Forget for a minute that Austin is the capital of Texas, that GWBush used to run the show from here, the scores of executions and dirty deals, etc.
Austin is a beautiful town. As the snow comes down in NYC, I was walking around Town Lake in the sunshine. Down tree lined streets and woodsy paths with creeks.
Yesterday I sat by the Congress St. bridge and watched thousands of bats fly from underneath the bridge into the dusk. It is a natural phenomenon that happens every day from mid-March through the fall, supposedly most amazing in late August, when the baby bats learn how to fly and the number of flying bats doubles from 750,000 to 1,500,000.
People smile more here than in New York.
I stumbled upon Resistencia Books and met a man named Raul Salinas, who has been making poetry for the people for many many years. I was glad and honored to meet him. On the walls were a photo exhibit of indigenous women of resistance, from Puerto Rico to Canada to the PODER, an Texas group that fights environmental racism here in the Mexicano and Afro communities. Communities of color all over get stuck with the garbage of society.
We went past a (now defunct?) club in East Austin called the Fresh Up Club. Any readers who may have been to the Fresh Up Club and know what kind of entertainment it had, please write!
Adrian and Celeste are wonderful hosts. It looks like I am going to be here at least 3 more days and they are still putting up with me. I try to be a good houseguest and stay out of the way. They are so gracious, and Celeste is an amazing cook. Their pet Chihuahua, Ana, is completely crazy but not annoying-crazy. Just hyper and playful at times.
I have been learning the ins and outs of Macintosh System X (Panther, oooh) and some new software programs, trying to use the computer to my advantage.
Tomorrow? Calls to the mechanic, work on the children's book manuscripts, some songwriting, a good walk and stretching session, flute practice.
Greetings from Nashville, TN.
The trip was uneventful-cold in most places. I used up all the veggie oil in my tank and in the containers I had brought with me, getting me in total about 600 miles into the trip at about 35 miles per gallon, cruising between 65 and 75 mph.
Wal-Mart Country
I needed some rubber gloves,a gas tank cap (I didn't have one on the diesel tank), and a funnel, and decided on a trip to WalMart, the only store that I could see that might have one. I pulled off I-81, and at the bottom of the ramp was a skinny, toothless man in his 50s with jeans and a camo jacket holding a sign sreading "HOMELESS VET, PLEASE HELP." A car with a bumper sticker reading "We Support Our Troops" drove right past...
Inside WalMart. and was blown away at the scale of it...the store was packed with shoppers, each one surrounded by 14 foot high walls of merchandise.
The people that worked there were extremely friendly and helpful. I struck up a conversation with Marie, one of the customer greeters, who was intrigued with the project. When I told her that I was running on veggie oil, she was dumbfounded, and I saw gears began to turn in her head. She directed me to a grease rendering plant 25 miles down the road in Winchester (another story).
In front of me at the checkout was a young man in full combat fatigues, part of the local Natl. Guard Air Force unit in Martinsburg, WV. He had been called into active duty, but hadn't been sent anywhere. I told him about my friend Luis who was sent over to Kuwait, only to get an eviction notice from his landlord because the Army had "lost his paperwork," along with the paperwork of dozens of other soldiers in his unit. I hoped this young man wouldn't die for petroleum, or end up like Luis, or the man at the bottom of the off-ramp.
The Rendering Plant
It was already dark when I got to Winchester, but I figured as I was low on grease, it might be worthwhile. I got some directions, and got lost in a trailer park, but was put back on track by some friendly locals.
I could smell the plant from two miles away. I stopped at the security checkpoint, and explained my mission to the guard, who sent me up the hill. A young man came out and brought me inside of the plant to a supervisor, who, while interested, told me I would have to wait till morning for some sort of approval, and that the grease also had a high animal fat content. It smelled like hell, and I thanked them politely and left.
Signs of Age
It took several hours to get to Nashville. I took a few naps and pee stops along the way. At one stop, after washing my hands I looked into the mirror and noticed two gray hairs.
Welcome In Nashville
Around 5:30 AM I pulled into the driveway of Debra and Michael--friends of my mother's--who had graciously agreed to put me up for the night. They had a small cozy futon with organic sheets, a bottle of water, fresh towels, and some herbal medicine to help me sleep. There are good people everywhere!
Today I took MetroNorth up to New Haven to meet up with the mechanic Mark Penta (aka Mr. Amazing Genius) and drove back down I-95 through Connecticut and Westchester on pure canola oil.
The joy of breezing past gas stations, knowing that if I do my homework, I will never have to go to one again, except for a quart of oil or to take a leak...
