Nor was that sentence.
I am in small cafe with large windows in Albany, NY. It's freezing ass cold but sunny. It's really quite beautiful. Though my perception of beauty may be slightly slanted due to my sleep deprived state. I started this trip at 5:30pm from Spokane and got in to Albany this morning at 9:30am.
So yesterday as I was checking in at the Spokane airport and noticed (yes, I'd had my flight booked for three weeks) that I had a 4 hour layover in Seattle. Classic. Looking at my ticket, I didn't know what was worse- that I was gonna have to find something to do with myself for 4 hours in the Sea-Tac airport, or that-had I planned-I could have done something with one of my Seattle buddies during that four hour period. On the off chance that Mr. Michael Fox was around- I quick called. He didn't pick up and I left a message.
When we got into Seattle I called Michael and he picked up. I asked if he'd gotten my message. He said he hadn't. I said "what!?". He said, "Really? You're in Seattle right now!?" I said, "Yeah". And then we made it happen.
Michael was on his way to Ballard with a couple of old PLU friends for the evening. Not wanting to totally usurp their evening, I said that I realized this was all last second, and that if they already had plans, then we should forget it. But everyone was into it. We decided to meet downtown. I ran out the SeaTac baggage claim doors and literally ran onto the 194 as it was pulling out. Twenty minutes later, I was downtown Seattle drinking Manny's with Michael Fox, Peter Olson, Melissa Rasmussen, and Becca Kuenzel (spelling?). Amazing thing this communication technology we have.
We met up at the New Orleans Cafe and had the place to ourselves. This was good and bad news. Good news was that we didn't have to fight over the top of music or other folks conversations to hear each other. Bad news was that I was there. Three words: no volume control. Gimme four months of social deprivation, two beers, and a captive audience- I talked long and loud. Now, I know you all are rolling your eyes and thinking something like "what's new?" Well, this was different. This was like a whole 'nother level. I was preaching. I was the Lance Armstrong of story telling: no one could catch me and nothing could tire me out. I think I may have set a new land speed record for most stories told in a two hour period of time. Good news was that most people seemed to enjoy themselves.
Ok- I didn' talk the whole time. I got to hear about Peter- my old roommate- and his wedding back in August. He looks healthy and happy as ever. It was nice to see him and know that he is well. He's such good dude.
And man was that such a great moment of serendipity. That is that I actually DID catch that I had a four hour layover. That Michael was free (and actually picked up his phone- had to get you on that Fox) and available. That I caught the first bus downtown. That everything just came together. Synchronicity. And friends who make it happen. Thanks Michael.
So I hopped a plane from Seattle to Chicago at 11:12 pm. We got in at 4:30 am. I left for Albany at 6:20 am. We touched down at 9:00 am. I actually did sleep almost the entire way from Chicago to Albany which was nice. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually fell asleep on an airplane. It's nice.
And here I sit, listening to John Prine, and needing to refill both my water glass and coffee cup. I am tired as hell and to be honest, my attitude about being here smells about like what I imagine my breath does. But, after last night, I am forced to remember that if you're willing to be open-anything can happen at anytime.
Tonight is the student potluck/meet n greet. I have enjoyed pretty much all of these so far. And the nice part about this particular visit is that the stress of feeling the need to "get in" isn't there. I feel more at ease. I feel better able to really just be myself. I just want to make sure that I don't get grumpy or self-righteous; two things that aren't terrible hard for me to do even when I'm not sleep deprived (though, I think that's probably because I am mostly sleep deprived). At the end of the day, I'm blessed to have this opportunity not to mention the chance to see another part of this beautiful and crazy country of ours. Stay tuned for more Albany updates: interview day is tomorrow.
Michael, being the good friend he is, drove me to the airport when it was time.
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