It was a stone’s throw away from the municipal golf course, which lent an air of uncertainty to the daily task of crossing the parking lot to the safety of apartment door. The protective nets strung across the balconies of the residences nearest the line of fire bore the tragic tale of unexpected golf balls crashing through plate glass in the middle of a peaceful dinner. Thankfully, my apartment was spared the ugliness of the net, but not much else.

It was a one-bedroom walk up, comfortably large for the price I was paying, yet full of the reminders of my social and earnings status at the time. It had ugly, well-worn carpet the color of Mississippi mud, hospital-white walls and a balcony the size of a postage stamp which had room for my bike and nothing more, not that I would have spent much time out there anyway. The view was less than spectacular. All you could see was the back of a neighboring row of apartments and the “lawn” in between, littered with blowing bits of trash

It wasn’t as if my household furnishings would suffer as a result of my wet condition. They were a makeshift arrangement of various recycled and acquired pieces.

Looking back, I wonder how I was able to tolerate it all. All I can conclude is that ignorance must truly be bliss.

In the still night air you could often hear the rumble of the diesels as they sped their way down the highway to destinations unknown. Likewise, the lonely whistle of the train as it clacked down the tracks in the distance would often put me to sleep.

The kitchen was galley style. Kind of u-shaped with the sink and refrigerator on one side and the stove and storage closet on the other. I rarely used the oven in my three-year tenancy at the apartment, as my cooking capabilities were limited. Dinner usually consisted of macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper or some other meal-in-a-box. Partly because of my lack of prowess in the kitchen and partly because I owned a infinitesimal amount of cookware; one frying pan with flaking Teflon coating and two pots; one medium and one huge. The up side to all of this is when the time came to move, I didn’t have to spend hours breathing noxious fumes while I scrubbed a dirty oven.

Some topics in this essay:
, Hamburger Helper, cable spool, hole middle,