THE POINT AND THE SETTING SUN
(1957–60)
The Arkansas side of the Mississippi River is lowlands, flat to Crowley’s Ridge. The Memphis side of the Mississippi River is a tall bluff. Driving around downtown one Sunday afternoon I discovered an old deserted truck parking lot, on the south side of the bluff across from the warehouse district (where they later built the Rivermont). The Point was a great place to park, drink, or take a girl. The band and I would go to The Point after a bad gig or before a party, with a sack of ice, a bottle of vodka, a can of grapefruit juice, and be off to the races. After a couple of drinks, I liked to get in the back seat of my old Buick and stick my head in the bag of ice.
I spent many a Sunday evening at The Point watching the sun go down across the river. From the river bluff the setting sun appears to bounce in the last split seconds before it sinks into the Arkansas delta’s horizon line, an optical illusion I have seen nowhere else. It usually bounces three times, like an orange ball in slow motion; then it’s gone. Sometimes I watched the sunset with Vera or with drunken friends but more often by myself. It became a ritual.