XC by RAIL pt 1
image description: a collage of travel photos, top left: yellow sign reading "everyone is welcome here EXCEPT ICE" top middle, white sign: LAWLESS FORGERY be a blacksmith for a day. top right: white cement lamp post with FUCK ICE, IMPEACH written in black ink. middle left: white sign reading: "END, Ringold, Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District" middle middle: a recliner with a crocheted blanket, a teddy bear and a journal, the light is shining thru the window. middle right, "Empire Builder Chicago to Seattle" Train poster. bottom left: PJ leaning on her cane in funky floral pants and a hat in front of a lake in Minnesota, bottom middle: white stone with a fire horse painted on it and the year 2026. bottom right: a distorted photo of a pedestrian urban area with string lights over the walkway
it's been a while, let's jump in: i'm in week three of a 30 day rail pass on amtrak, the gallery above is just 9 snapshots from the adventure. i just finished a cup of immuni-tea with elderberry syrup that i was gifted by a new friend. they are an herbalist and mixed a supportive blend just for me!! the trip has been a lot of me being spoiled a lot by friends and family and even some strangers. i get the side eye from some folks on the train and out and about bc i smoke ganja, NOT ON THE TRAIN, OUTSIDE THE TRAIN, but it doesn't bother me anymore. i have arrived at every location in one piece, with inner peace! stare all you want. i'm on a mission to make people laugh so, i'm not gonna get cut down by a little mockery. it fuels my fire <3
it's the year of the fire horse (photographed stone found in the wild in tacoma!) i'm reminded that i'm a fire elemental type with leo rising in my chart. i brought the heat to the first 2 stops which were chilly: minnesota the first week in april where i was initiated into a dog pack!! tonk 4eva! greater seattle area was also brisk except in direct sunlight. i spent quality time with my fam, ate well, watched baseball, and enjoyed it?!?!?! i also rode a horse AND built a lil fire, in the year of the fire horse!! bless.
things got hotter in cali. to cool down, i spent time in water and shade. i spent time seeking self pleasure. i spent a lot of time walking yesterday, you know i had my cane, able. i would have been out with the rollator if it hadn't gotten rehomed :'( i need to replace her. a lot of people dont understand needing devices, they think its a choice. they think we want this extra stuff. that we're extra. but i really fuckin need it. i need my cane like i need my electrolytes like i need my pills like i need my compression wear like i need my friends nearby.
i've made new friends, including a lovely group of seniors in our accessible car from oakland to los angeles. we were nearly two hours late into la. we watched the sunset over the pacific ocean. my dear friend keke patiently waited for me. she has the smallest lil car you've ever seen, but we shoved all my luggage in and zoomed off . blunts and ear seeds and tuning forks and thus began my week in SoCal. 4 nights in the valley, celebrating the remarkable delightful LA SIRENA, i got to share her bday with her and watch her open for a great fuckin show in highland park. it was chefs kiss.
from there i rode south to venice, where i caught up with two old pals, both are artists and creatives doing the thing out in los angeles. trina and i had thai food and caught up after six years of not seeing one another in person!! kudz and i walked the pier, and posted up with some movies. i'm learning that i have amazing friends. one household displayed me on their fridge!! im fridge famous in minnesota. working my own version of the comedy scene, i just committed to making people laugh along the way. this is a vacation. as a result, i had a lot of good laughs, but other times were more serious. people and moments try to make me bitter but i wont fall for it. tldr; im just not for everyone, and that's just how it goes. i will tell a story, which will go down in herstory mark my words, about one time i was out of line but ultimately won over my now dear friend:
[ext. day. in his droptop in venice.] kudz and i share a spliff. and a memory, of the early days. the beacon days. he reminded me that he came home to me eating frozen mangoes in the shower, his shower, which was covered in hair, my hair. i found scissors and decided i needed a trim for energetic reasons. wild woman. dangerous woman. cunt. he sent me all these texts about how disrespectful i was. and i was. but we repaired it and are now riding the wave of creativity together. i love this for us. in a world with such strife, how could we NOT care for each other and support each other's dreams. we both set out to cali with a mission: grandeur. nearly a decade later, we still pursuing our delusional aspirations. and lately? they haven't seemed so delusional after all...
the scenic views have me awestruck. this continent is so vast and beautiful. so much ugliness in the history, so much blood. but as i see the snow peaked mountains in tahoe national forest, i am reminded of the existence of goddesses n gods. too many to count. each tree a deity. each mountain a palace. and i get to witness it all day long.
