by word of mouth

almost on the road again. and i have to get into the practice of taking notes on the people who decide to let me in their car; its exhausting, exhilarating to be allowed to step in and out of people's universes. its more like traveling by teleportation, and ending up in the wrong place many times before finally getting where you intended to go.
early am: after one trucker in santa rosa told us he was going to eureka, exactly where we wanted to go, decided to take us along despite risking his chlorine-transporting job, we ended up in ukiah. he talked about his wife and their fifty-year relationship, showed us pictures while driving that monster truck: he was working at a gas station at the time, and she had just found out that her boyfriend had a wife already. she had been a model in hawaii, and then she just chose him. wooooooooooooooooooowhee!! i've been called worse! what! geddit tattooed on yer brain!!
and thinking that we were going to be stuck in an awful truckstop with a cute pricey diner where i had one of the most stressful phone calls of my life, a mother and teenage daughter took us to a much better spot about a half hour north next to the high school. before they even pulled away a woman my age stopped and took us a little further, on her way to a festival of all women witches. we made a friend in oakland who had told us she was going to the same festival. she was vibrant and listening to hole, and i sang along. the woman in the car shared her pain killers when jake's back wouldn't let up and listened to some awful reggae and new metal.
and then we were stranded on the top of a mountain. a place to pull off, hot hot sun, lots of rocks and evergreens. after a 3 minute ride to a better spot, a middle aged man with a mccain sticker on his suv truck, towing a boat came to our rescue. he told us about the underground floors in the pentagon (he worked on B16) fighting terrorist threats. he told us of how many 9-11s have almost happened, how many football staduims are threatened, how much incorrigible hatred is within the pages of the koran and how goofy george bush jr was when they met at area 51, years back. we would be haughty to think we're the only intelligent life form out there. that's for sure.
he drove us two air conditioned hours through the redwood forests. he is going to put all of the other boat towing companies out of business by creating small truck stops around the country that are completely green; solar power and vegetable oil. a sensible, considerate capitalist.
we walked across the street and held out our thumbs as i tried with a dead marker to fill in our sign while still showing it to cars, and in about two minutes a pick up truck pulled over and turned around in the dirt lot behind us. 30/m/logger. we could come along to eureka, but he's gotta go home first to ferndale. do we want to come along?
yes we do. you're going to love my house, i live in the coolest house you'll ever see: it's a museum. have you ever heard of hobart brown? he invented the kinetic sculpure race. do you have a dollar? anyway, there are secret passages behind bookshelves and a staircase that comes down out of the wall when you turn a captain's wheel. you'll see.
rueben gave us a beer to share, showed us the hidden passages and up to the haunted third floor, and let us wander while he washed off the evidence of his 14 hour day of bark and dirt and grease. his symbols were still impossible to classify, he put on a coat and a hat that was half abe lincoln, half cowboy. he couldn't figure out how to read his text messages, so he didn't. we drove to eureka together and he invited us to hang out with him for the night, we could even stay at the museum. it's really meant for travelers. i'll buy you a coffee, don't worry about it. let's go for a walk to the pier. do you want to share this pitcher with me?
jake never gets carded when he forgets his id. i usually do, but i always have it.
my age is more flexible. in oakland, in two liquor stores, are you 21? yes, i'm 22. oh, okay. leaving san francisco: how much is the fare to get over the bridge? $3. are you under 18? yes i am! well then it's half price!
and none of this is even recent news anymore.
i am still in portland after two weeks, and all signs point to "i live here." i don't think i'll be able to tolerate the winter anywhere, and i don't know who i want to survive it with. my brain is spinning, my tattooed brain, with all of the new characters and interpretations of symbols in my life. now i understand a little better how it is possible to have secrets. you need people to tell everything to if you don't want to hold anything back! i am learning to be honest--in a new-for-me, more self-serving productive way. i haven't left the house today. i've just been talking to myself and getting bit by fleas.