You’re born, you start crawling, then you stand up and walk. But you have to live upright, not just walk upright, you have to live upright.
So says Alex, a Russian/Moldavian/Polish/Jewish metal fabricator that I will talk to in front of his open garage for some time.
I had a flat tire on my bike — the one time I go out on some errands without my pump. I had stopped to make some ambient recordings on the way home, and during the third stop, when I was done, I started to get on the bike and the rear tire was dead flat. This, two miles from home. So, start walking and after a long time, as I get close to home, I hear a whistle which I ignore. It goes again, a shrill whistle, so I look in the direction, across the street a man is gesturing me to come over. So, I do. A conversation ensues and ends with the above statement after a half-hour. We discover that yet again, my inner-tube has sheared at the stem, annoying. With no fix accomplished despite Alex digging up a new valve, conversation turns to his history — as a “master mechanic, welder, and fabricator” he worked in the oil biz in Siberia and elsewhere. Long stories. I am invited back for a beer and a longer conversation. I will do this, with camera and recorder. Another interesting encounter in Prescott.