Jupiter and Venus Had Drifted

I’ve had more celestial discoveries in this well-lit city of 20 million, polluted though it may be, than anywhere else I’ve ever lived.  Astronomy apps on the phone help.  Being regularly up before the dawn is key.  This morning after not having gone to the gym for seven days, as the facility was closed during the New Year’s Holiday, it was immediately apparent that Jupiter and Venus had drifted far apart.  I am amazed, as I write this for it sounds ridiculous that I should know such a thing.  Or that it's obvious in particulate Beijing.  I pulled out my app with freezing fingers and sure enough, the two planets which had been close are now much further apart.  Apparently, Venus is now not far from Saturn, but I couldn’t see Sun Ra’s heavenly abode in the sky.  Perhaps it was too close to the horizon which was just beginning to lighten.

I couldn’t really discern it today, but this passage of time had also rendered the earth's rotation with that much less time in the dark.  I left early, say around 6:10AM or so and it was still dark enough but walking across the soccer field the signs of a quickening Dawn were apparent.  Coming up the stairs to the gym a live version of Jimi’s “Fire” came on as I entered the room and it sounded so good that I just played it twice.  There's a point in the solo where he wants to continue but the band drops back into the head, just exactly when they're supposed to.  Jimi's in charge though and Noel and Mitch get their act in gear quickly and continue on with the solo support.  

It had been too long to remember if it was an upper or lower body day this Monday morning.  I eyed the chest press and figured I’d just get into it. At some point someone threw the floodlights on in the dome, which made it feel like high-noon.  Outside though, more gradually it was becoming a proper morning now, well before seven. 

The inner-crux of my left arm had been strained for weeks before this Lunar New Year break.  I’d obviously pulled too much one day and every day I pressed further, it only seemed to perpetuate the ache. Today I was pleased to see a week’s worth of rest had left me seemingly heeled.  Still, I decided to take it easy on some of this pulley weights that press the pressure down there, to the inner elbow. 

Riding home, after the gym, I tried to ring my dad.  He and my stepmom are, they announced over th weekend, heading to Cuba some ten months from now.  Wonderful.  Would love to discuss.  But no one answers.  I leave a message in faltering Spanish and give my mom a try instead.  She picks right up and we begin to catch up on little things until the predictable moment of: “Hello?  Hello?  Can you hear me?” arrives.  I can hear her, but she can’t hear me and it is no longer something that looks like it will be solved in the next few seconds..  I hang up, curse Skype and call back once, same thing, twice more . . . same thing, wechat doesn’t get answered twice and a third time for a call it's: “Hellooooo?  Helloooooo?”  By this time my tender fingers that were fearlessly tapping away in the bitter morning cold had mounted concerted objections to being anywhere other than inside the gloves.

I’ll write her when I get home.  For now, I have to pedal on in the bright morning sun.  

Monday, 02/11/19