Way back in the mid 70's Canadian folk rock singer
Joni Mitchell wrote and sang a song called
Free Man in Paris on an album (yes vinyl!) called
Court and Spark.
The song to me always seemed to be an anthem to escaping life's pressures-if only for a second and if only in your mind. Here's an excerpt:
"I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was calling me up for favors
No one's future to decide."
and a little more:
"I deal in dreamers and telephone screamers
Lately I wonder what I do it for
If I had my way
I'd just walk through those doors
And wander down the Champs-Élysées
Going café to cabaret
Thinking how I'd feel when I find
That very good friend of mine"
I know you are wondering where the heck I'm going with this.
In my head today, I'm walking down my version of the
Champs-Elysees because yesterday was so incredibly mentally intense. In fact I
did take a brisk morning walk in thirty degree temps with my dog around a few personal landmarks in my home town such as the church I was brought up in and the neighboring building which housed the draft board where I was sent off to South East Asia. (not for SRS but it was free!)
The buildings were obviously so far from the Champs-Elysees (I've been once) but not so far from the point.
It probably was the strong cold wind which was making my eyes tear up and not the hormones as I thought of the events of the day before. You regulars here in
Cyrsti's Condo know
I'm a huge sports fan. Yesterday was the 109th rematch of the great The Ohio State/Michigan football rivalry game. Easily I have watched at least 45 of them with my brother and 27 with my spouse who passed almost five years ago. (She was a huge OSU fan too.) Sure I was happy Ohio State won but of course I was a bit saddened of the male past I was beginning to leave behind in increasingly
huge chunks.
Why? Because in about three hours I was meeting my daughter, son in law and his brother as Cyrsti for the first time
and being told the three grand kids know
and heading out to an Aid's Benefit Show with six of her soccer mom friends. (more on that in another post). Incredibly, the day ended with a bang as a car on my busy street went out of control and hit a parked vehicle.
BOOM! (True story and a fitting close to the day.)
So today I'm in my own "Free Man in Paris" mode, pretty much emotionally shot but internally charged. I can only describe my mental and psychical state to one of those incredibly busy 12 hour restaurant shifts I used to work-emotionally spent but adrenalin sparked.
By tomorrow I certainly will have time to filter all of yesterday through and get back to my own version of
normal! Finally. I would be remiss if I didn't mention
Jessica from France who reads the blog and
can wander up and down the streets of Paris.
"Angelica’s journey began when she graduated high school at the age of 17, to avoid 1 more year of spiritual torture. Angelica traveled, from Racine to Rochester, NY where she was recruited by the U.S. Navy. They knew this black blonde-haired boy didn’t belong when she showed up to the physical with her toenails painted, but they enrolled her anyway. Angelica spent 6 months in the military stationed in Yokusko, Japan which ended abruptly after she was almost killed by a few of her shipmates who hung her out of a 3rd story window to force her to admit she was gay. That was the catapult that gave Angelica the drive to begin to live her life for herself.
When she got back on American soil, she began the transformation process at the age of 19 while living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Angelica then began a long career of modeling & acting under the radar. Her agency had no clue for years, until she confided in a gay booking agent at the agency, who became a friend and ally, in getting Angelica work in music videos, runway, and print & commercial, which took away some of the stress by having someone on the “inside” who knew and was looking out for her. But, Angelica would turn down work, after assessing certain jobs would be too stressful for her if anyone were to find out."
