Topatopa Mountains, Ojai, CA
I was having “one of those days.” At least that’s what I thought. We dropped our car off for its “free” regular maintenance only to learn it would be very expensive. A job I thought I was getting fell through. Finally, the costly no-return item I purchased online arrived and it was the wrong color. We got the call that our car was ready, so Donna and I climbed into our other car to go pick it up. The first thing I did was turn on the seat warmer to soothe my back.
Donna dropped me off. I paid the bill, and jumped into the repaired car for the drive home, irritated by the costly maintenance needed to keep the warranty intact. I drove through town in rush hour traffic, jumped on the freeway, got off at Del Monte Boulevard, and pulled up to a traffic light. There in the evening twilight, under the eaves of an abandoned, grey building––I watched a homeless man make adjustments to his cardboard box.