I decided I needed to clear my head on a recent morning. Junk had been sitting in there for a while and cluttering my thoughts. It needed to go.
I walked toward my vehicle, but for some reason, I decided to take a walk rather than a quick drive. The sun was smiling and the temperature was agreeable.
So, I decided to walk the little more than a half mile to a nearby store, with the intent of clearing my head and purchasing a giant white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. I love them, and that’s coming from someone who had never heard of such a cookie until I met one at a party.
Near my truck is a very nice baseball field, much nicer than any I played on as a kid except when we got to play some away games, like at Pete’s Goldsby Field. No one plays there anymore. Boy, it would have been great to play on a field with no ruts or holes, and with nice fences, straight lines and dugouts. But, what the hell, I loved the game anyway. But what if.
See, that’s the kind of stuff that slips into my head for no reason. I really needed that soft breeze to winnow out the clutter.
I had not been able to get over the woman I saw walking in the middle of the street Sunday on the drive to church. She was disheveled and toting a big trash bag. She appeared to be mumbling to herself.
A minute earlier, there was a man walking in the same direction, choosing to walk in the street, even though a good sidewalk was right there. A minute later, my wife told me about a completely naked woman walking down the street near her job. And it was not the first time.
I hoped those people, and so many others like them, could get help before it’s too late.
Then, thoughts cropped up of national politics, but I quickly dispensed with that. Such hate speech, dishonesty, fearmongering and outright lying has besieged our political landscape. That sludge is difficult to remove. But, for at least a couple hours, I could drain it from my head.
It crossed my mind that this was not going to be a quick walk, about a mile and half round trip. Then I remembered I used to walk an almost 3-mile round trip to McKinley High, about five decades ago. I don’t remember thinking about much on those treks.
On that walk, the chosen eats were moon cookies, butter cookies or honey buns.
Finally, I made it to the store. I felt like I had reached a mountaintop or something. The clerk smiled when I, like a 6-year-old, pointed to the exact cookie I wanted. I knew I needed “that one right there!”
On the way back, no matter how each bite of the cookie was, I couldn’t get the sight of the woman walking in the street on Sunday out of my mind. Would I hear a TV bulletin soon about a homeless or troubled woman holding a trash bag getting beat up or hit by a car?
And what about the naked lady?
Hopefully, they were receiving some kind of care. But, I know it’s not likely. There are hundreds like them in Baton Rouge who live outside any safety net. I should have found a way to at least help the bag lady, I thought. I got to let this stuff go.
But, there was cause for happiness. I had gotten a crucial health checkup the day before and according to the tests, everything was fine. Finally, a smile grew across my face and I then reached into my bag for a second cookie — a fat oatmeal raisin one — I had bought.
Ahh, walking and cookie therapy was a success. Well, almost.
Email Edward Pratt, a former newspaperman, at epratt1972@yahoo.com.