Adventure with A
(c)Elam 2002

Luminous fog I was prepared. Layers upon layers. Wool knit cap
"do you want to turn back? I offered. She didn't.
And later when we rose above the rolling white ocean cotton candy landscape I was thankful that we hadn't turned around. This ridge of Mt. Tam is my favorite place in the entire world. Perfect tonight. Slight breeze, a strange warmth hanging. I have one spot when I stand there I am invigorated to the point of thrusting my arms up and hollering
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!" it echoes off of rolling golden hills that look like kneaded bread with the knuckle marks impressed redwoods disappear into the white abyss and each second that the sun sinks its like it sinks into me and I feel so alive
I know she feels this too
We hesitantly leave this serene sanctuary for the No Name Bar It's in Sausalito, but as soon as you step into it you are stepping back in time the interior is old in a beautiful way: antique wood bar high doors lofty ceiling I came to sing, but I realize there is much observing to do as well. We sit down next to Ari..
Ari? Are you Jewish?
Yeah.. you Israeli? he asked.
No
Ari had seen me sing the night before in Fairfax and envied me to this open mic Ari is sort of a masculine Richard Simmons. Critical and funny as hell his little afro tucked under his cap his baby fat looks.
There's also the hostess who has the energy of a teeny bopper but she's well past those years forward but not aggressive red skirt blouse, red shirt, knee high boots you can tell she loves her job she leans over the table
can I get you anything?
hot apple cider I decide finally
I wonder if she's a close talker or if it's because of the lady banging on the piano like she just discovered her fingers yowling like a dying cat. She's ancient and her thick New York accent sizzles like steak... if you look around people are talking over her and laughing at the awkwardness of the situation. After her is Richard. nice songs that float... subdued vocals, but if you listen with intent then they come forward. The guy at the controls is recording everything. You can tell he loves music and is some sort of engineer, but I get the feeling he really isn't sure what he's doing. It could be that the sound system is not ideal the P's pop loudly and the room feeds on sound like godzilla feeds on electricity. My friend that I am with catches me looking at beautiful women at the bar I am intrigued but not attracted to them, they called us kids when we walked in. There is a something melancholic about this place and eccentric. Everyone was such characters. I took the stage
"Roll wind roll through my mortal soul" bounces muddily about the room
I wrote it when I was in love and finished it after she had broken my heart. The next song I improvised a bit about the sunset I had just witness. The last song was a portrait of south America. I wrote it while waiting at a park near a bus station in Valpo. The epic night was far from over as we stepped out of the bar and realized that we were still in Sausalito and not a dive off of an uncharted highway.

Laziness Settles In
© Elam Blackman 2002

riding along trying to catch a wish
pull over to the side of the road black berries
a lovely dish
I'd like to have a helping or two
I'd like to have a helping of you
I love swooping down into the valley
the landscape opens up
wild grass and flowers in the wind
I cannot get enough
I'd like to have a helping or two
I'd like to have a helping of you
but then again I like to hunker in with a fire burning
low
thinking if I had a choice to stay I would never go
and I'm stuck between the two
I'm stuck on the thought of a helping of you
I'd like to have a helping or two

I sang this to myself while riding old blue home (my bike)... it was a euphoric moment. Daisy seeds were floating past me and I was trying to catch them as I rode along right arm out stretched. I was trying to think of all the little things I love on my rides home: Queen Anne's Lace, Thimble Berries, Black Berries, there's one place that I can hear water gurgling happily along (I have yet to see the source, but the sound always is so pleasant), Dragon flies! That reminds me, Luey, Jonathan's cat is vicious. Anytime I'm having a serene moment there's Luey stalking some poor animal. Yesterday I was reading the Alchemist and he was harassing a poor Garter snake. I chased Luey off before he killed it. It was still in shock and didn't move for a long time. This morning I saw something fluttering and falling out of the sky it was too far away for me to make out what it was when I got closer it was two dragon flies mating? So cool! They contort in strange ways. I was taking note of their stripes and colors... just then Luey rubbed up against my leg and followed my line of sight. He darted straight for the dragon flies. "NO LUEY!!" I yelled grabbing at his tail. They zipped off and got out of harms way just in time. I marveled how bumble bees were crawling completely into flowers to get nectar. Oh what an amazing world we live in. Today I decided to take it easy after climbing Mt. Constitution.
Last night I was hacking before I went to bed. Hacky sack is the communal activity of choice. We have a designated hack circle with a work light hung from a branch of an unsuspecting Douglas Fir tree for night time hack sessions.
This morning I woke up and popped my head out of the tent. I probably looked like a ground hog ...
"Hey Rosa" I said to the zombie walking around in a bathrobe.
She asked me if I'd like Oatmeal
"OOOOHTMEEEL?" I said doing my best Nordic accent. She laughed. "I have bananas. You want bananas?" I offered.
It was exciting to have oatmeal for breakfast on the island had only consisted of yogurt, bananas, and granola to this point. Rosa takes oatmeal very seriously she added dried fruit and peanut butter. I lounged in the big strange orange chair in the corner. She took the couch. She wasn't sure if she was working today.
"Well if you aren't lets pick black berries!"
Okay.
The plans evolved to pick up her friend John Fay, go to the thrift store, go to the market (they call it Mark n Pack and I always say Pack n Mack by accident) and then pick berries. I knew black berry season was in full swing. Rosa was accustomed to picking later in the year, but I had sampled roadside berries and they met my specifications for ripe-ness and deliciousness. Rosa knew just the spot.
We picked like mad. There is an art to picking black berries just as there is an art to swatting mosquitoes. In picking one must immerse themselves into the thicket and push boundaries of comfort in order to harvest the top of the crop. If you don't have a board to lay down over the bushes you had better be agile. Oh yes, I was in rare form that day doing maneuvers not recommended at home. I have been practicing the art of picking since I was five years old. John McConneloug and I would bound down to the meadow. John spazzing out cuz he was free from the confines of catholic school. He was out of his uniform. Free at last, free at last. We picked red ones to have sour face contests. If I recall correctly I was pretty bad ass when it came to sour face contests. Before we knew it one of our mothers would be calling us in for dinner. Many people do not realize you can lean into the bush almost to the point of falling. I like this maneuver or the one when you use your foot push down the lower reaches of the bush which enables one to infiltrate. Back at Rosa's house John F. and I got tired of waiting for her to get off the phone so we started making pie. John had no skills what so ever. Mine were minimal. Rosa started giving us instructions while she talked to her friend. How do people multi task like that? The second pastry we made was a black berry crumble. John liked that a bit more because it involved more experimentation. The third pastry was a concoction all our own, and therefore the most fun to make. Flour a flyin'... sugar all over the counter top... John's hands covered in a purple doughy substance. Her house gets a lot of sun and it's hot enough without the stove going but we had to bake it for the pot luck we were attending. While everything baked we hung about the place. I laid on the deck trying to shield my nose from the sun. They reclined in chairs. Laziness settled in.