I always love Monday the second. It means we’ll have a Friday the 13th. Some people give such power to a simple day of the week, or a full moon, or walking under a ladder, or their gods… Watching people and their superstitions is of high interest to me.
Well it is noon and I’ve already been to the doctor’s office, mowed the lawn and cleaned the fish tank. I’m going to live! Anyone who knows me knows I’d have to be losing consciousness before I agree to see a doctor. I’ve got these two lumps on my leg that look weird, Teresa wants me to get them checked out but I say screw it, if it’s bad I’ll know sooner or later. The other day I felt a hard lump in my naughty bits, a little too close to the McNuggets. I immediately called Teresa and asked if she could set me up an appointment for first thing Monday morning. Lose an arm? Just a fleshwound! Lose a nut? No way man! So, the doctor felt me up and said it was nothing. The lumps on my leg are just scar tissue (Chicks dig scars!) and the other one is just a cyst. Call him back if it swells. I was actually a little concerned. So, I have the rest of the day to relax. It’s damn silly that I have to take a day off of work just to mow the lawn. I know I could do it on the weekend but I’m not there yet. I’m still using the lame excuse of “I’m tired from working all week and driving so much…” That has to come to a stop, everyone’s got problems; the lawn still has to be mowed and the repairs have to be done. No more sitting on my ass.
I went out to Tallahassee with Becca last Tuesday. It was a field trip to the Mission San Luis dig site. When they finish with the archeological dig, they reconstruct the building on the same spot so it is part dig, part re-enactment. They had people dressed in period garb teaching what life was like back then. All the kids were fascinated by the little fat Spanish lady dressed in her 1600′s era clothes. All of the kids but Becca. She looks at me and says, “It just looks like everyone dressed at festival…” Yeah, she’s hip. So we move from station to station where they have the Spanish lady’s house, the farm/garden, the Apalachee Indian woman cook (who was giving me the eyes…), the Spanish/Apalachee mixed fire tender, the priest, the soldier… everyone explained what life was like from the Apalachee tribe before outside influence, the Spanish and British influence and up to when they moved from the area and dispersed. There was a heavy amount of religion involved and they pulled no punches. They told the kids all about it. It was a mission site after all. They even separated the boys and girls when we went into the church. For me the most impressive part was the Council House. It was a giant thatched cone with seating for 1500 inside. There would be a huge fire in the middle at all times, year round. I almost fell to my knees when I walked in there. It was beautiful and I have all kinds of dialogues running through my head of what took place there centuries ago. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. So at the end of the day, I’m talking with Becca and I asked her if she had fun and what did she learn. She comes up with this great line, “It sounded like the Apalachee were living just fine until the Spanish came over and forced them to worship Jesus. Then they stopped doing their stuff and started going to church just to be allowed to live in their village. And they got sick and died from all the new diseases the Spanish brought with them. Dad, why can’t people just let people live rather than fight about God all the time?” I didn’t have an answer for her. She asked why Poppie is always upset with me (Daddy) about god and why can’t we just be happy. I told her that people have been fighting for thousands of years over that very same question and there is no answer but to lead by example. If you live your life by whichever god you chose and you allow the kid next to you to do the same without picking on him for being different than you, then you are the answer to the question, you are leading the way. She didn’t get it because that’s all she knows. It never occurred to her to fight about which brand of god someone has until she saw the rest of the world do it and she doesn’t understand it. Religious intolerance is a completely foreign idea to her. We must have done something right along the way.
For the record, I tempered the conversation with counterpoints just so she would see both sides of the story. I explained (again) that Poppie is upset with me because he loves me and the same as the Spanish and the Apalachee. They honestly believe they have to convert everyone they see or we are all going to suffer. And so Poppie is scared for me and trying to help. I asked her if she saw a kid lying on the floor in a burning house, would she try to help? Of course she said yes and we talked about it a little more and she understands a little better now. I had to give the other side, if only to make sure she gets the full story. Otherwise I’d be as guilty of indoctrinating my child as I call foul on others doing the same thing. Also, I can’t have a 10-year-old being as cynical as I am at 34.
Speaking or religious diversity, we drove out Sunday to set up camp for festival. I’m not going out until Tuesday night and Teresa and Becca won’t be out until Thursday night but we set up on Sunday. We get there early so we can set up in a good spot. We had a great spot last time and we wanted to set up in the same place. I’m there the better part of a week and like everyone else, working my butt off so I can at least be comfortable. It was a little cramped last time so we brought shovels and rakes and implements of destruction to clean the spot out a little. Becca also wants to try sleeping in her own tent (not that she’ll actually get through the night on her own but we’ll try anyway) so we needed a bit more room for Becca’s tent too. So we get there and our spot is taken, by the only person who knew we wanted to be in that spot! Ugh, there’s no such thing as reserved spots and its “first come first serve” but damn, starting off like that already… Oh well, I’m not there for the view or to have fun, I’m there to work and hopefully visit with friends. A friend sent some great ideas about dressing up the kitchen. I didn’t have time to really make the changes this time but if I’m still around in November I’m going to dress up the kitchen and it will really feel different. It will feel like a large home kitchen.
With daily stuff like phone calls and studying with Becca (She’s back on track with her new report card!!!) I’m finally finishing typing everything up and it’s 7:30. Teresa comes in and asks if I’m alright. She says my mood has dropped throughout the day and my music sounds angry. I’m listening to some old King Crimson, yeah, I can see where some of that chaos might sound angry. I don’t know why but she’s right, I am feeling darker. I hope this isn’t the start…
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