Monday, July 21, 2014

Day 256 - July 14th

Calera, Alabama
A note on the floor read: “Good morning, Sam. Could you take my black car and drive to Little Caesar’s and pick up 3 pepperoni cheese $5 dollar pizzas? Turn right out the driveway, then left at the stop sign into town and after 3 lights it’ll be on your right. We’ll be back around 11:30.” A crisp $100 sat next to Donna’s car keys. At 11:00 I bounced out the door and sat behind the wheel of a car for the first time in 8 ½ months. It was exhilarating. Windows rolled down and music on, I sped off to town, noting landmarks as I went so as not to get lost on the way back. I’d forgotten how liberating it was to drive. Cars are extremely fast. I wonder if I’ll ever be impatient again in a car. The whole thing reminded me of California where it seems like all we do is drive with our windows down. And eat burritos; that’s something I realized is very distinctly Californian, the burritos.

I secured the pizzas without incident and managed to call several people in the interim. Sprint has a terrible cell network in Alabama. Back at the house, Donna, Haleigh, Sandy, Nancy, Linda and another woman were waiting and we ate lunch together. Afterwards, I finished Breaking Bad at last. What an epic show! It’s taken me a long time to finish the series because of its brutal intensity. I had to stop watching it twice, once after the second season and again after the fourth. What most people—myself included—find riveting is the transformation of Walt, the main character, from being a good, decent man to the kingpin of a meth empire. His precipitous fall drags out over five seasons and I’m still unsure at which point his noble intentions of providing for his family turned into ruinous ambition.


Haleigh and I fed the horses in the evening again and I returned to my illustrious role of flashlight bearer. As Haleigh was mixing the horse feed, I sampled some of their electrolytes and garlic powder for some reason. I blame Haleigh. She talked me into it. 

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