Farm 0616

Sunday June 16

Sunday I woke up early (before 6AM). I showered, folded my linens and towel, packed up my stuff, and walked to the laundry area. It was closed. The original clerk, Preston, shouted at me from afar: “Hostel opens at 7!”. I half-shouted back “Ok!”, and went back into my room. At 7AM, I went back and put my laundry in its place. I saw Preston and said:

• “Good morning!”
• “Indeed it is... I heard you had a problem with Rick last night”
• “Ah... yeah, ok... look, that was just a misunderstanding...”
• “We do not allow homeless people in this hostel!”
• “Look, I don’t think he was a homeless guy”
• “THAT IS NO FUCKING EXCUSE, SIR!... WE LIVE HERE! You did something bad”

His raised voice and piercing language struck me like a reprimanded puppy.

• “I didn’t realize I had”
• “So do your chore and be on your way”
• “Can I still have breakfast?”
• “Of course you can. We’ll honor our side of the contract until check-out time, at noon”

So I emptied the trash, had some cereal+water for breakfast ,and called Tom to tell him I was ready to leave whenever. He was just putting in the screw into the loose door handle (in the car), and said he’d be there soon. I played Moonlight Sonata on the lobby piano while he arrived. When he did, he rented a shower for $3, and then we were off.

I withdrew the rest of the required money from the ATM, we went over to Trader Joe’s, I bought a small bottle of carrot juice, and we finished the transaction. I gave him the remaining $600 (I’d given him the first half the previous day), I drank carrot juice while he drank almond milk, and he signed over the car title to me. After the paperwork was done, I decided to drive back up to the farm, so we hugged, wished each other wonderful lives and travels in our own ways, and I walked to my newly-acquired Geo. 35 miles and one female-hitchhiker-who-refused-a-lift later, I parked my Geo in front of the cabin, and stayed indoors for most of the day.