Rapids on the Periférico
12/10/06 19:10
I want
smoothies. I like smoothies, and so today I went to
the grocery store and bought a cheap blender, some
bananas and various fruits, some yogurt, and various
other smoothie ingredients. I gave Luis my bag boy 10
pesos for working his bagging art on my groceries.
Surely Luis has turned his mundane job into an art
form that is intelligent, skillful, and graceful. His
hands fly among my purchases, matching cold items
with each other, dairy-based products together, soft
breads and breakable chips together. He even puts my
Milky Way bar with the bag that contains the lighters
I purchased, demonstrating his foresight that I might
use one of both items on my drive home. He handles
delicate or squishy items with the care of a doctor
handling newborns. He is a marvel among bag boys.
Luis followed me out towards my car. I call him Lucho
because I like to. When we got to the door, we saw
that the rain had begun to fall like it had an
appointment and was running late. He asked, "¿Quieres
un paraguas?"
"N'ombre...paraguas son para mujeres." I responded, pouring as much jocularity into the statement as I could so he knew it was a joke. I put one foot on the bar below the basket of my cart. I am confident that there is only one purpose for that bar, and that purpose is the one for which I was about to use it. I stood with one foot on that bar and kicked down the ramp of into the parking lot, pushing along skateboard-style, hooting like a madman. I sailed down the ramp and splashed into a puddle, barely skating between two cars that were passing in front of the store. The car in front of whom I passed honked, either because he wished he could join in my fun or because he wanted to make me aware of my recklessness. I felt cold water creeping into my shoes and through my socks. The cart flew, its wheels clattering raucously on the pavement. In an instant my shirt was soaked and clung to my skin. Water dripped from my hair and ran down my nose and off my chin. I could hear the small crowd that had gathered under the overhang of the grocery for fear of the rain laughing behind me. I was quickly approaching my car, and I put a foot down and the cart slid into a 180 turn, stopping right behind my car. I looked like a professional cart-rider. I put my groceries in my trunk and walked back to the store, because I forgot to buy vanilla extract. Lucho met me at the door and informed me that I was insane.
After I had got the vanilla I returned to my car. I pulled out of the parking lot onto Echeverría, which is the periférico. The rain had brought a river down from the mountains and it ran through the street, maybe about a foot deep and flowing fast enough to cause rapids around the turns and over speed bumps. I drove along in this, and I came around a turn and saw that the river deepened. The several cars that were behind me were obviously depending on my judgement for as to whether or not we could ford it. I am a go-getter. I went for it.
I saw where the water came to on the telephone pole, and I knew it was probably a stupid thing to do. But I was having a good time and nothing could dampen my spirits. The water continued rising, and my car was having trouble breathing. Two of the cars behind me had stopped. I was still going as fast as my car could, but that speed was quickly diminishing. My car choked. "Come on, man. Don't leave me here...don't leave me like this!" I pretended I was in a movie and my car was my dying father. "Come on! You can make it!" I said through clenched teeth. I am a good actor and my body believed the feigned emotions, and a tear came to my eye. But it was to no avail. My car choked again, and breathed its last. In its dying breath it filled its lungs with the muddy water, and I felt its spirit pass. It was gone.
I tried the ignition like a defibrillator. The shock made its body jump and choke, but I could not bring it back. I released the key, my battery kicked the CD player back on, and Aaron Weiss sang my favorite line, "We're like two pennies on the train track, the train crushed into one." A semi truck barreled down the street towards me, and it hit the puddle hard. It forced its way through, pushing a wall of water several feet high towards me as I watched it in my rearview mirror. When the wave overtook the little taxis and cars behind me, they rose in a wave. The semi truck passed me on my left, and I felt my car, floating, rise and I was carried forward several feet. The rain was still pounding on my roof.
Anybody that doesn't know me very well is probably thinking, "Wow...that sucks. What a terrible day." Anyone that knows me probably knows that I am only really fully alive when I am fully dressed and soaked to the skin, standing in the rain. I was having a great time. I took off my shirt and opened the door. Water flooded onto my floormat as I stepped out into the river, and the water rose to above my knee. I turned back and looked at all the little cars that were stalled out behind me, all of their ignitions choking simultaneously like a night-chorus of mechanical crickets. I leaned into the door with one hand on the steering wheel, pushing as hard as I could. The car began to move. The wheels only sometimes were touching the ground, and car glided much more easily than I expected over the road. I only had about 30 feet to go to the end of the deep section, and I made for that. Several minutes later, my car was on drier ground and it's mouth had been lifted from the muddy water. I sat for a little while, listening to music while the rain made little rivulets down my windshield. I tried the ignition, and my car choked back to life. I left the muddy river behind, with all the little cars choking on the rain and the anxious taxi drivers looking at the gray sky.
"N'ombre...paraguas son para mujeres." I responded, pouring as much jocularity into the statement as I could so he knew it was a joke. I put one foot on the bar below the basket of my cart. I am confident that there is only one purpose for that bar, and that purpose is the one for which I was about to use it. I stood with one foot on that bar and kicked down the ramp of into the parking lot, pushing along skateboard-style, hooting like a madman. I sailed down the ramp and splashed into a puddle, barely skating between two cars that were passing in front of the store. The car in front of whom I passed honked, either because he wished he could join in my fun or because he wanted to make me aware of my recklessness. I felt cold water creeping into my shoes and through my socks. The cart flew, its wheels clattering raucously on the pavement. In an instant my shirt was soaked and clung to my skin. Water dripped from my hair and ran down my nose and off my chin. I could hear the small crowd that had gathered under the overhang of the grocery for fear of the rain laughing behind me. I was quickly approaching my car, and I put a foot down and the cart slid into a 180 turn, stopping right behind my car. I looked like a professional cart-rider. I put my groceries in my trunk and walked back to the store, because I forgot to buy vanilla extract. Lucho met me at the door and informed me that I was insane.
After I had got the vanilla I returned to my car. I pulled out of the parking lot onto Echeverría, which is the periférico. The rain had brought a river down from the mountains and it ran through the street, maybe about a foot deep and flowing fast enough to cause rapids around the turns and over speed bumps. I drove along in this, and I came around a turn and saw that the river deepened. The several cars that were behind me were obviously depending on my judgement for as to whether or not we could ford it. I am a go-getter. I went for it.
I saw where the water came to on the telephone pole, and I knew it was probably a stupid thing to do. But I was having a good time and nothing could dampen my spirits. The water continued rising, and my car was having trouble breathing. Two of the cars behind me had stopped. I was still going as fast as my car could, but that speed was quickly diminishing. My car choked. "Come on, man. Don't leave me here...don't leave me like this!" I pretended I was in a movie and my car was my dying father. "Come on! You can make it!" I said through clenched teeth. I am a good actor and my body believed the feigned emotions, and a tear came to my eye. But it was to no avail. My car choked again, and breathed its last. In its dying breath it filled its lungs with the muddy water, and I felt its spirit pass. It was gone.
I tried the ignition like a defibrillator. The shock made its body jump and choke, but I could not bring it back. I released the key, my battery kicked the CD player back on, and Aaron Weiss sang my favorite line, "We're like two pennies on the train track, the train crushed into one." A semi truck barreled down the street towards me, and it hit the puddle hard. It forced its way through, pushing a wall of water several feet high towards me as I watched it in my rearview mirror. When the wave overtook the little taxis and cars behind me, they rose in a wave. The semi truck passed me on my left, and I felt my car, floating, rise and I was carried forward several feet. The rain was still pounding on my roof.
Anybody that doesn't know me very well is probably thinking, "Wow...that sucks. What a terrible day." Anyone that knows me probably knows that I am only really fully alive when I am fully dressed and soaked to the skin, standing in the rain. I was having a great time. I took off my shirt and opened the door. Water flooded onto my floormat as I stepped out into the river, and the water rose to above my knee. I turned back and looked at all the little cars that were stalled out behind me, all of their ignitions choking simultaneously like a night-chorus of mechanical crickets. I leaned into the door with one hand on the steering wheel, pushing as hard as I could. The car began to move. The wheels only sometimes were touching the ground, and car glided much more easily than I expected over the road. I only had about 30 feet to go to the end of the deep section, and I made for that. Several minutes later, my car was on drier ground and it's mouth had been lifted from the muddy water. I sat for a little while, listening to music while the rain made little rivulets down my windshield. I tried the ignition, and my car choked back to life. I left the muddy river behind, with all the little cars choking on the rain and the anxious taxi drivers looking at the gray sky.
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