9:35 p.m. - 2004-04-06
cherry blossom
i really haven't been updating at all, though i have spent a fair amount of time thinking about why... or rather, why not.
mostly it's because the biggest thing going on the last couple of weeks has been this whole issue of identity theft, and all the little problems and offshoots and complications involved, and when i sit down to write about any of it, i end up just sitting here, in front of my computer, lost in wave after wave of anger and frustrating and helplessness. there's really nothing the police can (or will) do, and nothing more i can do except deal with the consequences, and it kills a part of me to be so utterly without recourse in this matter. and so i sit passively while my mind wanders down all sorts of paths i don't enjoy, and nothing really gets written. the short update, for anyone who wonders, is that she's had a driver's license made up in my name, to go with the recently-cancelled credit cards and suchlike. this i discovered from talking to the car rental place that rented her the two vehicles that the police repossessed late one night last week. the day after that, i learned that she'd finally been arrested. and, while i'm not holding out much hope for any sort of justice here, i'm still pleased to hear about it. maybe now, between that knowledge and this entry, i'll be able to let go of it and try to move on. and in that spirit...
i've noticed recently, at work, a strange sort of a thing in the alleys. i'm working in industrial richmond, and i always park around the front of the building now, (to avoid further paint damage. that's another story.) in my own special parking spot. nobody ever parks in spot #13 but me; park truck, kill engine, listen to the rest of whatever i've been using to soothe my brain through the morning ignorance-cum-traffic (lately a lot of Lords of Acid and Linkin Park. i dunno. it's been working out so far.) and finish my coffee, then walk around to the bay doors in the back; the office folk arrive later and leave earlier than me, so no cutting through the building. so. the alley is grungy, and filled with broken pallets, chain link fences, abandoned couches, rusting paint cans. the power lines overhead buzz and hum, and it isn't the sort of place i'd care to be after dark, but in the morning, it's an interesting visual experience. last week, staring at the ground and thinking idly about lemurs, i noticed cherry blossoms gathered along the bottom of the fence - all down the length of the alley, delicate pink petals in little drifts and piles, hopeful against the pavement and chain; there are no trees nearby, no gardens, no yards. in the front of the building some overgrown shrubberies crowd the parking lot, and a few square feet of grass struggle beside the curb, but nothing resembling a cherry tree. i don't imagine anyone else has noticed this, nor that they would, if they noticed, care, but it brings a smile to my face every morning as i head into work.
