September 4, 2008

a night in the life of chico, augmented by a thrift store blanket


my favorite part is this blanket.

there's a point at night, at probably 3 or 4 in the morning where the temperature here drops to something normal like 65 and for a few blissful hours i get to sleep with a blanket over me and not a sheet.  

sleeping with a sheet over you is a psychosomatic joke- like decaf coffee...merely there just because we know that people who sleep without blankets or coverings are...well,  homeless or dead.  like nebuchadnezzer sleeping in the open air because he went crazy.  

so to ward off the stigma i resort to the sheet.  
(i need all the help i can get sometimes to remind myself i'm not crazy...)

this blanket is my sole recompense for having to wake up at 3 or 4 every morning due to the fact that my useless sheet has become even more useless, except now rather than making me a few degrees too warm, it has taken to freezing me into groggy awareness (that it may be reunited with its fellow bedding implement, of course).

i could tell you a few other funny stories about this town...like how the safeway has a hand written sign posted that no dogs, cleats or barefeet are allowed in the store.  i mean, that pretty much sums up the town i think.

or how there is always this pervading sense that at some point in my walking to and from school and downtown that someone is going to end my life by crashing into me with a purple $500 beach cruiser bike.

or how i can simultaneously miss my home (not to mention sincere people and meaningful conversations) so much and yet possess such a peace here that i dont understand.

2 comments:

Jonathan Dow said...

Peace that you don't understand. That reminds me of something...
Three things that make me laugh at this town are...
1. How air conditioned buildings fool me into thinking it's normal here until I go back outside and am slapped back into reality by the heat.
2. People walk/ride bikes/ run through Bidwell Park at all times of the day, no matter if it's hot or not... it's usually hot.
3. The little street crossing buttons on the curb put there especially for bicyclists.

I love the blanket story. I sleep with one too, no matter how hot it is.

Robin said...

that's a beautiful blankie.

i always have to think about the person (probably a woman) who put their time and love into a blanket only for it to end up in a garage sale heap or at a thrift store. i'm always glad when these works of art and love are redeemed.

i know where your peace comes from.

watch your mail.