Memory Lane

The Jetta got its death sentence this week.

I found out just how attached I was to my car and my mechanic was equally as surprised as I was.

"Really?" with a look of shock was the response I got from him when I told him I wanted to have it checked out one last time. "Really?" was the response when I told him how attached I was to it. He obliged and as I watched it sputter and conk out as it was driven into the garage, I already knew the answer.

"What do I do with it?" I asked meekly.

"The junkyard." he said matter of factly.

I had to hold back the tears and when he told me he'd take care of it for me, I quickly took him up on it. I told him I couldn't bear to watch someone haul it to the junkyard. Thanked him for looking at it and cried all the way home. Oh good lord, it was time to mourn the beast and all that it had ever done for me.

In cleaning it out for its destruction, tears quickly turned to laughter as I found a whole array of pictures and trinkets from out 13 year stint together. My favorite was a bumper sticker that said "Can't Sleep. Clowns Will Eat Me". I had no idea where it came from but it made me laugh out loud.

Pictures of where I'd been starting when I got the car - my exodus from New York, up till now. So much has happened. I could see the progression from then to now. A couple things I realized, there's been a lot of road traveled and I had a lot of random adventures. Had fun with the cleanup and am ready to let it go. In Buddhism, they say that something cannot truly transform until its destruction so I will be thinking of that as it goes off to that big car wash in the sky.

Riding around town on my bike has always been my main mode of operation. Right now spring has sprung with lots of vibrant blooming trees. I love the fallen decomposing flowers the best. They're so beautiful.

As I was taking pics, this shmoopy German Sheppard came up to me. He looked like he was wandering so I called the number on his collar. His owner was at work but chatted with me like I knew her. She lived just across from where I found him and her kids must have not locked up the fence. Could I please bring him over to her apartment so the kids could get him?

As I walked him over looking for his home, he beat me to it and pushed the fence in letting himself back in. I love that about this town. Even if you don't know someone, it feels like you do.

Had a couple cool things happen at work this week.

Usually you chat up people about their vacation and what they do. I've never really had it happen in such depth to me this week. Just going about my business at the restaurant and after a patron complimented me on my necklace he asked what I did. I told him this and the tours but he pressed on. "What else?" he asked.

"Well.. I'm an artist." I said

"I knew it!" he exclaimed happily. "You have that vibe".

It took me back a bit. I've been pegged a lot of things but never an artist unless they've seen me in action. He was a musician and he totally got the whole restaurant gig and side jobs that artists usually exist in. We had a good chat and I gave him some places to visit to get his culture on.

Next up another couple asked me how I ended up down here. I shared the cliff notes version and we got to chatting about how Key West really had something special. How people were so nice and interesting. It amazed me how these people got it. They seemed deeply touched by the community and planned on staying here next winter. I also gave them some favorite places to visit and check out.

They were mostly curious about how I made the decision to jump ship and come down. It came out so easy it surprised me. I told them I wasn't happy working in corporate life and decided I wanted out. I wanted to find what made me happy. Life's too short to be unhappy in waking life. You've got to find what you love and do it. Things get so much easier after that.

Seems simple enough but sometimes it's a long hard road to it.

I forgot how long it's taken to get to this place and how foreign that old life now is. You don't have to be a corporate drone. In fact these days I think it's harmful to your well being.

Been setting some new stuff up. Got a couple paintings I had hanging in a local shop and decided that I finally needed to take my own advice to people and sell online. That's in the works as of this week too. Its been a rapid clearing of the decks left and right. Everything has been working in synch. It's all flowing naturally. No push. No pull. I like it.

And each week there is a new skill to be learned. This week - how to get rid of a drunk guy hitting on you.

I'm surprised I never thought of this before. After work drink and down time with some friends at the Parrot, one drunken dude came right up and wouldn't stop. I tried to talk to him to like a normal person and that lasted approximately 2 minutes. The guy I talked to in those two minutes was nice and actually sweet.

The drunken frat boy that wanted to get laid and wouldn't quit was not. As he kept pushing, I realized this wasn't going to ever end. So after he complimented me about being one foxy lady, I asked him what he would think if I told him I had a penis.

The look of shock was priceless.

"No!" he kept saying as he stared at my crotch.

"Yep." I said. "My name is Gary and I like to tuck and roll."

I took it one step further and told him to come see me Sunday night at 801 when I moderate Drag Bingo.

The calm I had been looking for post-work lasted about 5 minutes. Then to my surprise he kept at it. The only time it stopped after he told me he had a boat for about the 500th time was when he mentioned he was 30 years old.

"No, you're not." I said laughing "You are at least 36 if not older."

"I'm 30." he said very seriously. So seriously I actually thought he sobered up briefly

"Really? Prove it. Let's see some ID." I challenged him.

"I gotta go." he said bolting for the door.

Spring Break 2011 and the first person I bust for lying about his age is an overgrown frat boy who thought my name was Gary.

Key West, I love you.