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| Sea Breeze Has 'em Dancing In The Park |
My fleece blanket was no match for the frigid 52 degree air. But, neither were the mosquitoes and ants.
I wrapped my towel around me, and slid my lower legs into a few shirts and was able to finish sleeping, though pretty fitfully. I had a dream about running from room to room through what I believed to be a college campus, until I looked out the window of one room on an upper level and saw The Miami Ocean, a body of water that only exists in dreams.
I woke up with a resolve to get a blanket today, and was not above going to the Wings of Life Rescue Mission and begging them for any that they might have laying around their Thrift Store.
I couldn't bring myself to busk Thursday night because I knew that I would be doing it for drinking money, as I didn't yet know that a blanket would soon become top priority.
Someone even asked me how I was doing and I said that I was intentionally NOT playing because I wanted to stay sober. I played them a couple songs and they got me an iced tea out of Heroes Bar...
I really wanted to be sober, so I could sit and meditate upon things, which I did. The "danger" of being homeless and sober is in looking around at your piece of cardboard and the ants in your peanut butter and hearing Howard snoring from 40 feet away and realizing that that is your life; a pretty grave danger... "
I made instant coffee with cold water and honey in the morning and drank it after I had slept an extra 3 hours, and missed an opportunity to play by the Big Clock in front of the bank on Royal Street starting at about 7 a.m. That has never failed to net some money as, people who have dragged themselves out of bed and are skulking their way to their jobs seem to appreciate someone else who has done the same; and at no other time is a busker seen as being different from a beggar than then.
I instead went to Bienville Park, to record My Friday Morning Sea Breeze Warm Up, heard here.
I think that if I prop up the laptop so that the microphone is closer to my mouth and further away from the guitar, I will achieve a better balance between the levels of the two; and that should be the next little improvement made in the next morning warm ups.
My choice of songs to warm up with come at random, but, the third song, which is my send-up of "You Are So Beautiful," by Joe Cocker has a bit of trivia attached: While performing it in New Orleans, with Sue sitting by my side; I soon realized that she was no longer by my side, but walking away angrily -an example of a person thinking that a song was being directed at them when it was really just a song that I felt like doing at the time; one of my "comedy" songs...
Wings Of Life Has Me Covered
I made it to Wings of Life Rescue Mission where I walked into the Thrift Store and soon saw a sleeping bag hanging along a wall.
Asking the lady how much they would probably want for it, yielded the answer "2 dollars" from her.
"Oh, cool," I said and added that I should be able to make at least that this evening.
"Well, how much do you have?' she asked.
"61 cents, and a Mardi Gras (worthless) coin," I said.
They sold me the sleeping bag for 61 cents, and prayed that I would play great music tonight and would get a lot of tips.Now I am finding that, when it is rolled up and inside my backpack, the bag props this laptop higher up, closer to my mouth and further away from the guitar, getting me ready for tomorrows Sea Breeze warm up recording.
Flying Solo
I see Howard for about 1 minute per day. He slogs by at around 7 a.m. and drops the sports section at my feet and then goes off to his rendezvous with a Sausage Mc Muffin. I usually don't see him again all day.
So, I am starting to think independently as is probably he, and I really don't think he will miss me if I go off alone in search of Jacksonville and the Florida/Georgia fiasco.
There is a chance that the train will go to Chattanooga, Tennessee instead of Jacksonville, maybe about 1 in 4.
If that were to happen, I think I could take it in stride better if I didn't have to have the following conversation:
Howard: "Are we in Jacksonville?"
Me: "No, (pointing at a big water tower in front of us with 'Chattanooga, TN' written on it) we seem to be in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Howard."
Howard: "Oh, wow!"
Me: "There's a Jack-In-The-Box down that way."Howard: "OK."
I call 52 delightful sleeping, and do it fine with the ultra-cheapo sleeping bag (zipper's already shot) I got from Big-5.
ReplyDeleteThe key to sleeping in the cold is layers. At the rural place, if it was in the 30's outside, it was in the 30's inside. The main advantage of the roof was shelter from the wind, and rain/snow. But I'd have ice on the window by my head in the morning. I discovered inner layers like down, or that artificial sleeping bag fleece stuff you find in the cheap bags. Then on top of that, something with some weight. I was putting bath towels on top in a pattern for a while, then lucked onto one of those nice heavy-ass comforters. And wear a stocking cap on your head, ideally one of those with the ear flaps with the little ties so you can tie it on and it won't come off in your sleep.