Yesterday and Today

This is a story of yesterday and today. Yesterday I woke up on the island of Oahu under a bush in Ala Moana Park. Woke up? No, I came to. Thirst first. I checked the backpack I had used for a pillow: nothing. I sat up, held my head till the whirling quit, and looked around me. I scanned the curbs of the parking lot for standing bottles (the kids sometimes didn't finish them the night before--their waste, my breakfast). Nothing. I crawled out of my bush, got to my feet, slung my pack on a shoulder, and headed for the trash cans. I checked three before I found my first drink, a screw-top beer bottle with two inches in the bottom. I wiped the wet garbage away from the neck, unscrewed the top, and lifted it to my nose to be sure it was beer and not urine. The smell checked out and I gulped my first of the day. It was warm and flat--"skunk beer"--and it tried to come back up. I crossed my arms (holding the quart securely), tightened my chest and neck muscles, and swallowed hard to keep it down. When I knew it was going to stay, I raised the bottle again and took three more draws off it. This time it stayed down much easier, and my "okay" feeling started to come.