always so concerned about making good time or being on time that I never stopped to enjoy anything. But now, I could take in everything from the coves that seemed to contain paradise itself to the mountains that looked like they were going to swallow you whole at every turn. These places seemed to be untouched by any human or animal and looked
as if they had been this way forever and would be this way forever. There was certainly a lot to take in but why was I bothering with it in the first place? Just because I could? I wonder if other people would do the same thing in my position. You feel as if you should be taking advantage of what’s within your fingertips, but at the same time you don’t want to be wasting your time. Would they try to see everything they could or push through? I was in no real rush to get to Oregon but going off to sightsee wasn’t what I had in mind when I left LA and yet I seemed to be stopping at every chance I got. If I saw a pier that looked interesting I pulled over and checked it out. If I was passing a town that looked like it was original in some way or at least had a bar I stopped. If I saw something naturally beautiful I would stop to take it in, even if it did contain a dead walrus. Or maybe it was a sea lion. Either way, still naturally beautiful. I could do these things because the fact is I was free in every sense of the word. Free from my own preconceived notions of how my life should shake out. Free from my responsibilities. Free from whatever I thought mattered. And it was great. But freedom always comes at a price and in this case, the price was any sort of semblance of a normal life. The life that I had. The life that I thought I always wanted. And even though I didn’t regret giving it up I had to wonder whether or not it was really the right choice. I never really left my old life completely behind me though. Technology and my unwillingness to get rid of my cell phone ensured that. My sister had already called twice and Tony wanted to know where I I was at. Truthfully I was glad to hear from everyone who called because that meant people hadn’t totally forgotten about me and I wasn’t in the out of sight, out of mind category…for the moment, anyway. I really would have liked to hear from Michelle, but she still wasn’t answering my calls and I
knew it was time to accept the fact that she didn’t want to talk to me. Really I should have done it sooner, but ex-girlfriends tend to cast a long shadow. And I wasn’t even sure if I should call her my ex-girlfriend at this point. Nevertheless, I resolved to stop thinking about her and to especially stop calling her…although self-discipline never was one of my strong suits. Hard as that was, the things I was experiencing out here made it all worthwhile. Things like these little beach towns which have totally original attractions like abandoned amusement parks. Now, I’m not sure whether it was actually abandoned or whether it was just shut down for