hed never been in Nebraska before

earlier he confused it with Kansas  Yaknow  where Dorothy grew up

his brother-in-law looked up from the road at him as he drove What?

The townmaybe  never said where Dorothy was from  An Toto too

What are you talking about?

Dorothy Toto  

This is Nebraska, not Kansas.

Huh

We’re in Nebraska, not Kansas. his brother-in-law acted like he was trying hard to suppress his amusement

Yah Right  I knew . .

. . Knew it, yet you said.

You said it out loud.

Hey Excuse me all to hell If I gotta suffer me so do you

Listen. We’re gonna be in Nebraska for a long while, Joe; we just got here. Any other gems or pearls of wisdom you want to share so they’re out and we can put them to rest. I’m pretty sure I can help you with that.

Youre pretty sure because theres only you and I

Yes. Might get pretty ugly.

You might wanna pause an recall I live in Califormiahave lived there longer than anywhere else Ive ever lived Im a stranger in a strange land

You copping Heinlein’s line?

Youve read Heinlein I thought you were a King freak

Stranger in a Strange Land was seminal. I couldn’t have gotten out of high school, hung with the friends I had if I didn’t read it.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were my crosses to bear Havent read fantasy since  Howbout Huxley

Huxley?

The Doors of Perception William Blake

No. No.  That was tworight two Nos I should have uttered, correct?

Correct A Blake line suggested Doors to Huxley I believe The Doors took their nameMorrison suggested it from Huxleys work . .

. . I didn’t like The Doors . .

. . Wha . .

. . Or Hendrix

Stop Youre blowing my mind

Wait wait one second  We are seven years apart

No wonder you dont appreciate good music

                                             he smiledtook a gander at his brother-in-law his brother-in-law eyeballed him Pay attention to the road  

Kerouac

What?

Kerouac

When you belch you’re supposed to say excuse me.

Fuck you

You are seven years older. Maybe courtesy wasn’t taught then.

Or maybe its the sheer flatness of Nebraska robbing me of my senses Great place to set pins along the side of the highway and bowl or dig holes and shoot a fine game of pool

I think you’re thinking of Kansas, ha.

No no There a tornado would come alongfuck with our game an snatch us off to Oz  Then Id be forcedhave to live in colour  not black and white

Jesus. You’re tough to follow; live in color?

Yah I didnt see The Wizard of Oz in colour or know that Oz had been shot in colour until Eightysixeightyseven I saw it with the girls Nearly shit Shithell nearly panicked

Eightysix or seven? Are you fucking kidding me?

Dont Im confidentyou as an only child had all things top of the line There are benefits to wealth that you take for granted

Im not jealous

I dig there were things I didntwe didnt have

Character?

Pardon me

I meant to suggest that not having things built character.

Ohshit youre smarter than I thought

the highway was long and flat and straight

Whas that

Huh?

There Kum & Go  A filling station

Yeah. Kum & Go’s are all across Nebraska; like, ready to have your mind blown again? Sinclairs. The green dinosaur . .

. . Are you messin with me

No.

Kaahrist I havent seen a Sinclair gas station since I left Chicago

That’s been a long time.

Yes 

Not that I miss them Just that they invoke wonderful memories invoke my boyhood

Kum & Go I like it

What the hell Git & Go

Yeah, another gas station chain.

Kum & Go Git & Go

There.

Wha

There. he pointed Hy-Vee. Groceries.

Or there, Caribou Coffee; they closed up in Illinois. Nice to see them out here.

Kum & Go Git & Go Hy-Vee  Interested in going into business with me

What are you talking about?

I think we ought to open up houses of prostitution Kum & Gos Git & Gos Hy-Vees youd wanna fuck a high-V rather than a low-V yah

You’re nuts.

Are you kiddin me Ive never been with a pro but if she was working for a house called Kum & Go sureasfuck Id be more tempted Git & Go  Are you kiddin me  

Beside since Nebraska is so damn flat Ill be calling it Ne-ska from now and forwardhere on out 

Wont call it by its proper name again until Ive put the bra back into it  Running pros with ample titshuuge tits 

Im tellin ya Its a game changer

You’re crazy.

Im brilliant

Theres gold in them thar hills them tits 

Ne-ska  Makes me blue

I could help

0817,  Thursday,  29  8. 19

1224,  Sunday,  29  9. 19

The Mickey Finn  Garden of My Mind  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSKI6BzMWdQ

Beatles  Yer Blues  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEQQ-1rd4A0

things come in threes omne trium perfectum Latin  the rule of three 

some suggest good things come in threes

                                           which never ceased to astonish him 

in his experiences three was usually associated  unfortunately with death unhappy tin cans banging on the pavement strung behind a bride and grooms departing wedding car  

whenever he heard the honkingthe clattering cans  morosely he thought of their vows  the until death do us part part how the words ran off their tonguesout of their mouths rote he never thought of all the weddings he attended that either man or woman truly understoodpondered their promise 

the celebrant got it he delivered the line solemnly       

it was an awesome vow

it was a good reason not to get married

Life in sickness in health for richer or poorer in love out of love cheated on endured   can be a long long time

things come in three

he finally caught a reprieve although it currently stood at two he was excited for three to present

the two stood before private homes at the edge of where their drives entered the street

about three feet tall

made of extruded phosphorescent probably glow in the dark green plastic  a figure in midstride leaning forward  asif in a harness he couldnt wait to find one of these babies bobbing in the ocean or careening down a flooded creek as it made its way to the sea 

the figure was topped with a bright red cap

not a baseball cap

                    more a throwback school boys cap who had to dress in uniform  or a Cub Scouts cap 

also a bright red pennant was stuck on the end of a piece of heavy-gauge wire preceded the advancing figure advancing into the road seen in profile if approached from either direction

at its thickest just below its shoulders it appeared to clutch a backpack onehanded by its strap  at its thickest SLOW was written in blackblock letters

apparently the gross set-up was to caution drivers to proceed SLOW because of school children or the particular households children he had to believe the households

however and hed been thinking about it since he saw the first in Southern California the figure reminded him of a turtle  turtles

                the hump of the undelineated backpack seemed to him a turtleshell

Ridiculous

Not really

not a block from where he crossed this unfortunate SLOW was a creek and the creek supported several turtles which he celebratedit was the first year he had witnessed them

probably a good thing he didnt drive a car

1401,  Saturday,  21  9. 19

1550,  Saturday,  28  9. 19

The Powder Blues  What’ve I Been Drinkin’  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne3lhNSGqxw

Rare Earth  Get Ready  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Rg9xwZoo8

he had to have a bear suit

something akin to Smokey Bear sans the capthe Smokey inscribed beltbuckle the snug bluejeans a bucknaked an anatomically-incorrect bear suit

a brown bear

Griz
     it was his preference not prejewdice  Save your breath

he needed ithad to have it it was necessary

he didnt just want it

his wife godbless her was a freaking saint

she didnt question him

they always supported each othersupported the others needs

thats what people who love each other dowhat they provide

if either needed something the other pulled out all stops to help it happen

L O V E
        Stuff that in your pipe and smoke it

Not so fast you silly boy she saidcopping it from the Mothers – she knew she would pique him  You’re set on a Griz?

I am

Alright. Well then, curiously snough, I know exactly where we can go to get one.

she amazed him Yah

Yah, baby; you’ll have to trust me.

Trust Stop  Lead on

she smiled it was a curious smile  he wasnt going to ask  everyone has their mysteries if we didnt have our little secretsthey were utterly exposed wed bore each other to death 

she certainly had hers

he returned her smile Youre something else babe

You arent telling me something I don’t know.

No Im not More I dont know an I dont mind

You’re a good boy.

An youre sensational

Thank you.

they got into their car and rolled out into the countrysidewent over dirt roads  she got him turned around an getting him turned around was half the gamegetting him lost getting him that he couldnt track back where they were

Where the fuck are we 

You lost?

Yah  But you know I dont mind being lost

No you don’t. 

We’re almost there.

Thatd be between lost and thoroughly lost

I imagine.

he nodded  affirmed

she smileddimpled up real big   

Say love  I owe you a huge kiss when we stop movin

You do.

You wont have to remind me

Never have.

he smiled he wished he had dimples

within ten minutes they rolled up on a decrepit homestead a faded babyblue Ford pickup stood under a shabby lean-to hung off a leaning barn how they hadnt fallen over was beyond him

she killed the engine

he slid across the benchtook her in his arms and kissinggroped her too 

she giggled  he kissed her deeper and quieted that

he got hard

he released her

she patted his laphis cock Save that for later, baby; we’re on an errand.

Yah he croaked its yours later

she smiled devilishly On our way home.

she patted him once moregave him a squeeze 

Yah he closed his eyestilled his mind with blueseas icefloats penguins  fuckin tuxedos always flattened his heart rate

she leaned on the horn it planed outdidnt catch or echo off of anythingdissipating into the arid disused fields didnt even rattle the slack barbed wire

he watched the doorway beyond the screen door the front door was apparently pulled backaside way back on its hinges or it wasnt there

a grizzled old man one strap of his bluejean overall over a shoulder a stained longsleeved thermal probably held up by the single strap appeared

he smiled a broken tooth smile through the screen then held up a finger he disappeared back into the maw

his wife didnt say anything to him

he didnt say anything to her

they sat waiting

he finally came out onto the porch

the toes of his boots curled up  

he walked like they were too big for him

he waved

when he waved his wife got out of the car and made a beeline for him

Hey, girlie! he heard him say

his wife left her door open the keys in the ignition 

he slipped out her side

as he approached the old man and his wife they were chatting amiably familiarly

he didnt know him from Adam

Ernie his wife said as she stepped aside as he came up on themshe hadnt looked to see him approach This is my husband, Joe.

Ernie stuck his hand out like it was loaded on a spring Joe.

he took his hand Ernie

Wifey tells me yare lookin for a bar outfit.

that stunned him a might

I am

Well, she brought ya to the right place; I knows where we can go to get ya one.

Go  Not here

Here? Why would I have a bar outfit here? I got outfits, just not bar outfits. We’ll roll another fivesix minutes from here; sure Wally’s got one yall like, that’ll fit ya.

that was an assumption he thought I hope so

Wally loves his bar; he’ll fix ya up, won’t cost ya an arm an a leg, ya know, ya being a fellow enthusiast.

Huh maybe he was an enthusiast  he hadnt given it any thought beyond needing a bear getup

We’ll take my truck. If I tried to give ya directions I’d just gitya lost; sometimes the words come out wrong. Best to shaddup and roll, like a duck to water, duck cant tell ya how to git there either, smells it.

they werent rolling a minutehis wife sat between them and he was thoroughly lost  dust smoked everything

he didnt say so Great place to lose a dead body

Ernie was spot on

six minutes

but whos counting he was

Dis be da place! Wally! Ernie cried

Fuckin carbon copy he thought  their homes might have been part of a tract project

Ernie asif reading his mind I shared my blueprint with Wally when he arrived out here. That way Im able to find the can; Wally’s a miserable hoarder, shit stacked everywhere, but damn if it aint insulated, staves off the cold when it gets cold; I hang with him when it gets inclimate.

Inclimate Enthusiast he wouldnt have guessed Ernie knew the words Quit with your judging he thought Who the fuck are you

chastised he put it away

Lookin for Griz, yah?  he hadnt even taken Wallys hand

Yah Thank you

I prefer black bar; Griz overrated.

Sew em, myself; keeps me mighty busy. If I had to depend on black bar though, I’d starve. Come in.

hoarder floor to ceiling piers pylons walls  fuckin neatly stackeddamn near organic  asif they grew there

Y’let me know ya need the can said Ernie Sorry, I apologise, city folk, the facilities.

He can go shit or piss in da field said Wally Needs fertilizing. 

Wally winked at him

However I can helpIm happy to

Excuse me said Wally I’ll be back; I’m positive I got just what ya need.

damn if he didnt knock it out of the park like it was custom made he admired himself in a full length mirror slivered between two stacks of newspapers This fits like it was made it for me

Saw ya coming, boy, saw ya in a dream. Glad ya dragged yer feet before saying anything to yer wife. Few days earlier it wouldnt’ve been finished.

it was reasonable as his wife said 

he didnt have to have her negotiate for him

on the way homehowever she found her way he told her to pull the car over  Get your ass in the backseat baby

they went over the back of the benchseat

he thought they might bounce the car off its tiresflipping it

in the golden hour the sun setting a stripe of sunlight across her face and breasts those marvelous breasts she said breathlessly  Wow, that was a sensational fuck. Want to treat me again later tonight?

Your wish is my command

it wasnt the first time he thought his wife was a witch

0901,  Reggae Friday,  20  9. 19

1444,  Reggae Friday,  27  9. 19

The Mothers  What Kind of Girls Do You Think We Are etcetera etcetera etcetera  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHHMuuluxA

The Eagles  Witchy Woman  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJY2fX3pVM8

sometimes you read something that grabs you by the throatreally shakes you up you have too much in common with the writer

not often

but the few times that presented themselves to himThem Yes all he could think was Get the fuck out of my head

then hed get creeped

hed check to see when the writer died

he crossed his fingers that they and he were alive at the same time a timelineVenn diagram their lives overlapped 

then he couldnt be they

                         he wasnt a fan of reincarnation or reinrose or reinlillyofthevalley he didnt want a scent of possibility

he resisted remarks that his writing reminded someone of anyone else

writers had distinct voices

atleast to discerning readers

still though

            it gave him chills when he read a writer that might have lifted wholesale thoughts he had but hadnt developed yetcommitted to paper

chills at first

then it tickled him

he repeatedly admittedif conversation had gone in that direction that there was nothing as an original thought or concept

thatd be audacious

for as long as man has consciously schlepped the face of the planet  and mused  thoughts are reruns only occasionally did someone care to record them

                                   and thought they oozeddrooled about in Jungs mire of the collective unconsciousness

from there they bubbled up into existence

“I’d never seen anyone else touch her and you can say what you want, but the things you think, and the things you actually see, are altogether different.”

when he read that he felt the wheels coming off his ride

Elliott Chaze didnt die until 1990

they inhabited the planet at the same time

he wished he read Black Wings Has My Angel while Elliott Chaze was alive

he would have written him a letter of thanks 

he also would have asked him to stay the fuck out of his head

1356,  Saturday,  21  9. 19

1137,  Reggae Friday,  27  9. 19