Get On the Bus I I I

When I say "travel to Farmer's Market," I note a few things. It really would be a trip for me. The whole journey could easily last at least two hours. By car it might be about a half hour tops. And I would also feel like it was taking too long, and I was being hassled, and I would also feel hurried. I know as many people from all stations in life who drive as those who do not, and we who do not see the world in a very different way.

It would literally take me as long to do back and forth from the Farmer's Market as it would take me to travel to Chicago on the South Shore. The only difference is that there is nothing I need to get in Chicago. So the world has a different size to me than it does for many people. It is like that map of the United States Monaghan wads up. My writing career, such as it is, depends on me being able to live in those cracks and unfold the map and see what's inside, all the little buried streets and stories.

Today, at the bus depot, I saw a woman using a plastic bag in place of Samsonite. I thought, Thank God that with all the things I have had to face, I can say I have never had to carry all my possessions in a trash bag. But if for some reason I ever do, God give me this woman's grace.