i am a mile high. i am as high as a mile would be if it were laid on
end facing the sky. denver colorado is a glorious bowl of lights and
crystal air. we drove here all the way from iowa yesterday. twelve
hours across the prairie flat endlessness of western iowa and into
the great vast void of nebraska. i should say though that iowa is not
flat, but charmingly rolling. waves made out of grain. golden green
and rolling. we stopped in des moines for lunch and other than
that it was simply gasoline until the mountain line. there is no reason
to let up when making that trek. we did it like fiends bent on the drug
of destination. bent on getting here. we have to be back in california
by friday, and there is no question that the time is fragile. we ate a
grand feast and drank beer and margaritas until we had to give in to
the fatigue of flying. flying across the floor of the earth at a relentless
pace. sleep felt deeper than the stars can reach. and this morning i woke
up with the desire to drift. i went on a great hike of a walk through the
downtown streets and finally out of the maze to a park by a river with a
strange bridge hanging over. the sunlight was beyond golden and looked
thick like you could grab it out of the wind. i took a pocketful. when i got
to the far end of the park where the bridge began and the river sang
her never-ending swirling song, i dipped down beneath the span and
navigated my way through the sticks and trees to the sand where the
water waited. it was like liquid diamond clarity swimming swiftly past
the shore. i captured some in cupped hands and splashed it on my
sleeping skin. now my face is fresh and free. and i am good and ready.
westward once again it seems until we crash into the sea...