a
good laugh over the fact Ken not only man-handled a synthetic
penis, but he went so far as to pick it up in order to tie a bow
around it. That thought, combined with his faux-gaydom, might
somehow figure into my revenge plotting. It was the early days of
Operation Revenge on Ken, but I had years of age and experience
behind me. I would think of something epic.
I admit it. It was a ploy of avoidance on my part. I
left the house the next morning by 10 a.m. I didn't want to deal
with a cheery Ken or, heaven forbid, a cheerier Janey if she
decided to accompany Ken back to the house after a night of
unbridled passion. I made a point of leaving my cell phone on the
kitchen counter, as though I'd forgotten it.
First thing Red and I did was head off to the beauty
salon to get a manicure. As awkward as it was to get around town
without my sight, I had to wonder how much more difficult things
were for someone who had always been blind. I had a set of mental
maps, and so benefitted from a mind's-eye concept of where things
were, what they looked like, and I knew colors. Is it worse to have
been born blind, or to have once been able to see things and have
sight taken away? I suppose it was a matter of perspective. I, for
one, was happy to have once had my sight. I missed many things, but
there was comfort in the fact I had images to hold in my mind.
“Just a clear coat today, Cyndi,” I told my
manicurist, as she placed my fingers in a little dish of something
wet, “and let's cut them all the way down to fingertip length.” Red
asked to stay outside the door, as the chemical smells bothered
him. So, I was alone in my thoughts, barely registering Cyndi's
voice drone on about her daughter... something about goats, a
yellow prom dress, and a tractor. In retrospect, I wish I had paid
better attention. As it was, I puzzled over the trio of items for
the rest of the afternoon wondering how they all entered into the
same conversation. It was the start to a crazy joke, or maybe a
really weird dream: a goat, wearing a yellow dress, rode a tractor
to prom…
On impulse, I asked, “Do you have time to cut my
hair?”
*****************
The public transit system is pretty good so we were
able to catch a bus for downtown easily. Red and I took a nice long
walk around Spokane's city center. While not large, the downtown
area bustled with activity and we had a great time learning to
maneuver around the lunch crowd.
By two o’clock I was tired of walking and bribed Red
with promises of a hotdog at Riverfront Park. Red wasn't sure what
a hotdog was (he said it in a way that added a comic puzzled accent
on the “dog” part), but I built it up with lots of emphasis about
the meaty smell and the fact it was wrapped in bread.
The Spokane River, regulated through downtown by a
small system of dams, features a series of waterfalls. Bisecting
the city is an artificially constructed diversion which created an
area resembling a pond. The “pond” at Riverfront Park is actually a
deceptively fast moving body of water which passes through an old
power station's turbines, after which it resumes its course, and is
dumped back into the river downstream.
Spokane Falls is a focal point of Riverfront Park,
which hosted the 1974 World's Fair. Pathways and spanning bridges
interconnect the 100 acre park, hosting a small children's ride
area, an antique, hundred-year-old carousel, and an IMAX theater.
In the summer, sky gondolas take tourists and locals alike out over
the river to view the beauty of thousands of gallons of water
pounding the rocks in a series of spectacular waterfalls. This
summer, Janey, Ken, and I had been frequent visitors to the
concerts, and other special events, featured throughout the warmer
season.
Red and I found a bench area to relax at while we
munched on park food. Hotdogs were a big hit with my new furry
friend.
While we sat in relative privacy, listening to the
crash of water
good laugh over the fact Ken not only man-handled a synthetic
penis, but he went so far as to pick it up in order to tie a bow
around it. That thought, combined with his faux-gaydom, might
somehow figure into my revenge plotting. It was the early days of
Operation Revenge on Ken, but I had years of age and experience
behind me. I would think of something epic.
I admit it. It was a ploy of avoidance on my part. I
left the house the next morning by 10 a.m. I didn't want to deal
with a cheery Ken or, heaven forbid, a cheerier Janey if she
decided to accompany Ken back to the house after a night of
unbridled passion. I made a point of leaving my cell phone on the
kitchen counter, as though I'd forgotten it.
First thing Red and I did was head off to the beauty
salon to get a manicure. As awkward as it was to get around town
without my sight, I had to wonder how much more difficult things
were for someone who had always been blind. I had a set of mental
maps, and so benefitted from a mind's-eye concept of where things
were, what they looked like, and I knew colors. Is it worse to have
been born blind, or to have once been able to see things and have
sight taken away? I suppose it was a matter of perspective. I, for
one, was happy to have once had my sight. I missed many things, but
there was comfort in the fact I had images to hold in my mind.
“Just a clear coat today, Cyndi,” I told my
manicurist, as she placed my fingers in a little dish of something
wet, “and let's cut them all the way down to fingertip length.” Red
asked to stay outside the door, as the chemical smells bothered
him. So, I was alone in my thoughts, barely registering Cyndi's
voice drone on about her daughter... something about goats, a
yellow prom dress, and a tractor. In retrospect, I wish I had paid
better attention. As it was, I puzzled over the trio of items for
the rest of the afternoon wondering how they all entered into the
same conversation. It was the start to a crazy joke, or maybe a
really weird dream: a goat, wearing a yellow dress, rode a tractor
to prom…
On impulse, I asked, “Do you have time to cut my
hair?”
*****************
The public transit system is pretty good so we were
able to catch a bus for downtown easily. Red and I took a nice long
walk around Spokane's city center. While not large, the downtown
area bustled with activity and we had a great time learning to
maneuver around the lunch crowd.
By two o’clock I was tired of walking and bribed Red
with promises of a hotdog at Riverfront Park. Red wasn't sure what
a hotdog was (he said it in a way that added a comic puzzled accent
on the “dog” part), but I built it up with lots of emphasis about
the meaty smell and the fact it was wrapped in bread.
The Spokane River, regulated through downtown by a
small system of dams, features a series of waterfalls. Bisecting
the city is an artificially constructed diversion which created an
area resembling a pond. The “pond” at Riverfront Park is actually a
deceptively fast moving body of water which passes through an old
power station's turbines, after which it resumes its course, and is
dumped back into the river downstream.
Spokane Falls is a focal point of Riverfront Park,
which hosted the 1974 World's Fair. Pathways and spanning bridges
interconnect the 100 acre park, hosting a small children's ride
area, an antique, hundred-year-old carousel, and an IMAX theater.
In the summer, sky gondolas take tourists and locals alike out over
the river to view the beauty of thousands of gallons of water
pounding the rocks in a series of spectacular waterfalls. This
summer, Janey, Ken, and I had been frequent visitors to the
concerts, and other special events, featured throughout the warmer
season.
Red and I found a bench area to relax at while we
munched on park food. Hotdogs were a big hit with my new furry
friend.
While we sat in relative privacy, listening to the
crash of water
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