In the morning Justin got up early and went for a run and I stayed in bed and did something I'm very good at doing, nothing. For breakfast he made a lovely scramble of cinnamon-fried sweet potatoes with eggs, sausage, cheese, smoked sea salt, and hot sauce. Then we shook hands and walked out the door, him to head to work and me to head south. That’s the last I’ll see him for several months or so. Such is life I suppose.
Pulling out of his driveway it took quite a bit of gas to get the transmission to engage. It's been having issues for a while now and gradually getting worse. I suppose most people would have freaked out and driven directly to the nearest auto repair shop but I said fuck it, floored the accelerator till it finally caught the gear, and drove 50 miles to Westcliffe where I stopped at my favorite coffee shop, Sugarlump, to kill some time online, maybe do some writing, and make plans for where my next campsite would be.
As I paid for my 16-ounce light roast and my gluteniferous blueberry muffin the barista who had to be at least 2 if not 3 times hotter than the coffee I was holding said “You’re not from around here, are you?”
I stared at her, trying to figure out what on earth she could possibly be talking about. I had been living in Colorado for 7 years by this point, with 5 of those years being spent in remote mountain towns where most people were either half-crazed or well on their way there. Did I simply not look crazy enough? And by around here did she mean Colorado in general, or Westcliffe specifically, or just any old high country kind of community where you had to ski or snowmobile to work in the winter and it was considered completely normal to ride your horse to the liquor store drive-thru window at 11am on a Tuesday?
“Your shorts gave it away” she said.
My shorts?
Yes it was true, I was wearing shorts, but what does that have to do with anything? I continued staring at her, wondering what in hell she was getting at, when suddenly I got it.
Oh.
It's November in the high country and I'm wearing shorts. That's it. Most people have switched to long pants by now because apparently winter is coming.
But it was a beautiful sunny day outside, not even close to freezing temps, and after 7 years of Colorado winters with 5 of them at high elevation, this was still shorts weather as far as I was concerned.
I smiled and said "Nah, I'm just passing through", took my coffee and muffin over to a table, plugged in, and zoned out.
I didn't read it this time. I swear!
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 75/95) Liquid rewards.
Good thing because I would have been very angry and might have done something I'm very good at doing,
nothing!
P. S. thank you for the tipu!
wonder if I should read the comment or not...
Naaah.. better not.. he might get angry and do something stupid..
Yeah you never know with this guy, he's mental.
You noticed that too?
Yeah we did.