XCVII

My father and I decided to take a trip to Bear Mountain in order to escape the city. After a long drive we arrived only to find a massive traffic jam at the entrance to the park. We patiently waited and when we got to the front of the line we were greeted with a sign that said "Mountain Closed Due To Overcrowding." We shrugged and like everyone else turned around the car, quite suddenly the weight of my own body disappeared. I felt that I owned nothing not even a self and that nothing owned me. The whole world became transparent and unobstructed in my own mind: the "problem of life" simply ceased to exist and I and everything around me felt like the wind blowing leaves across a field on an autumn day. This lasted for approximately eighteen hours, saw her on Prince Street today and we sat on a stoop in the bright early spring sunshine. Instead of our usual deep and meaningful talk we critiqued the dressing styles of all the passers-bye. I must admit we have a tendency to get really catty. She was no fun as all she wanted to look at were the twentysomething guys where as I was interested in skirt lengths hems and leather;