Porch Girl - A short story 

Walked to the fridge, and grabbed two bottles of beer. Opened each. Walked to the front door and opened it.

There she was.

This time, she sat on the chair to the right. She took her beer, said thanks. It was meant for her since it was opened, and I wondered to myself if the act of opening her a beer made her materialize on my porch. Ridiculous, but still… Where connectedness comes from, I stopped trying to figure out a long time ago. I was just glad to see her there. I sat down in the chair next to her and took a sip of mine. The air had become cool. I took the towel from around my neck and dried my hair some more, then sat back and put my feet up on the railing. Deep breath. Deep, satisfied, breath. I looked out at the sunset sky, taking in the full scope of it.

Impossible. Totally fricken impossible. Or at least, highly unlikely. That is the theme that was common in my head, when she started showing up spontaneously on my porch on nights like this. After all of the years of chasing things, working to maintain, impress, win over, that it would happen like this; Impossible. Yet there she is. The astonishment started to fade. Because the most remarkable factor, in this thing that was impossible, is how comfortable it is, how natural it is. And she became everything that my best friend could be, and everything that my girlfriend could be. Grateful is not exactly the right word for what I started to feel. Comfortable is in some ways closer, but none of my words explain it. She feels like home.

Middle of my next sip of beer, she nudges me with her elbow and points out a certain cloud a bit to the south. It has a particularly interesting shade of orange-ish red, against a deepening shade of blue sky. “Hmm” I say. Considering it, like a point someone made.

There are kids playing soccer in the yard behind my house, occasionally there would be a shout GOAL!! then a thump against my fence. This of course did not bother us in the least. It blended in, part of everything else, the clouds, birds chirping, cars driving past, jets flying over… All goodness baby, all goodness…

It’s really nothing. I earned every bit of it.

It doesn’t matter how you got here

It’s what you do from here on out

Symmetry

 

What happens before

And after

Are related

Tied to each other

And tied through you

 

as creation hums

as she is silent

Find the balance and move

 

If you are at a bar

And you are sure there is going to be a brawl

Your gang against some other gang

And, just as tension is building,

“I’ll bet I can lift you off the ground”

Go ahead and let him try

 

It will be unsettling,

He, making great efforts

He, making strange Prince-like grunts and noises

He will muss his Prince-like hair in the struggle

 

But the others will see you standing firm

You are Lummox

You are large

...and better sometimes than the songs i pick

are the songs that come up on "random"

 

Name the song and band if you know it. If not nevermind :)

 

I'm stuck in San Jose for a meeting, miles away from my routine.

I miss Colorado skies

I miss time on the road bike, spinning hard, glancing down at the speedo

I miss my yard, starting to show signs of this years grass

 

I miss the Cerwin Vega speakers in my living room,

playing whatever song i want, when i want it.

I miss walking by the Yeti, knowing it will be climbing soon enough.

 

I miss my cat, about as much as she misses me.

Which is probably not much.

But she is where all my stuff is.

 

 

 

Went for a ride this weekend, pre-rode the Cherry Creek Time Trial course with Marni and Scott. Felt good, decent weather if a bit over-cast. Tons of other riders out on the course. Afterwards we went to Tokyo Joes for lunch. Scott offered a ride in his newly resurrected car, a Eagle Talon, turbo, all wheel drive. That car is wicked fast. Probably the fastest car I have ever been in, except for the 427 Cobra that I was lucky enough to get a ride in at Second Creek raceway. Scott’s car feels strong, well balanced. He described it as “docile” when not on the throttle, and that’s accurate. Then it's an absolute rocket when the throttle is opened. Very nifty.

Excerpt from an email to my friends: 

Chekkit: This weekend, on the 11th, daylight savings begins. The sun will
be going down at, can you believe it ;;;; 7:02! That means twilight until
730 ish. AND we will be exactly one month from when we line up for Cherry Creek Time Trials. Winter Park: only 3 months out. 3 Months!!!! it was more than 3 months ago that we got hit by our first big storm, so as the great Ferris Beauhler said: Life moves
pretty fast...