The clouds were like flames licking the air. They were without form, streaks of white like fingers motioning travelers onward. South and west. From New Mexico to Arizona. Hawks with wings splayed sat motionless in the breeze. As a traveler, I have visited many places throughout this country. Today’s seven-hour drive from Albuquerque to Tucson afforded me the opportunity to visit two of the most intriguing places yet: Elephant Butte and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Elephant Butte is home to a magnificent lake and state park. It was a mild 80 degrees this morning with a light breeze blowing off the water. I sat for a few minutes watching the water like glass shimmering under the sun. In Truth or Consequences I purchased a steer skull. It smells repugnant. I hope to find a FedEx in Tucson to send it home. I had a few slices of pizza and went on my way, the rear windows agape to let in fresh air. The car’s service light began blinking. I passed 4,000 miles driven in 17 days.
In Arizona, the scent of burnt earth wafted through the air. I watched small and large dust storms form along the side road and hoped for one to overtake the interstate. Tumbleweeds blew across the pavement. Suddenly the sky overhead turned black. I could not tell if it was smoke or a storm. I had forgotten this is monsoon season. It began to pour. Lightning injected the ground several hundred yards to my left and right. The sound was a sickening roar. Bolts lit up the sky shooting both horizontal and vertical. It was hard to keep my vision on the road with this spectacle surrounding me. Fire trucks and police cars sped through the mess. After Texas Canyon, after Benson, the sky turned a rotten yellow hue. To my right, a smoke plume threatened to overtake a mountain. I could see blue in the distance. It drizzled for a while, but Tucson was partly cloudy and, for the most part, blue.
I remembered the street names well. One year ago this week, I was here visiting and driving to Vegas. This time I am on a very different adventure. I met Matt outside his place, just a block or two from where he lived last year. Right off, we decided to meet up with some of his friends at Rocco’s for cheap hot wings and Old Style. We stayed for a while, and after a round or two we decided to move the party to a dive bar, where we downed several pitchers of Coors. Matt and I played some shuffleboard with two frat boy types and they schooled us. We moved to a place called Che’s and drank more. Finally we went to Plush and drank still more. After a late night trip to Wendy’s, it was back to Matt’s to wrap up the evening.
Tomorrow I am servicing my car. Joey Burns is out of town but in touch. Jim Redd from Tarentel e-mailed me to talk about my stay in San Francisco. That is all the news for now.
car music:
Wire – 154
Jackie-o-Motherfucker – Liberation
Calexico – Scraping
The Besnard Lakes – Volume 1 *****
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Warsaw; Brooklyn, NY 4-03-03
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
The Cure – The Head on the Door
***** This article was just brought to my attention a few minutes ago. Look at Jace, getting press on a medium like Yahoo! No one deserves more attention for his music than him. He eschews the air of pretension that tends to surround most Montreal bands. Plus, he was a blast to record with when we rented time at his studio. A bit shy at first, but generally great and authentic.
