Random Thursday

I got up before my alarm (weird!). I went out for my run and decided to do the loop in the opposite direction (odd, for me). About mile 1, I realized it was supposed to be a rest day and I wasn't even supposed to be running (too late to turn back now, might as well finish it and take Friday off...).

At the levy, a chevy pulled up (the levy was dry!). A guy hopped out and started clamoring up the levy.

Cecil... he called.

Cecil..., again, he called out, looking over his shoulder.

And then, I heard it...

Baaa...Baaa, and, out of the bed of the chevy jumped a goat, which proceeded to clamor up the levy in search of its master. That's right, this guy was taking his goat for a run...

I passed them, laughing, and enjoyed the rest of my run with an incredulous grin on my face. I also made a mental note to spend the rest of the day on the look-out for oddities.

I didn't have to wait long. At lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in years, I learned that another friend that I had briefly dated and with whom I've lost touch now lives in one of the seedier towns in Southeast Asia. Instead of his former occupation as tech company executive, he now runs a bar. With Go-Go Dancers. Which, in effect, in that part of the world, means he's some sort of a pimp.

I'm very bummed I lost touch with this guy, but I think I know why he didn't return my random attempt to get back in touch a couple of years ago. I think there's quite a bit about the world he now lives in that must be complicated and interesting, and I think I'd enjoy discussing it with him, although, no doubt, I'd probably find much of it overly real and depressing.

Anyways, Thursday served to remind me that every moment of my life involves a choice, and each choice has effects, some intended, and some unintended. Every moment could at any time result in little, tiny, differences in my identity and life experience, or huge and surreal changes in my existence.