ahhhh, healing

Where’d we go?
i left Phoenix yesterday
and drove through the desert with Bear
dogs licking my elbow
more conversations about people’s lives
“well, she had got married once before…
but it only lasted a week… he started beating her and she got it annulled…
— never told anyone in the family about it til long after the fact;
guy had her convinced not to…”
she’s just getting ready to leave her current husband of 6 years
two kids
(and he’s got another somewhere else)
coz he’s a rock-n-roller who’s friendly with other women and coke
far too often
Love is Tough, eh?
stuck in traffic in Quartzite
we got gass and headed on to Indio and ate at In-N-Out
Alright…
where was i staying in Palm Springs?
trouble finding a crash pad
there’s this one guy i really wanted to meet…
i called him
and he had friends from Canada staying with him
and his nephew’s lover…
but he said i could stop by
and i had resigned myself to just getting a hotel room:
palm springs is filled with gay bath-house/hotel things..
i forgot, of course
that this is the Peak Season down here in Palm Springs
Bear reminded me: it would be expensive
well
OK
i get to Jim’s house
they’re all watching TV
we get to talking
i feel as i often do when i enter the stage
“tonight’s entertainment is: Dominic!”
the television is important
Ellen going on about how cold it is
she calls a shop in Ely Minnessota that i was just in a few months ago when i was there with my family:
Most Moose (and more)
but it keeps turning back to me
and eventually
they let me know
they’ve decided that i should stay the night there.
. . .
hours later
i’m laying in bed with James
and he’s telling me stories
all sorts of stories…
growing up on the farm
punching his brother
milking cows
learning to fly
his 3 oldest brothers dying in a plane crash one night
meeting Gene
his first lover before
all his generosity
this lover and that
all these years…
he’s 72!
he grew up in West Virginia on a farm
seven brothers, one sister…
he started a resturant
what took him to Grand Rapids? (where my mother grew up)
there was a guy there who would give rub-downs…
then he built a sauna in his house
and emptied out the upstairs rooms; put mattresses in them
men came from everywhere around for that back in the 70’s!
massage
sex…
and friend got busted down at the rest area south of town
and that was enough
so he opened a bath house there…
small world: i called him from Michigan back in 2003 when i first got in touch with him through is lover
but it’s been a while
and i’ve spent most of today in bed
lovely sex
conversation
massage
lots of cuddling
and naps
yummmmm
he talks like a character from a JD Salinger novel
he’s 72!
and he looks more healthy than most men in 50’s…
even some in their forties…
he’s generous (to a fault, it sounds)
but his relationship is based on total honesty
which appears to actually be true instead of just lip service
they’ve been together 37 years
and they’re Happy.
(even though they bicker and pick on eachother… it’s all affection)
it’s so Healing…
so healing to be around people i can respect
(well, they watch a bit too much TV for my tastes…)
so full of life and kindness and simplicity
inspiring
i was happy to lay with him
(yes!)
and now i will be picked up soon and taken off to some desert hot springs with by Frank Martin and his friend Tony
it’s late…
we’ll see how the night goes…