The Blind Man Society

My landlord and I got drunk while sitting in the driveway one night and I told him I was leaving to travel.  I thought he would flip – instead, he was great about it.

So a week later I packed my bag and walked out of the house.

I left everything.  I gave my few things away, and short of clothes and boxes and papers, there wasn’t much left.

I was carrying a change of clothes, two American Indian Flutes, my laptop and charger, a big bag of pipe tobacco, a corncob pipe and basic necessities.

The 40 mile walk to the border went fast.  I stopped only to rest, eat and visit the occasional coffee shops that littered the way, and before I knew it, I was at a hotel for the night.

I showered until the hot water ran out, and walked out through the hotel lobby barefoot with a pack of cigarettes and sat out front under the stars smoking.  When I had finished smoking, I returned to the room and crashed.

I slept until I woke – I don’t bother with alarm clocks – and I had pawned my watch anyway.  Grabbing my bag I returned the room key and walked out the door.  Navigating parking lots and gas stations I crossed under the freeway and closed in on Burger King.  Where, I stuffed my face with thousands of calories and then set out for the border crossing.

It was a cloudy overcast day.  I walked on the side of the road towards oncoming traffic.  I had a lot on my mind, and the time and miles flew by.  Until eventually I wound up at an onion and fruit stand, within a quarter mile of the crossing.

Its been years since I crossed that checkpoint.  There used to be a turnstyle.  Pay the dollar twenty five and you were there.  This time, people were in line and passing through a luggage X-ray and metal detector.  This was new.  And, I was VERY thankful I had left my hookah behind.

I walked through the metal detector, picked my bag up as it rolled through the luggage X-ray and walked into Mexico.

As I navigated the tight winding sidewalks with vendors on either side, I kept my eyes straight ahead.  Store fronts, nicknack stands , leather shops, bars, dentists and pharmacies rolled by.  Until, eventually it all fell away behind me.

I had no plan.  I had no destination.  I was rolling the dice to see where the wind blew me.  I found a main road, and walked along the side – thinking it would have city signs eventually.

25 minutes later, I got to another checkpoint.  I conversed with a couple workers and then saw city signs and chose one.  I walked on.

There were places for cars at these junction points on the freeway.  I stopped in a bathroom, filled my water bottles, drank as much as I could hold, and left down the sunny road.

It was not even close to what I thought it would be.  As I walked along the very clean freeway, passing under the occasional bridge and avoiding traffic – all I could do was revel in the view of rolling countryside.  The colors were fantastic.  It was simple – but great.

Hours passed, and I grabbed my flask of whiskey out of my backpack.  I had to sneak this as traffic was frequent, but DAMN it was good.  There’s just something to having the bases covered, enough money to last and freedom to blow where the wind takes you.

I have, after all the years of exercise, a 60 mile a day range.  My legs were starting to ache, and I kept looking to the horizon in the hopes of a gas station or hotel.  But, there was none…  I had plenty of water and peanuts to eat and left the road to sit in the grass.

I pulled out my double flute and played.  And, 30 minutes later, a truck slowed down.  It pulled up in front of me, and the driver asked if I would like a lift.  I said sure, asked about hotels and told him where I was going.

I don’t know how long we drove, and I was so tired that I didn’t remember much of the scenery that flew by.  But, it was dark when we arrived at the city center.

I gave the driver a 20 dollar bill for his trouble.  He started the engine again, tearing down the labyrinth of streets and dropped me off at a hotel.  I thanked him, and we parted ways.

I walked in through the doorway, and spent ten minutes watching Mexican TV until the attendant came out.  I asked for a single room – he had one, but I didn’t have pesos.  Only dollars.  And, it was too late at night to find a cambio.

I offered more than he was asking for the room, and he promptly changed his mind.  He told me that no rooms were available.  I thanked him, and walked out into the downtown streets at midnight on foot. It took awhile.  I got followed a lot, but walked with purpose. 

I found a high-rise hotel.  Walked in, got a room – a very nice one, high above the streets and housing – and sat down on the patio floor cross legged and barefoot again to smoke. Mainly, I just listened to the sounds of the city and the people far below me. I watched the colors in the sky and slipped into a meditation. It was bliss.

I crashed hard in that big bed – I don’t think I even dreamt. And before I knew it, dawn arrived.

I’ll leave this story here for now. There are more parts to it coming, and thank you for taking the time to read it! I hope readers are having a fantastic day out there, wherever they may be and as always please feel free to leave a comment in the box below!