Separation Calm and Hometown Anxiety

I’m packing now and I wonder if I should have purchased a cape. A black cape would have given me a useful air of Amadeus dash and doom and bolstered my reputation as a Man of Mystery.

Too little, too late I’m afraid. I have given myself a firm rule of taking only one medium-sized rolling suitcase and a briefcase for my travels and a cape would have required its own special cape case. Also, soon it will be summer in Argentina (the toilets flush the other way, too) so my capewear would have only been useful for a couple of weeks.

Packing certainly creates a whole set of anxieties, but I elected not to bother with it until my departure day (today). I have been preparing for weeks, including a test trip to the Northwest. So I know what I need.  I need massive amounts of prescription medications for my various ailments–I am the sickest well man you’ve ever met–and special ointments and hand-washable, wrinkle-resistant clothes. You get the idea.

I understand that in Buenos Aires they dress well when they go out, so that added a bit of extra bulk to my packing, but I have settled on one blue suit and I will wear the jacket with grey pants for that nonchalant, yet studied devil-may-care look.

The last several weeks there has been a sense of panic and anger in the air, and rightly so. In my case, my anxieties have played out in cars and they have been literally a wreck and have made me one, too. I have taken cars to the body shop three times in the last month. I am preparing a fourth visit on my way out of town.  I took my 2003 BMW out of the body shop on Friday. They removed a lot of acorn dents and it looked very beautiful. Saturday, the car was parked in front of the post office and some kid who was getting on a team bus there decided it would be clever to run across the hood. He left three large footprints and some dents and scratches. He escaped before I could prosecute. Yesterday, a nice woman backed into me and dented my door. She was upset and had flagged down a policeman on a bike. Unlike the snotnose, she was impeccably honest and I did everything I could to calm her.

People are yelling at each other about politics. I’ve made an ass out of myself expounding on politics recently, as well. The tone has become ugly, partisan, and subtly racial. The stock market has crashed, a subject which I will cover in a future post.

I am tired of America’s controversies and I am tired of my hometown anxieties. Separation will be interesting. Viewing this country from a distance could give me the calm and perspective I need to see it clearly.

I am ready to leave, even as I have some stage fright about the arrival in Buenos Aires tomorrow. An American innocent travels to a new country and probably gains experience he hadn’t expected. I hope you’ll follow along.

Please laugh at me, Argentina.

A Postscript:  Last year, I was fortunate enough to have one of my writing heroes, David Sedaris, inscribe a book for me.  He was friendly and polite to everyone who came for an inscription and patiently placed a custom inscription in every person’s book.  I told him I was a blocked writer and asked him for whatever advice he might give.  He inscribed my copy of NAKED, my favorite collection of his essays:

To Sam,

Write about capes.

David Sedaris

I’ve been waiting a year for the right time.