Every day I have to make hundreds of decisions. Where do I go? How do I get there? Where do I stop? What do I eat? Where do I stay? Should I switch lanes? Should I gas up here or at the next station? Should I ask this lady for directions or should I ask the guy over there? Do I have time for the longer trail? Should I go to a museum or fly across the bay on a rocket instead? Each and every one of my decisions changes the course of my day. I meet different people depending on when I start my day or which route I decide to take. I see different animals along the trails. I watch different sceneries on the horizon. And depending on how long I drive without getting food or gas I may find the desolate desert landscape beautiful, boring or even terrifying.
I think I made a good decision when I decided that I won’t stay in a cheap motel in Spokane. Chances are I would have met shady Breaking Bad characters there, ready to sell me or my car for a shot of heroin or some Flakka. But this afternoon I heard rattling sounds next to me during my spontaneous short hike into the desert and I realized that checking out Gingko Petrified Forest was probably one of my poorer decisions. Not a soul was near me, the Rangers were 3 miles away, nobody on the trails, it was too hot and boring for humans and other creatures. Or so I thought. I mean, if I were a rattlesnake in the Eastern Washington desert I’d sleep in until dusk, wouldn’t you? But what the hell do I know about rattlesnakes? Not a thing. And I don’t care to find out. Probably it wasn’t a snake anyway, just one of those spooky flying crickets that make odd clacky noises. Doesn’t matter. I heard the rattle, my heart dropped and then my brain made a note to make better decisions from now on. For fuck’s sake.
(Gingko Petrified Forest State Park, Vantage, WA, USofA. August 2015.)
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