I.
The bar was on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Meredith slowed and pulled her orange 1970 Honda CL350 into the parking lot when she saw the collection of San Pedro cacti nearly four feet tall decorating the bar’s deserted patio. The only vehicle in the parking lot was an old Chevy pick-up caked in mud. The 50s-something butch never felt comfortable at these rural dives. She could pass with the stereotypical bar crowd in her leather gear, but it was a combination of being visibly queer and growing up with an alcoholic father that made her leery of rural American bar culture.
Her friend had given her the tip. Apparently, the bar with the four-foot-tall San Pedro had a new bartender. A beautiful woman from out of town. Her friends were always telling her about these things, mostly as a joke. They knew Meredith’s list of lovers was long and that Santa Fe only had so many available lesbians.
But, joke or not, it was her last day off and it was hot. A ride and a refreshing iced tea sounded just the thing. Plus, she was an amateur botanist with a passion for entheogenic plants so this landmark San Pedro called to her. The sun was blinding so she kept her shaded helmet on as she strode across the parking lot toward the cacti. She bowed her head toward the tallest among the green beauties, a sign of respect in the plant queendom. As she stood there admiring the sacred Peruvian cactus, she caught a glimpse of the new bartender through a small window in the door of the bar. She was a tall woman probably in her mid to late 30s. She had dark hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, big square glasses, and was wearing a light blue button-up shirt with a pen in the chest pocket. She was singing to herself as she dried beer glasses from the dishwasher and danced her way to the shelf where they lived. All alone in the little bar, she was completely unselfconscious and she was strikingly beautiful in a robust and mature way.
Meredith’s heart skipped a beat and she quickly made her way back to her motorcycle, shy for the very first time in her entire adult life. She took off down the desert road.
