If there's a fella upstairs, he's got a sense of humor more twisted than mine.
Right before I left for Padre, I thought I was agitated. The Camry of Serious Hardcore Action, my new car of a week, had a battle scar. Whoops, Blake can't drive to Padre tomorrow morning. It obviously had to be that fella's fault, one for invoking the laws of physics (guardrail 1, Camry of Serious Hardcore Action 0) and secondly for invoking Murphy's Law. The weight of all that made me fairly angry with this deity one flight of proverbial stairs above me.
I tried to remember as I wheeled home that everything happens for a reason, frustrated by the fact that I couldn't see the reason. (How do you people with faith stay sane not being able to see the reasons for things like that?) Sure enough, the next day we started our trip to Padre in a swanky, comfortable Suburban - just a smidge more roomy than the Camry for all the stuff we accumulated across four very long days.
Padre? Summer? Don't bother. There's no college crowd at all. What redeemed the trip for me was stopping in Austin both ways. On the way down, we met up with Eric's cousin Justin on the Drag and had breakfast. Kerbey Lane had the tastiest pancakes I've ever had, and as we left town I felt refreshed just for spending an hour there. Coming home, we made our way to Kinsey's house out in Westlake and my jaw's still on the floor. Her house is totally decked out, the view of Lake Austin was gorgeous, and the water there is really pretty cold. We did some jetski riding, which I thought was absolutely amazing - the scenery is completely mind-blowing. My first time on the water, I drove one jetski and Kinsey rode along, while Eric and Oliver took the other one. As awkward as that was (since her boyfriend was also around to hang out with us), it all sort of floated away after a small while. I felt happy to see myself in a new place, separated from my old people and places, riding a jetski with a cute girl in tow - even if she's taken. I've gotten the vibe that she might be one of those super-important lifelong friends they say you make in college. And having that thought about her makes me really, really happy.
Getting out of Austin is always a blast. That sentence drips with sarcasm, not only because of the sentimentality of it all, but the traffic in that town can't be called that because traffic moves. This time, though, I honestly did have the time of my life. Westlake is much more hilly than downtown and it creates some truly beautiful sights - especially when crossing over the lake.
Those three hours made up for those three days in Padre. After all the good and the bad, I arrived home to the ugly: my car and its brokenness. By this point, I regretted getting pissy with that fella upstairs - I could have ended up in a hospital, or maybe put someone else in a hospital, or worse. Maybe life and health really are things to be thankful for. What's more, once I cleared my mind there was an apparent solution to my problem. If Mom pays for the repair work up front, I can give her the money from my bank account and my paychecks until the debt's paid. Looks like the repairs are going to go well past $2000. Here's where that wicked sense of humor kicks in: Mom had just decided to raise the deductible on the insurance from $500 to $1000 to make it easier to afford normal insurance on both our cars. So I owe Mom $1000.
So the fella upstairs is laughing his proverbial ass off. I'm just laughing along, because I'd hate to be one of those people who takes offense at a joke. And I'm still laughing now because my little theory I had kept to myself came true - Austin is where I'm supposed to go, I can feel it, and I couldn't be any happier about it.
"You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes / It brought me back to life" - John Mayer
Sunrise scares me. It's a sign that you stayed up way too late. Sunsets are nice, but they've become cliche. What about other scenes? I was brought back to life by that gorgeous city and the people there. I was brought back to life by winding roads that beg for relaxed refreshment or heart-pounding adrenaline. I was brought back to life by sights that put the expensive European resorts to shame. Why is it that I can always only sort of relate to songwriters?
At least I was brought back to life. And my life was spared by the fella upstairs. I'll get out unscathed and I'll go on laughing. Not everyone can say that.