Today

Today, I rode over to Hunter’s feeling awful, I was trying to get my phone back, but he wasn’t home. A cop slowed to a stop in the intersections of Lombardy and Monument and I stopped since it was a red. He motioned me to go through but I waved jumpy towards the signal light and mouthed “Red Light”; it was an iffy but it then turned green. As I was turning I looked back down Monument and saw a Confederate Flag levitation perfectly in the air—the kind of impossible, blot out the sun Confederate Flag. It was a damn gorgeous day so I rode Park up to find out what this was. There were scattered old men sitting on their stairways but around me was a quiet crowd of about thirty people in armchairs, we watched them walk by. Line formations passed, pointing flags and rifles and swords to their chin. And their grandmother wives were behind them in stuffy dresses tugging along kids with brand new canteens and baskets; and everywhere a sea of Confederate paraphernalia. Most of them walked pass staring into history, but some would lock eyes with you and say syrupy “I’m…so...proud you made it out today” so you can feel sin and things. Someone was holding a sign, “Sons of Confederate Veterans.” I knew I didn’t feel like approaching any of the elephantine issues with the picture so I wondered off counting the DSLRs around me. But then it turned into a kind of parade with a wheeled cannon being dragged by a Kia SUV. Then a abnormally massive Chevy truck...which apparently are real...passed full of pageant girls, C-flag and VT magnets stuck to the doors. Ehhh. There was also a racing buggy booming around with 1-800-MY-DIXIE painted on it. I don’t know what that means. The day was still bright and I felt so much more rested sitting here; I thought...“all the good ideas everywhere."