Nil by Mouth

It’s foggy and grey today.

It’s foggy and grey today. A light cold rain outside. I’m thinking of other places.

I’m kind of wishing i was in a heated car driving down one of those single lane roads in the middle of California. I’m thinking of a stretch of road just south of Santa Cruz, past that weird town known as The Artichoke Center Of The World. You know the part of the drive where the blue sky is brilliantly set off by the bright green of endless rolling hills. Sometimes you can see the rain in the distance. You speed along on the wet road, in and out of sunshine. You’ve exhausted all your tapes so the radio’s tuned to a country station, the a only one that comes in, but it’s kind of good. You light a cigarette for your friend at the wheel. He nods a thanks as you light one for yourself. You’ve also exhausted conversation with your driving buddy, but the silence is a sweet one. And you wish this road with its sunshine and green hills would never ever end

• Jan 23