“I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.” ~ Umberto Eco
“Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual weakness within the immense collectivity, the fact remains that we are absolutely free today if we choose to will our existence in its finiteness, a finiteness which is open on the infinite. And in fact, any man who has known real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real will knows quite well that he has no need of any outside guarantee to be sure of his goals; their certitude comes from his own drive.” ~ Simone de Beauvoir
In reality, I simply spaced that I needed to buy ground coffee. Yesterday morning the dire need dawned on me. But no. At least I didn’t break training and forget cat food as well. So in an uncharacteristic move I decided to throttle back on the agoraphobia then venture out before dawn to get a cup of coffee. The closest gas staton is a tad beyond one mile from here. There was an old woman at the pump when I pulled in to the station. Silver hair with silver SUV; a straw cowboy hat on the dashboard, all spoke of Texas. I often park at the pump to have easy egress when I leave, regardless of needing gas or not. I got out of the car and saw her up close, just standing in front of her car, looking somewhat dazed. Walking on I found the door to the little box of a lobby was locked, so I walked around to the other door which was also locked. Yes, the lights were on. No one home. As I returned to my car the old woman made a hands up shrug. I told her they open at 5 AM and the lights were on. She said they’d been on when she got there, about four hours before. Mumbly southern accent, a charming drawl. I told her I was headed down to the next gas station. She said, “How far’s it? I need gas.” About a mile and a half, ma’am, about a mile and a half. “I’ll follow you”, she replied. As I was waiting, second in line at the checkout counter, she entered, still looking dazed. “I waited for four hours. I fell asleep waiting. And it’s cold. It’s Summer, right? Why is it cold?”. I explained to her that in the Summer it usually is chilly in the early morning. “I have such a long ways to go yet. I fell asleep in the car. Well, anyway, thank you for leading the way”. She wandered off as I stepped up to the register. Turned out I’d scored a free cup of coffee with my Speedy Rewards members points. Now – a couple of hours later – it all has a cinematic cast to it. Yes, I considered checking her license plate to see if my sense about Texas was on the mark, but I chose not to. It didn’t matter. Texas, Oklahoma, whatever. I’m guessing she was an angel, a herald of free coffee to come, because I’d helped a stranger in need.
“Well I’ve never been to Heaven, but I’ve been to Oklahoma – they tell me I was born there, but it really doesn’t matter”~ Hoyt Axton
Peace out, y’all. Goof gloriously.
Eyeyotee 