friend of dorthy" (to use
the liN.go out of respect for the maN.y older maRys
here.. ) HER name wHas geNe.. (funny!.. i thought
i might be blessed with "geNe" friends eVerywhere)..
that opened the dooR. for us .. even though they had
closed and gave us some advice on where to visit durring
our stay.. when another person drived up and asked
for info.. geNe almost slammed the door on hiM. "we
are 'closed'..!!!" .. but for us.. he remained..
"open".. :)
the
"little castro" whas hi-lited for us.. after
asking about the inDian caNyons.. and wHas informed
that we reCieved official paLm sPrings "gaycaRds"
.. if and wHen we saW the very moVie that caPtivated
all paLm sPrings as if it were a holy communion rather
than a cult following..
"soRid
liEs! .."
(noted...
with eX.claimations from the siSter of dorThy herself)
sTill
needing to kill more tiMe wuntil our hosts .. raNdy
and joHn.. (raN.dy-joHn?) got home .. so we headed
downtown .. which wHas so cute.. tiny and sooooooooooo...
californian..
..
it's little moTels shouted cuTe! .. shoping centers..
pulled at our cRedit cards like magnits.. baR.s that
made you thirsty .. plus all the resturants.. and
little homes converted into compfy have a cup of something
art galleries.. the sTreets were lined with paLm trees
.. and palm tRees that looked like they belonged rather
than a transplant.. for that.. superficial californian
feel.. no... this wHas authentic..
i
wHas overwhemed by the beautiful bulgavillias that
were everywHere .. growing and sHaping themselves
to almost everything.. in every direction..
we
parked in the "little casTro".. area and
walked around a bit and gave me a chance to absorb
the vibe and energy of this small town's .. downtown
and the people there.. it felt like a mini saN. luis
oBispo.. to me right aWay.. but with the heater left
on.. very califrnian.. feeling very "beachy"..
from the desert sand.. rather than the ocean grain..
eVeryone is wearing board sHorts and loose sHIrts
just waiting to fall off.. i can tell that clothes
here could become cumbersome and have a feeling that
most would prefer to do without them..
after
walking around .. getting some ice cream to help cool
us down in additon to wetting ourselves down at every
available h2o mister.. we me-andered over to "little
caStro".. to get a dRink.. i looked in a couple
bars and noticed that the clientile wHas older.. i
made a commit to keN. and he reminded me that palm
sPrings is a place for people to retire..
ahhhh!
.. i see! ..
i
felt a bit self-concisous about my aGe.. im almost
35.. but look younger. so im placed in the "young"
arena quite a bit.. which buggs me with 1st impressions
sometimes wHen i know a person is sizin' me up . doing
the "cute factor" .. thing... were they
measure your worth ..standards.. and wHay of life
by your physicalness.. cute.. and young.. is not taken
seriously.. unless you want seX. in some of these
situations.. if your cute pHysically most of the time
they dont want to go any further than the pHysical
and usually wont take much said seriously.. your eX.amined
sometimes.. along with assumtions of how you use your
body.. to get wHat you need.. it can become quite
bitter sometimes and an inventation or should i say
a "trap" sometimes to justify yourself..
i think its wasted energy on everyones part to tHink
that wHay and usually need that energy to "just
be myself" .. and remain true and not be influenced
by a handed-out "here!.. are your this tYpe of
person and know all about you.." assumtions..
wHew!
.. and wowo.. where did all that come from? ..
---------------------------------------
7:57
pm
i
caN. see the tips of the mountains surrounding or
hoVerin' over paLm sPrings.. i told keN. when he wHas
driving towards town..
"dont
run into the mountain!" ..
the
biR.ds are chirpin' and are probably the same ones
that sang the morning songs as well.. i wonder if
its a an all-day opera? .
we
checked out the enterance of the canyon and decided
to hike it tomma early morn instead.. tHis decided
after finishin' up everybit of our IHOP breakfast..
we
dRove over to the theatre where "soRid liEs"
wHas playing.. its wHas gReat.. very funny moVie and
a huge gaY theme.. a teXan family white trash dealing
with a family / friend / lover death ..in the best
black comedy style.. i laughed so hard i cried ..
and afterwards felt i understood some sense of the
humour found here in palm sPrings.. and could hold
my head up high now and introduce myself after my
intitiation.. heh! .
after
our official christianin'.. we drove around the bottom
of the moutain overlooking the beautiful homes of
palm springs.. oh mann! .. some awsome oldie-tymie
places! .. bob hope lives out here in the mountains..
raN.dy one of the host says that he overlooks palm
sPrings hooked up to a respirator.. i sang.. "tHanks
for the memories" ..as we were eminded that he
looked down over us and must know he has mdade his
own special impact on the world and that so many hold
hiM. special. he must feel the warmth mann.. more
than what the palm sPrings desert sun could ever offer..
we
cRuised around.. and i took off my sHirt cause i wHas
goin on my 2nd sweat soaked sHirt for the day.. and
it felt gReat to feel the bReeze fly into the window
and tWeak my nipps.. heh! .. mmm.
we
parked downtown and wandered around eating ice cream
and drinking iced coffy.. ending up back again at
"Hunters" .. in little caStro.. greeted
again by my friend the bartender.. that i knew from
sf.. yesturday .. when we came in .. i wHas suprised
by a huge loud..
"reX.!"
..
heh!
..
it's
gReat to be greeted like that in a new town.. seeing
an old face that you know.. as i get older.. i realize
i have more friends eVerywhere.. ones i havnt even
met yet.. like those cute black dudes sitting to the
left of me today as i sipped on my long island ice
tea under the fake sf fog misters.. feeling pRoud
of my daRin' choice of dRinks and if i really could
consume it and walk out fine and to the cr.. seVeral
blocks aWay...
