Tonight, the video clerk smiled in recognition and jumped to the counter to greet me as I returned my videos. I'm officially a regular. "Hey!" he offered, "aren't you going to pick up something else?".
Instead, I went off on a late night expedition to my local construction site. A guard waved his hand as I strolled past him. I clearly had noplace to go but the site, but I guess that's the beauty of looking harmless yet pleasant. I tipped my hat, flashed a smile and kept walking.
There's an enormous pit where they are building a parking ramp, or perhaps the foundation for another apartment building. I scrambled along the rim of the eroding sandy pit, occasionally stopping to shake the rocks out of my ancient Birkenstocks.
After a spooky confrontation with a territorial racoon, I only had the nerve to look at the 1st floor of the new building. It's pretty obvious why it's so easy to hear your neighbors - they should be doing a much better job of separating those units! Lots and lots of tiny condos. It's daunting to think of how many people it will take to fill up that building and all the other new condo buildings around it.
After finding my way out, I wandered down to the beach for a lakeside swing. It's beautiful out tonight - the water is placid and the full moon illuminates everything brightly, while leaving you with the security of darkness. I forgot how freeing it is to pump higher and higher, pointing my feet into the sky up over the moon.
It's bittersweet though, to realize that I no longer have any desire to let go and fling myself into the air. One too many hard landings, and I know I'm just too big.
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