Baptism, rats, and the luxury of coming and going

Today I drove myself across town into some serious traffic, and back with success. I've been driving from the office to home and back for over a week but today was my maiden voyage into the bowels of lane-less, hornful, bigbullybuses Colombo-10. And did I pray.....hard, serious pleas for protection and blessings.

I stood my ground when a tuktuk driver laid into his horn at me for not pulling up into a space too small for my car but not too small for his tuktuk, held my chin high as he got out of his ride and walked up to my window flinging his hand around. I smiled and pulled a zen-head wobble. About 20 seconds later, the traffic molasses began to ooze forward and I could merge into an actual lane and let Freakazoid see his sliver space. He was not able to accelerate fast enough to pass me as I whizzed and wobbled and smiled and felt my confidence rev to the sound of the motor. I'm doing it, drivin' in crazy colombo.....yeah!

I pray before, during and after and will continue to do so. Ain' by my power that I'm slippin' in and out of this crazy rhythm flow. Thank you Jesus I say, I sing, I whisper....every 2 seconds or so, all the way across town and back.

I parked and walked to the building I work at in the mornings. It is a scuzzy part of town. This morning I saw two dead rats, lots of crows, rotting garbage wafting thick into my hair and into my nostrils despite me holding my breath. Leering men, water dripping from some a/c above falls on my head...nothing like baptism but that's what I think of...I spread out my puckered up frowning grossed out about to vomit face into a smile. I JUST DROVE HERE! and when I'm done doing my thing, I'll drive myself away.

Amen to that!