ellipses yard sale

8:00 a.m. - 2006-01-04
LAX

Watching the sun come up over the Escondido Mountains -- oak-choked washes, stony outcrops, and classic examples of seventies SoCal-suburban architecture. Finches mosh in the feeders as a hawk glides on the still morning air. Was I nine years old the first time my family made our way across the Sierra Nevadas? When, sticky with dog-hair and carsick on Fritos, my eyes first widened to appreciate the grand scale of the west? Widened at this quality of light, so different than the muggy haze of the south? These hills, when they're not on fire, sloughing catastrophically towards the sea, or tumor-ridden with strip malls and cineplexes, they are beautiful hills. I'm in a lawn-chair, in shirtsleeves, drinking coffee and feeling Christmassy as all hell.

Two mornings later I'm in the back of an LA gypsy-cab, speeding through the fog; hung-over on my way to the airport (is there any other way to catch an early flight? why am I always shouting "I gotta be on a plane in three hours!" over a drink I can't remember ordering?) and my shoes are planted firmly in what appears to be wedding-cake remains, abandoned on the floorboard by one of last night's fares. South-Central's familiar grid seems still beneath its misty blanket, though doubtless the kids are already up and chompin' at the bit to get at their presents. I feel a faint pang of nostalgia for the holiday's old sense of urgency.

Little did I know that an hour later, after dragging myself through the obligatory indignity of security lines and screening, I'd be receiving a Christmas gift of my own. And by "gift" I mean "miracle":

Amazing right? No, not the fact that I was drinking well vodka at 8:30 AM (that's what Santa likes to refer to as a "given"), but the fact that my "classic Mary" was mixed, according to this receipt, by Jesus! (Who didn't introduce himself, or I'd have totally bought him a birthday drink.) And don't think miracle was over, pagans;'cause what was I treated to on the plane-ride afterwards? A hot, complimentary, cup of Joseph!

Greets, etc.!

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