Early morning outing

You can't make friends on the trail if you don't set out on the trail. 

This morning I got to the gym half an hour after it opened and found fewer people lounging on the equipment staring at phones than I usually do later in the day. Still, there are many who appear to go there only to gaze in the mirror. One guy's wearing dark shades. People apparently talking to themselves while moving on cardio machines are actually engaged in telephone conversation using technology I can neither see or fathom. Who the hell are you talking to walking on a treadmill at 7:30 on a Saturday morning?

Anyway, despite the no judgment credo of the place, my mind was doing plenty of it. At least I was aware of it, I guess. 

As for me, I was mostly feeling feeble while trying to move weights and breathless while trying to run. Making an effort felt good though. There's strength in that. 

On the way there and back my car radio was tuned into a local community radio station. The name of the show was Nobody's Happy Hour and the DJ introduced himself as my bartender. The music he played was pretty great and rather heavy in subject matter. Lots of loss and heartbreak, disappointment and hard luck, struggle and temptation. It was my kind of place. No hipster irony, not at all crowded, and with a great jukebox. 

I remembered the station's phone number from my teen years when that same radio station exposed me to punk rock and experimental music which somehow made me feel less alien, not as crazy, and like there might be something out there I could in fact relate to. I called the number. My DJ/Bartender answered. I thanked him for the music and told him I loved the name of the show, the music he played, and the concept. He thanked me.

Keep going, Pal. Keep going.