Day 36: Friday July 10th 2009, Reflections on Tyler From Austin

It's been a while since I said anything so here I am attempting to dish out all my thoughts. First I should say that my mustache has gotten so long it itches my nose when I try to sleep. I didn't want to shave but for the sake of a job I did. I'm keeping the hair though.

Tyler was a trip. Everything happened so fast so unexpectedly I didn't know what to think so I kept any feeling until this point. Kristin, the girl who picked me up let me know that although I should stay, she had to go to Dallas for three days with her family. I agreed, there was more to Tyler than Kristin, and I thought I should get to know it. I ended up getting to know her roommate Ashley S. and her roommate's boyfriend John R; and how glad I am that I did. Ashley S. was a 20 year old girl who got a settlement worth tens of thousands after getting hit by a car. She bought a home with that money in a neighborhood where her sister and her parents also lived in and that was where I stayed. Her neighbors were as opposite from her as the magnetic fields. On one side was the neighbor Chad and his family. Everyday I woke up and sat underneath the Norway maple in her front yard, I would hear Chad and his family cussing each other out, telling their dogs to shut the fuck up, blasting Lynyrd and Paul Wall but basically just getting very rowdy as early as 10 in the am. On the other side were her quiet Mormon neighbors who were so inconspicuous you would never know they existed although they owned the only non portable home in the neighborhood with an in ground pool and a wall as high as the house itself.

Ashley S was the hippie of the neighborhood, for the lack of a better phrase. Hung from the ceiling of her porch were spinning peace signs and chimes. Inside were the big posters of Jimi, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Pink Floyd. The house looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a year. All kinds of dishes with old stinky molds filled up the sink. Empty beer cans lay everywhere and ash filled the living room table. Beads also hung in every hallway and doorway. She spoke of adventures with her different neighbors and wanted to create a show she called "The Hippies and the Homies" about her life in that place. I was all for it, I thought it was an awesome idea. Ashley S had a boyfriend like every girl in the south I came across above 16. I guess people like to settle pretty quick down here. But anyway her boyfriend John R, was the murder in the Bentley dog case. I was buying a sandwich with him one time and the cashier told him that he looked like Johnny Depp in "Blow" and I couldn't think of a better description. He rocked a combo between Kelso and Foremans hair in that 70's show and he loved the tight jeans and converse sneakers. He also never stepped outside without his Ray Bans aviators.

I'm so glad I got to know John although my first impressions of him as a dog killer were not so high. What kind of person just backs up with his car on a dog? He didn't mean and it happened for the best. I learned alot about Tyler and Texas in general from John He told me about the book Smith County Justice which told the horrible atrocites commited by the Tyler police department against its citizens. Tyler was a town of the have and have nots as it was so simply put to me once. Those who didn't have, didn't have shit and coincidentally they were black and latino, who knew? Tyler I gathered was a really messed up little place but sometimes the best people come from the most fucked up places and I was lucky enough to get to know them.

Through John I met all his friends all who were some of the most loving people I have ever known. There was Jesse, red headed with a small ponytail and a red goatie. He loved his tie dye and festival shirts. What I loved about Jesse was that he greeted everybody with a hug. He was a man that could really put a genuine smile on your face while you told yourself "man the world isn't really such a bad place". His girlfriend was Delilah, a beautiful name on an all around beautiful woman. If Pocahontas was really as beautiful as she was made to be, she still wouldn't have shit on Delilah. There was also Caleb. Caleb looked like Ryan Sheckler when he was fourteen. He rocked his old school vans and punk jeans and his accent sounded like he was from Newport Beach, California. Caleb snuck a very special gift in my bag without me knowing one night and it was the type of gift that goes a long way in my book. Caleb's girlfriend was Kait. Kait was a very shy girl around me and she never really left the comfort of her boyfriend. There was no doubt that they had something special going. Also Logan, who I always viewed as the peaceful warrior was one of my favorites. His brown hair stretched to his shoulders and he had a full beard that looked like Jerry Garcia's except that he wore black full frame eye glasses. Lauren was the baby of the group and she was pursuing a degree in journalism. She reminded me of Jennifer Connelly in Blood Diamond. One day she'll go to Guatemala like she would love, help many people and do great things.

When I was in Tyler I enjoyed sitting underneath the Norway maple in the frontyard, closing my eyes and reading. I finished my 5th book since Memphis and my 28th since the beginning of my journey in January. The Kite Runner was without a doubt one of the best books I have read so far. It gave an insight on how fucked up Afghanistan is and how much worse it became under the Taliban, as if there was any room for that. I really recommend that book for anybody trying to get an idea of what Afghanistan was really like. I ended up trading that book with Lauren for a book called Everything is Illuminated, a fictional book about the Holocaust.

Tyler was a blast but during the end days I was itching to be back on the road. It was time for me to keep moving and I strongly felt it in my gut. Because I had told certain people that I would be in Austin on Thursday July 2nd and it was already Wednesday July 1st, I had no choice but to accept the ride from Ashley S and John R on Friday. I really wanted to be in Austin for the 4th of July. Also, an old friend, Sarah was going to be in Austin for the weekend and I couldn't wait to catch up with her. Besides, ever since I was in Little Rock, people have been telling me to go to Austin and I was willing to take the dip down through Texas to check it out. Thursday came quick and we partied together one last time.

When Friday came it was time to go. Pulling away from the house in Ashley's golden PT Cruiser, I realized I would probably never be back at this place again. I would miss the sound of the AC that rumbled the house when it ran, the aroma of inscents, tobacco and herb, and that coffee grinder her grandfather had made.

I began to reflect on my trip during the four hour ride to Austin. Ashley S had asked me an awesome question once and I kept thinking of my answer the whole way to Austin. If it was good enough, if it was what I wanted it to be. She had asked me "have your travels increased or decreased your faith in people?" I remember spitting my answer out without any hesitation. "Oh, I love people" "People are awesome. I have come across so many good people so much more than bad."
"Good, that gives me hope in the world"

I kept thinking about what she said and what I replied with. I realized that what the world really needs is a little hope. Its not the bad place its made out to be. I realized how much peaceful the world became to me when I stopped reading and following up on the news, even if that peace was just an illusion. At least it wasn't so messed up in my head. And when the world seems so fucked up to a person, the world becomes destined to be fucked up. It becomes a manifestation.

I remember my father once telling me that "the problem with the world is that people do not feel each other's feelings". People just want to live, whether they are in Kandahar, Afghanistan or in Tyler, Texas. People are inherently good, it is a certain environment that forces people to become bad and even then hope is not lost. And once you treat people how they want to be treated, they will treat you twice as better and then you can treat them four times as better and so on, then life really becomes good. Conflict exists because people keep excusing hate because of a hate before it and before it and so on. If people just stopped and looked, thought and forgave, understood then treated their enemy as if they would like to be treated maybe things would change.

When we finally got to Austin I told John R who was driving to drop me off anywhere downtown, and that I would find my way. I had three potential hosts, Chris, John M, and Adam. Personally I wanted to surf with Chris the most. If Chris couldn't come through John M was a skater too and if he couldn't come through then Adam would do. I told John R to leave me on MLK and at the 7 eleven there we took a group picture and we parted ways. Here's to love in Tyler and to new adventure in Austin.