A Chair In The Attic
The first morning on the road, I woke up in a strange town in strange living room on a strange couch.
It was awesome.
I didn't realize that morning that I would start a trend by hitting the road sometime around 10:00, but as it turned out, 10:00 was my hour. Not for lack of trying, or because I slept in -- it just seemed to happen that way.
It worked, though, and before long I realized I had a mantra going through my head: "It's okay. You don't have a schedule. Don't hurry. Don't rush. Just enjoy."
And so it was -- Lesson One. Take your time.
After a stop for coffee, lunch, some general lollygagging (a word that would come to describe a lot of my trip), and a geocache, I found myself pulling up to the Admiral's door in Minneapolis.
Well, almost. There was a work truck in the way. And after greeting the Admiral, I discovered the missing back wall of his kitchen.
Now, given that he was about to host a dinner party for his birthday, he was remarkably calm about this. He and ... the General? [Hm. I need a name for you, sir!] were in the process of replacing all the windows in their rather old house and the time had come to take care of the patio door ... which ended up being more complicated than originally expected. By the time people started to appear for dinner, there was still a hole. By the time dinner was ready, though, there was a large, beautiful door in place.
The evening was a blast, as expected, and I awoke the next morning shortly before the workmen reappeared to put the finishing touches on the door and wrap up the rest of the windows. The lollygagging started once again.
It started with the house tour: the Admiral showed me their absolutely perfect attic and I threatened to spend all of my time there. When Saturday hit, it may have become clear that a little relaxing time was necessary, and he let me hang out in his attic and read.
We would spend a fair bit of time catching up (it had been far too long). Later, we'd all venture out and there would be shopping, wandering, and a brewery followed by a visit from more friends.
As much fun as everything was, it was the relaxing that afternoon that I took with me on Sunday. I'd found the magic reset button and I'd finally felt the summer drain away.
It was good. Especially since I had a lot of miles ahead.
It was awesome.
I didn't realize that morning that I would start a trend by hitting the road sometime around 10:00, but as it turned out, 10:00 was my hour. Not for lack of trying, or because I slept in -- it just seemed to happen that way.
It worked, though, and before long I realized I had a mantra going through my head: "It's okay. You don't have a schedule. Don't hurry. Don't rush. Just enjoy."
And so it was -- Lesson One. Take your time.
After a stop for coffee, lunch, some general lollygagging (a word that would come to describe a lot of my trip), and a geocache, I found myself pulling up to the Admiral's door in Minneapolis.
Well, almost. There was a work truck in the way. And after greeting the Admiral, I discovered the missing back wall of his kitchen.
Now, given that he was about to host a dinner party for his birthday, he was remarkably calm about this. He and ... the General? [Hm. I need a name for you, sir!] were in the process of replacing all the windows in their rather old house and the time had come to take care of the patio door ... which ended up being more complicated than originally expected. By the time people started to appear for dinner, there was still a hole. By the time dinner was ready, though, there was a large, beautiful door in place.
The evening was a blast, as expected, and I awoke the next morning shortly before the workmen reappeared to put the finishing touches on the door and wrap up the rest of the windows. The lollygagging started once again.It started with the house tour: the Admiral showed me their absolutely perfect attic and I threatened to spend all of my time there. When Saturday hit, it may have become clear that a little relaxing time was necessary, and he let me hang out in his attic and read.
We would spend a fair bit of time catching up (it had been far too long). Later, we'd all venture out and there would be shopping, wandering, and a brewery followed by a visit from more friends.
As much fun as everything was, it was the relaxing that afternoon that I took with me on Sunday. I'd found the magic reset button and I'd finally felt the summer drain away.
It was good. Especially since I had a lot of miles ahead.
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