angeles - elliott smith

wistful days, these. my 10 year high school reunion came and went and i didn't go. this song reminds me of then, long past. someone told me once the past is our own mythology and i think that's true. on a ride sunday night in my old hometown i passed the IFA and remembered once, about 13, riding my bmx fast back from the park. there's a tunnel housing the weigh station with tubes up above for the grain to fall and land and get weighed. coursing along, i felt i'd ride through it, a daring do. near the end, my eyes just adjusting to the dark of the tunnel, i see the chain stretched across the entrance, slack there, waiting to break my bones. eyes -> brain -> nerves -> muscles i slide back down over the seat, the rear tire buzzing my jeans, my eyes even with the handlebars... the chain barely rustles as my hair brushes under the links and i shoot out the other side like a rocket. unbroken, i never felt gladder to be alive and riding a bike than just then, my heart thumping grandly.