MORNING RIDE

after putting out a request
to my social network
for borrowing a camcorder

to document a friend's heroic efforts
at farming in the desert
while holding own the job to make ends meet


i dithered in the yard
before deciding to walk
instead of cycle to the neighborhood cafe

stopped on the way at a yard sale
to chat with a woman heading to portland

bought her cd player for three bucks
after offering five

and decided to walk back home
with the goods


back home
i revised my plan

and finally got on the bike

needing a tune up
air in the rear tire
and ultimately slicks to replace the knobbies

but on it i got anyway
and headed off to the cafe

______________________

while fortifying myself with matte
i met an old deadhead
who just got his hip replaced by the v a

he was listening to the loud blonde regular
who kind-of hosts a communal table
and who upon leaving was replaced by

a large dude with serious dreads
wearing a lavendar one-piece garment
and big feathers in his hair


i began a conversation
with a beautiful young woman

who turned out to be a violinist
studying suzuki teaching at unm
with a former teacher of mine!

we had a nice talk
she shared some of the challenges
of being a young woman in the modern world

i listened
offered concern
and a card with the web address for my music

_____________________

i then asked a guy about the brown package he was opening
it was a color of american spirits i did not recognize

he offered me one
and i accepted

i told him i'm playing music
and want to do more danceable stuff

turns out he's a 24 year old philosophy student
with a performance art space
where they have music occasionally
and dancing!

so he got the card too


as i went back to my writing
i overheard a conversation
between him and his girlfriend

striking in its awareness:

the need for communication
across the barriers set up
by the limited skewed and self-interested contexts
presented by mainstream media

i interjected my gratitude
how it supports in me hope for the world
to hear young folks really willing to look at reality

in order to try and free themselves
to contribute something to the beleagured planet

and we chatted some more
before he headed off to work

____________________

i then said hello
to a lovely ecstatic dancer i recognized
as she finished her breakfast

she is a great contact dancer
beautiful and with nice energy

i hadn't seen her at class in months
but she was planning on going tonight
so i will see her there!

we chatted a moment more about
my ecstatic dance band initiatives

she's just gotten a bass
to compliment her percussion

so guess what
i threw her the card too

as she headed off to work

_________________

i rode off
in an unplanned direction
so as not to cut in front of the dancer's car actually

and thus ended up on central instead of silver
where i saw what i thought was an old acquaintance
walk into the neighborhood music shop

heading for a folk music gig
she was picking up a forgotten cable for her viola

i told her we should book a double bill
and now definitely on a roll

gave her the card to check the music page

which by the way
i'm getting about ten hits on

daily

_____________

on i spun
toward the bike coop in nob hill
but ended up going over to the massage school

picked up some tuition and schedule info
it's half the price of santa fe

and booked a massage at the student clinic
$23 with the discount for being a prospective student


rode over to the food co-op
to see if they are hiring

i know it's like $8 - 10 an hour
but i'm just ready for the next stage of
my transition to an economy with integrity

and a workplace freer of cognitive dissonance

i'll check back in a couple weeks
if nothing else has come up


then biked over to umn
to see if there was any chance
the old cheap student-run bike repair shop
was still around

it is!

i was so excited to see it
think $10 tune-ups
i didn't mind it was closed for the weekend


i then enjoyed watching
the beautiful game of ultimate

amazed at its eternal renewal
year after year on the big field

before i headed home
on the bike

to blog it