You know what’s hard? Being REALLY FRIGGIN’ EXCITED about (big!) contacts I’m making and plans I’m forming for Beyond Megapixels, and having nowhere to squee about them. MAN am I having fun, though.
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One week from today I’ll be in Chicago, and the day after that I’ll be hanging out with Heather! (Thumbnail pic courtesy of her, heh. Back atcha, babe!) We have so much catching up to do that one day will not be enough time. Fortunately, there’s the weekend!
Two weeks from today I’ll be on my fourth day in Maine, hanging out with my friend Kim (we’ve known each other since we were four and our birthdays are five days apart, in the same year). I hear there are fiddleheads in the forecast.
Three weeks from today I’ll be… doing nothing special. I assume. Wah.
I’m nervous about traveling to Chicago, in that we’ve decided to get a rental car instead of relying on public transportation, which means I’ll have to get my own little self from the scareport (Heather’s word, stolen) to Bill’s hotel ALL BY MY LONESOME. And then back again on the day that I leave. AGAIN, ALL BY MY LONESOME. Driving in a strange city is right up there with the extreme fear of tornadoes, for me. But I shall don my Big Girl Pants and stop being such a damned wussy, already. Besides, I added a Garmin to my rental. Now watch it dump me straight into Lake Michigan.
Ah, well, once I get to Bill it’s HIS responsibility to drive us around. We’ll hit Navy Pier and the Shedd Aquarium for sure, but I have no idea what else we’re going to do. We might head down to Heather’s for a party she has planned on Friday night… I hope we do, I really want to meet Jack!
I have my days for Maine planned, quite lovingly. I arrive on Monday at about 1:00 (I’m certainly not afraid to drive home from the Portland airport!), and Monday night there will probably be a family dinner (HELLO J’s OYSTER). I shall scan the family photos all day Tuesday and probably Wednesday as well (there are that many). There will be a visit from my cousin and her new baby in there somewhere, as well as a visit to the Marshalls. Thursday I’m hanging out with my friend Kim all day – there may be a barbecue at her house, or we’ll hit the beach, or something like that. Friday I’m headed to Freeport for an overnighter with my sister and niece (gonna hit the ORIGINAL Jameson Tavern, circa 1801!), and then I’m flying home again Saturday.
The plans I cherish most in Maine, though, will be those which involve no one but myself. I’m going to get up early every morning and take a walk – down the road, across the fields, through the woods – just like I used to do every day when I lived there. I’m going to cherish the stillness of every evening – maybe sitting out in the screen house or on the back porch listening to the peepers. You’ll probably get entries from me at those times, because the writing bug will surely strike. I may take a drive or two if I find myself with free time, listening to WBLM (“The Blimp!”) and exploring old haunts. Maybe I’ll take a picture of the little brown house I lived in before my mother died. I AM going to obtain at LEAST seven or twelve Italian sandwiches while I’m home.
And OH. GLORY OF GLORIES. I thought Hodgman’s Frozen Custard was only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but I hear tell that they actually open on MOTHER’S DAY.
You guys, I am so happy right now.
Sounds like a great time will be had!
Now, the best way to ease your fears is to be educated. If, IF you happen to be driving and see a tornado, you should pull over, get out of your car and find a low-lying spot to lie in. Put your arms and jacket over your head to protect you. You do not want to be face down in child’s pose, but flat on the ground, with as little air space between you and the dirt. Why? Because tornadoes use the air space underneath things to lift them. So, make like a pancake! Secondly, torrential rains precede and follow tornadoes. Be alert for flash flooding and run off. Your little low-lying space may fill with water. Be alert and be aware.
Statistically, I think your chances of finding a tornado on your trip is pretty low. Last week was the worst outbreak of tornadoes in the last 37 years. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that your trip will be uneventful, tornado-wise.
Have a wonderful trip!
Okay, what the heck? I’m no longer getting e-mail notifications when someone comments. Curse you WordPress and your quirky ways!
Uh, heh. Thanks OS! I actually meant that driving in a strange city scares me AS MUCH as the thought of tornadoes, not that I’m afraid I’ll run into one while I’m there. But your advice still holds true, I’ll be educating myself with maps. And who knows, some day your tornado-avoidance advice might just save my life!
That’s going to be a wonderful trip–I think you’ll be too busy enjoying it to be scared of anything! And you’re going to meet Heather too–I’ve never met her but I can tell she’s a sweetheart! And I’ve never met any of my fellow bloggers (except my niece-in-law Jess “Dude and Sweeties”, of course), so I envy you!
Hi Scott! I actually knew Heather “in real life” before she ever started a blog. She used to live in Arizona and we saw each other a lot, now that she lives in Indiana I see her far less frequently, so our meet-ups are always full of a bunch of catching up!