Maybe it's the heat (and lack of air conditioning) but I'm feeling kind of stifled these days. Nothing seems to work for me. Not enough money is coming in to cover bills that have been stripped to the bone. Pretty soon I'll be in debt, and it's just a matter of time before I can't pay my rent and get evicted. The way my luck is running, my stuff will be on the curb sometime this winter.

So I'm thinking, "Well, why not just f*(k it all and pre-emptively evict myself from this stupid society?" My wife left me. I'm not responsible for anybody. I don't really have anything to lose by selling what little I have left and hitting the open road with nothing but a few changes of underwear, some Dr. Bronners, and a guitar. I could head down to Key West for the winter, then make my way north in the spring. I don't know where I'd sleep. Maybe I'd get one of those lightweight tents and pitch it where I could -- state parks, national forests and whatnot. Use the guitar to pick up food and bus money. Pick up odd jobs here and there. Rely on the kindness of strangers. Get beaten, robbed, arrested...

Something about the idea appeals to me very strongly right now. Not the most secure life, but I'd be free, except for the nights I'd probably end up in jail for vagrancy. Jail to a drifter ain't nothin' but a free shower and breakfast. What's the worst that could happen? I die? Saves me the trouble of doing it myself. (Just kidding -- I'd never do that, but death doesn't scare me much these days.)

Jesus was a hobo when you get right down to it. Woody Guthrie, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman -- all did their share of trampin'. Maybe there are worse fates, like being married to someone who doesn't give a shit about you or working some crap-ass job, kissing some moron boss's ass until you get old and sick.

Maybe the tramp life isn't so bad. I guess I won't know 'til I try it.