Dose

Janelle & me watching the tracks empty out at the end of a long day...

Yesterday, while I picked sweet peas I blasted Saved, Dylan's most strange, Christian, evangelical album To give you an idea of what this album is all about, here are the liner notes: "Jeremiah Chapter 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah." Riiiiiiight...

"I'm gonna give Saved another shot at the title," I told myself, slipping on the ol' headphones. I got as far as track #8 ("Saving Grace") and had to hang it up. Luckily, I was able to find some Lee Perry and make things right again.

As I picked endless peas with my co-worker (a fortysomething man named "Big Head), a blazing sun ball rose in the sky. Occasionally I ate a pea pod and pretended it was a pill that would inoculate my body against heat, sunburn, and skin cancer. The peas piled up in my stomach, and I fantasized that, as they dropped down into my belly, they formed a small pyramid that radiated harmony for the world. As I moved down an endless row of peas, I tried not to trip and make the pyramid fall. This is how I spent my morning. Saved and pea fantasies.

"Big Head, you like peas, man?"
"My wife cook it, I'll eat it. But naw mayne I don't like 'em. I gotta have some meat on my plate."
"I heard that."
"You like 'em?"
"Not really...They alright, I guess."
"Yeah. They alright."

Thus began a conversation between Big Head and me that lasted about twenty minutes, until the dinner (lunch) bell rang and we crossed the field slowly, to eat brown rice, kale, chard with onions n' garlic, and squash. Big Head, who actually hates vegetables, found a piece of bologna to fry and he ate that between two pieces of bread.

My new job is like the right kind of medicine in just the right dose.