Chrisonomicon

Friday, June 7, 2002

I met myself halfway on the connectivity debate, declining to have cable television installed and instead opting for the internet, alone. I have to say I'm really quite impressed with the speed and that's a surprise, since I had a high-speed connection at my previous residence and this is at least twice as fast.

I bought a power drill at the Home Depot yesterday, testosterone pumping through my veins as I proudly lugged the large, plastic carrying case through the entire length of the store at least once to let all of the gorgeous, orange-aproned man-help see that I, too, knew how to wield a power tool. Then I realized I was using it to install track lighting at home and quickly exited the store before anyone asked what I'd be using it for.

Later, after three episodes of OZ, a Tombstone stuffed pizza, and two tracks of lighting had been installed, I ventured out into the field across the street from my apartment that stretches off into the foothills of the blue Rockies. The sun was setting and I ran around the building to catch the last few rays on my face but, instead of stopping, I kept jogging. I passed evening walkers, barbed-wire fences, and enormous anthills built as shrines to the glory of summer, and followed a trail that winds down through thick pine groves and down toward the valley and the interstate.

When I finally stopped, winded, the sun had set behind the mountains, casting everything in a shade of blue. Strangely, it was still warm, so I pulled off my shirt and continued walking down the path until the ground pulled me down and I sat hard on the gravel to watch and listen to the sounds of the field.

I tried silencing everything in my head to meditate but the first few bars of Roy Orbison's "Crying" kept cycling in my head. I concentrated on the quiet whir of the highway and took a deep breath through my mouth, tasting the pine and pollen in the air. At dad's there was this flat rock I used to visit occasionally to sit and meditate on and thought it might be a good idea to find a similar place out here, somewhere undeveloped and wild where I could escape to quiet my head.

I turned back without following the trail to the end so that I'd have more to explore tomorrow.