We Came For The Music

2 1/2 Hours Late

It is the Wednesday of my big appearance in Homeless Court.

Phone Alarm Blamed
As I had predicted, I was about 2 and a half hours late (I set my cellphones "alarm clock" feature, but didn't notice that I was setting it to "p.m." -it will go off this evening at 6:45 to remind me that I was an idiot..).

I went to sleep early last night, after purposely spending the last of my cash on a couple beers (to help me get to sleep; and so that I would be forced into sobriety today).

I woke up at one point when the sky was starting to lighten up, and was expecting my alarm to sound any second (Howard was doing his 6:05 a.m. stir).

I drifted back to sleep.

I had a high power (Bawls) energy drink next to me, which I was prepared to gulp down; had I been roused out of a deep sleep at the sounding of the alarm.

It was 7:58 when I next woke up.

I had 2 minutes to get across the river and 2 more miles to the courthouse. 

I decided to just slow down and take my time.

The people from Unity were not there when I got there. I don't know if they had been there earlier and left, or if they had never been there.
Nobody asked me why I hadn't been there at 8 o' clock.
Another Month?

I was given another date of April 17th, about a month from now.

...for something that I might decide not to even pursue.

I will talk to as many people as I can about Unity and how they operate.

They don't allow "walk ins" at their office; they only interview people at the courthouse; the Homeless Court house...

A Freakishly Bizarre Coincidence

About a week ago, I posted about my having found a CD which was released by an old ex-girlfriend, named Xanna.

We were in a relationship once; and I lived with her for about a year in 2002 and 2003.*

*There is a long story on this blog; in the 2002 archives; which deals with strange occurrences at that "haunted" house in Virginia where we lived.

As I walked the 2 miles from the courthouse towards The Rebuild Center, where I was to inquire more about Unity, my mind wandered through many things.

I started thinking back 11 years to Xanna and her piano playing.

I remembered when she got me an Ibanez acoustic guitar as a birthday gift and when I took it out of the case and tried to play (for the first time in 2 years), she asked me if I really knew how to play the guitar; so out of practice was I and tender in the fingertips at the time.

As I walked further, still on this train of thought, I passed the Tulane Medical Center where, parked in front was a turquoise Ford Mustang, just like the one Xanna drove when I knew her.

I got to Rebuild and was told by one of the nuns that the Unity people can only be seen at the courthouse; they don't visit Rebuild.

I thanked her and was turning to leave when I saw, standing about 12 feet away from me, none other than Xanna. 
I've Gotten Better

11 Years Older

She was wearing a black winter jacket, fit for a Virginia winter.

I had to look for a second to make sure it wasn't someone who just looked an awful lot like Xanna, but, the recent photo of her which I had seen along with her CD on line was the spitting image of her.
"I just came upon one of your CDs; 'Winter (something)'" I reported; thinking that she would be happy to think that her music had gotten around so well.

The truth is that someone would have to Google the name "Xanna" -a name that came to her in a dream which she legally changed to- like I did in order to find her "needle in a haystack" of a CD in the expanse of the www- but I had just happened to have done that a week earlier.

And there she was, at the Rebuld Center...

She asked me how I was doing and what brought me to New Orleans.

I asked the same and our answers were identical on the point that it was "the music" which brought us here.

Xanna seemed a little bit distant (which isn't surprising given our history) but seemed eager to know what I thought of her music.

I told her that I was impressed and we talked bit about music.

"I've put out 3 more since then," she said. "I've gotten better."

...I know I have...
Strawberries And Olive Oil
We talked a bit more.
Her "14 year old" son, Emory, is 25 now and "works at Kroger and has a college degree." I had to smile at the recollection of Charlottesville, Virginia and all the Masters Degree holders there who flipped hamburgers and delivered newspapers...

She mentioned that she (is now) autistic (but only learned that fact about 4 years ago) and that she also has food allergies "just like you" and rattled off a few foods of which I remember "strawberries" and "olive oil."

"Maybe I'll see you in town," I said.
She wasn't very committal in her response.

Then, I left to come here to the library, but stopped at the Shell station for an energy drink.

I almost bumped into her on my way out.

"Are we going to keep running into each other?" I asked.

"I guess so, said Xanna."

And that was my Freakish Coincidental Meeting of the year.