stadium motel

I initially thought this wait would be a couple days, but after those couple days had past it was revealed to me that it would be longer. For financial reasons I checked out of the Days Inn and downgraded to the Stadium Motel next door, which had weekly rates.

You don’t usually have time to look at every feather, so try to focus on patterns. If you know what you’re looking for, even a glimpse can give you a lot to go on. Once you see a bird, take in the overall pattern of light and dark. If it is light enough outside, you can see some of the color as well. If you have that, you have plenty to work with in your quest for identification.

My new room at the Stadium Motel had wood paneling and two frames containing the same photo of white spectral trees leading down a road. Pasted on top of one of these photos was a large sticker of Jesus Christ leading a sheep up a mountain.
The advertised kitchenette was a miniature refrigerator with a microwave on top. There were dark stains on the bathroom wall. The overhead fluorescent lights were too dim to read by, and the light bulb that was supposed to be hanging in the kitchenette area was missing. I asked the front desk attendant about this, and he came with me and took a look. I had to go because I had an appointment, and assumed he would take care of it. When I got back, the light bulb was still missing, and the overhead light was as dim as before. I didn’t ask about it again. When there are suicide stains on your walls, there is no reason act as though you are staying at the Days Inn.

I didn’t really have much to do until I could move into my house, so I bought a newspaper and “groceries” every day from the 7/11 next door. The front-page headlines from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal the first day: “Potts wins Tech QB starting job,” “Space is no issue for city graveyards,” “An Inspiration: English teacher at Frenship Middle School begins her 40th year today,” “Football team of 1976 succeeded without boasting.”

I wondered if I would have to re-develop an interest in sports to fit in here. Or religion, for that matter. I understand both, to some extent. The deal I made with God when I was 14 to go back to church if the Jazz won a championship is still good, and even though the religious chamber of my heart has been quiet and inactive many years, it used to function with flourish and passion. Maybe I could revive it. But it seemed hard to imagine doing that, starting as an adult.

After reading the paper I walked up University Avenue, a busy street that smelled like car exhaust and Chili’s. I wanted to explore more but my car was still full of my stuff which made me anxious. There really wasn’t that much in there of value, but thieves might not know that, and my relationship with my car was the deepest one I had in Lubbock, so I couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for getting its window smashed.

My time at the Stadium Motel lasted about ten days. On the last day, a man in the parking lot tried to sell me cologne from his car. Hey! You like cologne, right? Well, not really… Oh, not really huh? Well come on over here, let me show you what I’ve got. I politely declined and shook his sun-chafed hand. Later that evening I got the call that I was good to move in later that night.