The Second Time Around

Flores, Guatemala

(originally posted on thistroll.com)

Sometimes I'll spend a night at some random bar and have an absolute blast. There was that time I played 100 songs on the jukebox at J & J's, for instance. Or that Foot Clan-esque bar in downtown Phoenix. Café No Sé in Antigua. 50-some bars in the Twin Cities. So then later I'll return looking for the same good time, but it's never as fun the second time around.

I suppose you could say that about a lot of things. For instance I still look back with reverence on the first blowjob I ever received. The heavens parted and suddenly I knew what a precious and wonderful gift is life in this glorious universe. Sadly no blowjob expert can ever bring me back to that spiritual moment. Innocence is a one-way street.

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My second time around at Lake Petén was mundane and uneventful. This time I stayed at a hotel in town. It had a little pool that hardly anybody used. I chatted with a few locals who were friends and family of the owners and brought their kids by to swim in the pool. I tried to teach a little girl how to float. She preferred to doggy paddle.

It was the first Sunday of the NFL season, and I sat around in hotel bars watching football games on my laptop. I drank sodas during the early games and beers during the late games. For the night game I got drunk and philosophical, as I'm wont to do.

I spent a day working on the security context for this website. This requires users, sessions, roles, and a login interface, which is heavy lifting compared to the simple services I had written previously. I got it working. Try telling "login blah blah" to my troll, for instance.

My last day in Guatemela was devoid of all excitement, adventure, romance. I barely exchanged sentences with anybody beyond the transactional lexicon of the service industry.

I floated on my back in a pool. Afterward I hugged the side of the pool and rested my chin on my crossed forearms, watching the sun set over the lake.