Today's rambling: Lost in a lost world
Written on Wednesday, Jul. 09, 2003 at 3:01 a.m.
while feeling a bit

Go,
And beat your crazy head against the sky

Demon is being feisty tonight, not loading pages on the first try, and buzzing in that annoying way just because he knows I hate it. In response, I give the box of wires and chips a whack, but the buzzing comes right back after a few minutes. It's highly irritating. I can't wait to get my laptop back.

Last night, Geoff said he'd call me at noon and we'd go out and 'do something'. So I got up at 11:30. Well okay, my alarm rang at 11:30, but I didn't actually get out of bed until noon. Took my shower and then, on a whim, opened the front door to see if Janette's care package had arrived...and it had! Oooo, and it was full of all sorts of yummy goodies! Later, when Mom saw it, she exclaimed, "She's trying to send you into sugar shock!" But it's all chocolate, so it's not as if I'm going to complain!

Anyway, one o'clock passed, and then two, and I finally decided that I was just going to go back to bed and lie down until he called. Yeah, I could have--and should have--called him, but it didn't really occur to me at the time. X_X Anyway, at 3 o'clock he finally called, saying that he'd fallen asleep in front of the television around 11 o'clock and had only just woken up. Heh...all I could keep thinking was, "I could have slept longer, too!" ;)

For dinner we went to this restaurant that's down close to the store. I had told him about it weeks ago, saying that when I was younger (and living in an apartment complex in that area) Mom, Dad, and I used to get these things called "ovals" (which are sooo yummy). Geoff thought that I meant we used to eat in the restaurant, so when I told him today that I'd never actually been inside before, he was like, "I was thinking I'd be taking you back to your childhood!" The area where we were seated had all these little kids in there, and the two against the wall were both screaming and crying and making a huge fuss. Reminded me why I don't want to have kids, heh :P But I was telling Geoff the story about that cute little baby I'd seen while waiting in the Orlando airport, and then another story from when I was about 13 and was babysitting for this little boy. The kid had been munching on a cracker, and then he thrust it in my face...and having not become so anti-kid at that point, I let him feed it to me. X_X Geoff got this affectionately teasing grin on his face and said, "Seee? You like kids."

I won't mention that I was sitting there thinking, I wouldn't mind having yours someday.

Oops...guess I just DID mention that. ;)

After that, we had Italian water ice at Rita's and then went cruising a little ways. He drove onto this narrow side road that wound through a foresty sort of area, and then after a short while pulled off onto a patch of gravel. I was just about to ask what was going on when he got out of the car...so of course I followed. Without explaining where we were going, we climbed over a fallen tree truck, shimmied past an old guard rail, and finally Geoff announced, "You're now standing on a car bridge." (Y'know, like the ones that go over streams and other roads, hehe)

You wouldn't have known it at all. Behind us, in the direction from where we'd come, was a thin line of trees and overgrowth. Ahead of us were some more trees, but once we moved beyond there, THAT was when I realized that this used to be a bridge. Under the bridge was a very wide creek (well, probably more like a river, but it was so shallow-looking that I prefer to think of it as a creek), and on either side were dilapidated barriers and railings. Beneath our feet, the bridge was practically overgrown with weeds, and the concrete was pocked and crumbling. We walked across the bridge, and on the other side were more trees, and another old guard rail. Beyond the guard rail was what looked like a mossy trail, but was in fact the remnants of a road that used to run perpendicular to the bridge. Geoff told me that if you went right and followed the road up, there was a house that had fallen apart, an old tetherball pole, and lots of old telephone poles. When I asked how far up it was, he decided to climb over the guard rail and hike up there.

As it turns out, back in the 70's when PA was hit by Hurricane Agnes (or at least, I think it was a hurricane?), it washed out that bridge and all the surrounding areas, and I guess no one ever decided to build it back again. It was absolutely impossible to imagine how the water could have gotten up so high...I mean, I think you could have fit a small house underneath that bridge! It was so high off the water, and the creek was so shallow...well, not VERY shallow, but you could probably wade across it and it wouldn't go up past your hips (maybe not even past your knees). Still, I felt almost as though I was trespassing on the past, because everything was neglected and forgotten.

After climbing over the guard rail, you could see the road stretching ahead like a thin veil of mossy green. On either side were trees and brush (on the left, a mountain sloped steeply upward), and the branches arched overhead like a canopy. As we walked, I imagined cars driving back and forth along that road once, and what it must have all looked like back when it was kept in shape. Most likely, it didn't look any different than the narrow road we'd driven in on, but I still couldn't help imagining. Upon finally reaching the spot where someone's driveway used to be, Geoff voiced his disappointment that the mailbox wasn't there anymore. Apparently, there was a mailbox that had been smashed flat right by the driveway, hehe...The road continued to the left in a gentle curve, but we went right, following what was once a driveway but could now only be described as a deer path. You could just barely catch glimpses of pavement underfoot, but mostly it was just weeds and briars and other forms of undergrowth. It took us a little while of walking, but we finally reached a wide field that must have, at one point, been this family's yard. Now, all that remains are a crumbled pile of stones and a small section of stone wall that was once a house, and an old telephone pole with a rusted transformer at the top. The tetherball pole was gone, and the weeds came up to my shoulders. I didn't dare walk any further; as it was, I felt as though there must have been bugs crawling all over me.

It was the neatest thing walking back there, though. It was so completely quiet and secluded that it felt as if human life just didn't exist anywhere...even though there were people living in nice, well-kept houses just across the river. I had the sort of feeling that people must have had when they discovered Pompei, or some other lost civilization. And it's silly, I know, since this certainly wasn't neglected that long. But it was still a tiny section that was pretty much forgotten, allowed to grow wild again and cover up as many traces as possible of human habitation. I'd really like to go back there again...especially as it was fun to 'hike' again. When I was little I loved wading through the creek by my apartment, and whenever we visited my grandmother in Virginia, I liked taking long rambles on the mountain that was just a couple feet away from her house. I finally stopped doing those things because Mom's paranoia of snakes had rubbed off on me, but being in that little foresty area today was just wonderful.

'Course, after getting back to the car, Geoff mentioned that we'd both have to check for ticks. Ugh. X_X The thought of those little parasites biting into me gave me the heebie jeebies, but I cheered myself up with the thought that it would be quite the experience if we could use the buddy system to check. ;) I wouldn't mind lifting up my shirt to let him gaze admiringly check me out check for ticks. *grins* I should have used the situation to my advantage and exclaimed, "I think something's crawling on my back! Geoff, would you look for me?" Bwe he he...

As it is, I think I'm clean. Geoff found one, which made me really paranoid for awhile (I always get like that with bugs), but after he drove me home I checked myself in the bathroom mirror and didn't see anything. Good thing, too; I just can't bring myself to grab those nasty things myself, and Mom was in bed so I couldn't enlist her help!

Just as Geoff was getting ready to drive out of his parking spot along the curb, Tim came home. X_X I didn't figure it would matter, but he told Geoff he wanted to come along! He teased me once about food (I snapped at him to be quiet), and then he teased me once about a job (I flipped him off). Other than that, thankfully, he behaved...but I still wished he hadn't been in the car. I can't really talk to Geoff when he's there, because as I've said, he's mostly superficial. There was one story in particular that I'd wanted to tell Geoff, but I knew I couldn't because if Tim heard it he'd start laughing and making jokes about it, and I didn't want that sort of reaction. I could have spoken just low enough that only Geoff would hear, but then Tim (from the back seat) would have been like, "What?" and I would have had to repeat myself anyway.

But oh well, the majority of the day was good. We watched this really disturbing sort of movie tonight, which Geoff said was his favorite back when he was younger, and I had myself cozied up with my head practically resting on him. But I can't bring myself to actually nestle against him anymore because I'm never sure how he'll react to it! Tonight would have been perfect, too, because that living room was so freezing thanks to the air conditioner that I was shivering all night. X_X It was actually a relief to get back outside into the humidity, lol!

Anyway, I'm tired now so I think I'll retire. This Saturday is Geoff's last day forever at the store. I wonder what he'll do with his newfound freedom! He's free to come see me any time he'd like, of course. ;)