Apples in a Ditch

3/29/07

Murky and half hidden -  something about a party in the woods. Someplace like Lincolnville. There were a ton of people trying to get rid of a snowbank but I can’t remember if it was before or after the party. We all cheered when the snow was loaded up.
Someone had a truck and they back out of their spot too fast and smashed into someone else’s truck. The tail end shattered like plastic and reminded me of the sleds my sister and I used to play with.
Someone else came out of the house to help clean up – okay so this was definitely after the party. There were bag lunches all over the place with juice bottles. The bottles had fruit in them. Someone wanted a bucket for dumping out the bottles. Scott mentioned apple cores in a ditch and I thought, “leave it to Scott to be so observant.” We blamed the cores on homeless people and I asked how they would know I was living in the woods.
After a recycling truck came by I told Matt to get something warm to drink and mentioned we had Kalua. When I walked by a railing there was frozen garbage, orange peels and a pie balanced on it.
Then J and I had to leave to take Matt to pick up a truck somewhere. The last thing I remember saying before I woke up was, “I guess I’ve been here.”

Travels in Slumber

I remember it was rainy and dark. I had to board but I was having second thoughts about going to Colorado. I’m not sure if it was because I was traveling alone or because it was one of those tiny planes where you climb the stairs to board. You didn’t get the long hallway, the stepping from gate to plane that is almost seamless. I don’t know why I was alone. When they finished loading the tiny aircraft I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go. The Or Not was weighing heavy on me. No one was paying any attention to me until finally I was all alone. Finally, I boarded.
Once inside I noticed the seating was limo style, around the contours of the plane. I took up a seat in a corner and realized I didn’t have any money, no wallet, no nothing. I don’t know why but this didn’t bother me as much as it should.
When the plane began to move I thought to myself ‘there is no turning back now’ so I leaned back to try to sleep a little. I remember thinking we just bought a futon so why was I taking a trip we couldn’t afford.
At some point the plane turned into a bus and I felt relief even though I didn’t know where we were going. When I asked someone he shrugged and said in a bored tone, “around” and something about Portland, Maine. I replied that I was familiar with it and started to describe what I knew – two residents. A man missing 17 teeth and a woman missing only one. We passed a harbor with many fancy boats. None for lobstering.
We stopped to hike – I think in the White Mountains of NH. There were many waterfalls and everything was alive with green. Somehow I was planning to ditch the bus tour and go home. I was thinking I never should have come.
We were halfway up the mountain when I saw someone fall off the rock face. He bounced down the rocks towards definite death until somehow, miraculously, he grabbed onto a ledge and managed to make his way to safety. As we watched him I noticed he was Asian and wearing a red shirt. Lucky. Before he even got to terra firma I was distracted and my attention was drawn away from the once-falling man.
Out of nowhere J showed up. We stood in a room and argued about going home. Someone else was in the room, ignoring us. I insisted we were still in MA even though I knew better. Frustrated by the arguement I glanced at my shirt and noticed it was too frilly and buttoned wrong but I made no move to correct it.
When I said I didn’t pay for my ticket J said he knew. He then said the brakes on the bus needed fixing, yet he wanted to stay “on tour.” I said I didn’t know what we were touring and didn’t want to miss work.