safe arrival, back to the mechanic [eyes of the world]

made it to Atlanta on Saturday, then Charleston last night. both drives took much longer than normal, partly because i stopped to visit relatives in Mobile but mostly because i stopped every 50-100 miles to check on the oil/etc. Matilda's got some bizarre symptoms -- occasional rather-worrying vibration of the whole front end, an oil leak that looks severe by the quantity of oil all over the bottom half of the engine/etc, but she only needed 3/4 of a quart for the whole trip from OS to here, and on the last half of the drive from Atlanta to Charleston, she was getting almost 20mpg. (huh?!?)

also lost my other front hubcap. gonna try to find a pick & pull yard or other reasonable source for hubcaps that wouldn't look stupid.

i took Matilda to the mechanic (again) today. wish me luck; she needs to be in much, much better shape by the end of the week.

rain and stories

i'm back in the yellow room, up high where the sun reaches in like god's own sharp pointy stick to wake me up in the morning. my body had forgotten the heat, the tangible weight of it here, the way it slows words and walking and waking. i walked back along the road by the harbor this afternoon, watching the egrets in the marsh, the oysters and jewel-green moss, leaning into the river-breeze to lift a little of the weight of the sun. i forgot that people honk or yell out their car windows here, at me. it's...disconcerting.

today i took my Waltzing Matilda to the mechanic, went through all of my frets and worries, pointing out oil-spray and divots on hoses. they say they've looked her over briefly, and will give more thorough attention tomorrow morning. they say it'll be no problem to have her fixed by the end of the week. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

and tonight, the evening quiet, it rained. the sky was a soft, deep red-purple, and wet palmetto fronds shone with cold reflections of streetlight lamps, and the heavy drops fell fast and thick, pushing warm rain-washed air up off the pavement. i was talking to a friend on the phone, so i didn't go out walking in it, but i sat on the porch swing and watched the Charleston rainstorm pass, the sudden torrent with low thunder far off in the distance.

( stories, for telling later... )

and now is time for sleeping. tomorrow i'm up early to go to the hospital with my dad. if i remember right, he's got two cases in the morning with a friend who's an ENT doc, and blocks in the afternoon. should be very interesting...