Hair!

Sure am glad I still have most of mine, sure wish Katie would hang on to more of hers. I’ve gone through life searching for the meaning of life, trying to find my purpose in life. Now as I am pecking away on this blackberry, writing, I realize it is only in the way of my true purpose, to throw this wad of raw hide across the room for Katie Kat to fetch. I don’t think there is any greater pleasure in life, than to inflict joy, on another ones life. All i say is, are you ready, and she’s across the room, ready to ambush, what she knows is soon to follow. The joy I get in watching this, is just an unintended consequence. Thinking back, it must have been Spring 1969, I was hanging out in DC, waiting for the weather to break. California was flooding, tape of mudslides all over the news. My cousin Gus, knew I was planing to hitch hike west, he didn’t think good of the idea, he had me watch it floating away on the news. He had a pretty powerful argument, the time I spent with him, were times it was raining in DC. I hadn’t hardened up yet, I was good in most weather, I was always able to keep warm. When it rained, it got a little dicey, Gus would let me crash at the Georgetown Dorm, never letting me forget, how difficult rain could make things. I’ve always been stubborn, I see the storms in LA have stopped, and I take off. It’s always tough hitchhiking out of DC, you take whatever ride you can get trying to get clear of the beltways. I end up in the middle of the night by Frederick Maryland and pick up a ride in a truck heading to Saint Louis. Always I saw that town as my gateway, things just seemed to get easier West of the Mississippi. This truck was pulling a trailer full of coffins. We were off the highway most of the time, pulling into small towns, unloading two or three coffins at the local funeral home. Some of this was through the night, and I’ll tell ya, my imagination ran wild. I have to be careful throwing that wad of raw hide for Katie, she will slam right into the door chasing it. Her focus on that leather, is like the way a Pit Bull would focus on her. She knows her purpose, she knows I enjoy the show. She is willing to do this all day long for me. Prior to that early spring in DC, I’d been hanging out in Philly. A lot of music was going on back then, the Electric Factory, the Quaker City Music Festival. I caught Frank Zappa on a tuesday night, one of a long list of acts I saw that Fall and Winter at the Electric Factory. Up all night, stopping by Vincents Bakery at three AM for fresh bread, drinking coffee, at one of the old time, street side luncheonett, the type of place in the painting Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Actually the painting is Nitehawks, (1942) Edward Hopper. So anyhow, I’m up all nite, I’m walking by the old Penn Center Inn, as I’m passing the restaurant at the Inn, I see the drummer for the Mothers. It was a cold Wednesday, I wasn’t shy, I went in and started talking about the show. We talked 15 or 20 minutes, I wanted to write songs, short on the talent, long on the drive. I was out of Philly, pretty quick after that, heading down to DC. How lucky am I? A cat that fetches. Back to Saint Louis, then south to Memphis, it was still cold, early spring, storms still blowing across the plains, I knew to head South. From Memphis, the next city, Little Rock. I have come across this spot east of Little Rock many times in my life, this spot, the place on this trip,I stood hitchhiking, not knowing which way I would go. I believe, when I came to this spot, it was a crossroads in my life, not that things would have been any better, any worse, just that I know that they would have been different had I gone to Amarillo. From Little Rock, next stop, Texarkana. What is so important about this town? It was the first time I ever saw mayonnaise on a burger, I gagged, from that time on I’ve learned to order my burgers dry. Does anyone have any feelings about mayonnaise on italian Hogies? When coming back to Philly one year, and being asked if I wanted oil or mayonnaise on my Hogie, I canceled my order, I knew I was in the wrong place. Texas was tough, it wasn’t until twelve or one that I finley found my way to the Fort Worth Bus Station. I had a little money, I knew I was stuck, I have always had trouble getting through Dallas, Fort Worth. Even trying to drive through I end up going in the wrong direction. This is true only while heading west, coming east is a breeze. I catch a bus heading west, a couple bucks worth, and end up in a small town a little before dawn. I meet up with a kid on the bus from this town, its cold, he tells me I can hang out until light, until it warms a little. I remember this stuff because of things that happen along the way, I remember going to his place. First thing, he takes a wooden match, strikes it, and lights a gas heater. I had never seen a gas heater before like this, and I didn’t like it, it didn’t seem safe. Texas. I opted for the cold, headed for the highway, headed for Abllene. I got there mid morning, I had a toothache, decided to hit the center of town, I think I expected the town of the movies. It was a modern town, certainly more modern than my home town. I made it to the drug store, got what I came for, and headed back to the highway. I really got the feeling I wasn’t appreciated in Texas, they looked at me funny, guess I was standing out. I spent a lot of hours on that highway outside of Abllene trying to get a ride, I watched jets taking off and landing at the Air Force Base. I figured it out, this was a Military Town, the war was on, I was everything, they didn’t want to see. They all just left me alone, they all just looked right through me. Late in the afternoon I pick up a ride with a truck heading to El Paso, he’s taking the slow road, making stops along the way. God only knows the roads we were on, we were out in the middle of nowhere. Through the night we drove, it was as dark as I’ve ever seen, I slept on and off. About 3AM were pulling into El Paso, the highway is empty, we had picked up the interstate a few miles back, and were just coming down the mountain. The road is empty, there is one car about 100 yards ahead, out of nowhere, this car hangs a hard right, and drives up a bank. It all happened in slow motion, like in a dream, then we were awake. My next ride was quick, the road west out of El Paso runs up to Las Cruces. A cowboy in a pick up, picks me up, says he’s heading west of Las Cruces. This is a nice little bump, it gets me through the towns and cities, a lot easier getting rides on an open highway. So this cowboy drops me in the middle of nowhere, there is no moon, it must have been overcast, there was no light. There were sounds, I was.scared, for all I knew there could be mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and bear at every step. Every ten or so minutes a car might pass, the minutes really drag when your scared. I’d hold my sign high, hang out my thumb, but the car would drive on. This was a two lane highway, and after a while, I was working both sides. Still my luck was bad, I was really scared,all the sounds were strange, all I knew of this country I learned from movies. I decided the next car was not getting by, I was going to flag him down. I know your thinking its about time for my luck to change, the next car coming is a cop. What are the odds, he was really pissed, I told him how scared I was out there, he sorta chuckled. He did all those cop things, my only ID was a library card, he knew I was a kid, I told him of my trouble at home, told him I was going to my uncles in Seal Beach, Leisure World. He told me to get in the car, I thought it was over, he’d be sending me home. As we got to the outskirts of Las Cruces he pulled off to a donut shop. He got out, came around, opened my door and told me to come on. The cop bought a couple cups of coffee, a half dozen donuts and told me to come sit down. We sat there eating, talking, drinking till dawn. I was a big kid, he knew I was just a kid, he told me what he was wrestling with, he asked a lot about my family. When the sun came up we said good bye, he shook my hand, he wished me luck