Feast Day of Saint Vitus

[Feast Day of Saint Vitus] Feast Day of Saint Vitus — this is important because it’s the guy who invented the St. Vitus Dance, you know that special shake and shimmy. So I was standing in line at the Chevron Station, not far from Shady Acres, just a little east of here — I had just gotten done with a reading at Threadgill’s, and I was picking up a pack of American Spirits for the road. That “El Paso” song was on the radio, in the gas station/convenience store. From there, I was headed to the airport for a flight to Dallas. Now, none of this seems remarkable except that I was, by choice, on foot again. Even some chain stores in South Austin bow to peer pressure and carry Spirits. Then there was that song, again. What are the odds of this unique, peculiar moment happening any place else? Come to think of it, where else is Bolsa de Aqua likely to even be on the radio? Such a fine album. Then, last night, the sweet Pisces and her dog [drooling most of the way on my shoulder] dropped me at the airport. I had enough time to check the lost and found — in vain — for that missing cell phone. Then, trudging back past Amy’s Ice Cream, I had an idea, and asked the guy to drop a scoop of Mexican Vanilla in the coffee I had. “No charge, man.” No phone but the best vanilla ice cream in the world, and some good coffee? Sometimes it’s not the big things, but the little ones.