Monthly Archives: October 2007

I could not bring myself to leave the house all weekend, or what bit of weekend I caught. The weather is perfect, and I knew about the 9:00 A:M Sunday Joe’s ride. I was awake at 6:15 A:M and could easily have made it, but the jones for a clean and peaceful nest was too great. I wanted a chicken in the pot, fresh sheets on the bed. When I return from a trip of any length, I feel a bit like the madman, the ranting lunatic. By leaving I see Tallahassee, my life, and your lives as well through the magnifying glass of nostalgic optimism. I magnify all of our traits. For instance, in my class last week I was proselytizing about Publix, where shopping is a pleasure. It doesn’t matter that they insist on wrapping their vegetables in little Styrofoam boats, they are the best grocery store in the history of the world! I will lead people to believe that lake Ella is actually a lake. I will claim the canopy roads run everywhere, and happy children wave from the branches of Live Oaks as you ride your bike to work. I tell people that my friends are fascinating people who enjoy discussing art and literature, Geo-politics and the impact of hip hop on white American culture. They build things with their hands and they play rock and roll music.

Then I come home and behave as though it were all true all the time.

-Juancho