Farewell to The Magic City

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Again I sit in an airport, only this time it's in Cleveland. I've completed 2 of my 3 flights in my journey home. The next and final departs at 6:05 so I've got about an hour or so until they begin boarding. Thankfully this time I've managed to get myself set up in a Club Lounge so I've got the free refreshments and wireless thing going which always makes waiting a little more pleasant.

To recap, I last wrote the day before my birthday so I'll pick it up from there.

First off, thanks to all for the birthday wishes which I received by way of voicemail, email, and snail-mail alike! The day was great and ended well, despite the cold and rain that descended on us sometime in the afternoon.

Joanna and I went to the movies and out to 10 North Main for dinner. We saw Premonition - the new Sandra Bullock flick. I really liked it, Jo didn't as much - but not because poor acting or anything...it just wasn't her type of story. Dinner was similar in that I really liked mine, but Jo not so much. I thought this was unfortunate because while it was my birthday, I prefer that everyone enjoy themselves - not just me! Still, it was nice place - good atmosphere - and we BOTH enjoyed the bottle of wine we got as well as the 3 port samplers we finished off our dessert with. Yum.

Thursday was another work day followed by a low-key evening that I spent mostly painting. Then we went over to Joshua's parent's place for dinner and I got to meet Duke.

A word about Duke.

Duke is not a man...at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, he is a dog - quite possibly the largest dog I have ever met in my life and I'm convinced that, given the right lighting and maybe some clothes, he could very easily be mistaken for a man. He is an amazingly handsome Chesapeake Bay Retriever and the only dog I've been around that I could pet without bending over. After dinner I was introduced to the horses which are just about the only animals around that could make Duke appear small.

Where Jo and Joshua live in Minot city proper, Josh's parents do not. The land surrounding the Rogers' home is very pancake-like in its flatness. And, although I'm a mountain-person myself, there's still something breathtaking and awe-inspiring about being able to see for miles and miles in any given direction. This type of landscape also is famous for hosting amazing sunsets and we had a fabulous one accompany us home.

Friday I took off completely. Jo and I became painting fools and managed to complete the kitchen and living room which was no small feat. They both look gorgeous now in their golden yellow and rich blue (respectively). That night we headed out with Joshua and his brother Aaron to Space Aliens Bar & Grill (I'm sorry, but I just had to check out a place where the logo was a giant green bug-eyed alien head that boasted "Earthlings Welcome"). We played trivia, ate Space Fries, and then got back to the house to discover that neither Jo nor Josh had brought their keys. Ah, the dangers of doors that lock from the inside! I am quite familiar with this plight having locked myself out of apartments in the past. Thankfully my new home only allows locking from the outside with a key so the only way I could lock myself out now would be if I locked my keys in my car first. But I digress. We managed to finally get in with Aaron's help. He hoisted Joshua was up to the roof (because Jo & I never could've done it) where a balcony door was unlocked.

This morning had a semi-late start in that I got up about 45 minutes past what I had intended, but this was not a problem since the Minot airport takes only about 4 minutes from Jo's house - door-to-door. I checked in, said goodbye to Jo, and then passed quickly through a short security line into the minuscule terminal where all that separates it from the pre-security area is one of those rolling partitions that looks like a garage door. Again, I had to smile at the thought that this is referred to as an "international" airport with its all of two gates and tiny terminal. But hey, if you can get a bush plane flight out of the country from there, then I guess the term is justified.

Sadly, I do have some disappointing news... There will be no pictures for this trip.

(Pause for gasps of horror to subside)

Please understand that this is not because I did not WANT to take pictures. Au contraire! The truth is that I couldn't find my camera before I left (last seen exiting Vermont with Esther and myself in a giant behemoth of a car and could be anywhere in my house right now). I had asked Jo if I could use hers and it did make the journey to Bismarck with us, but no photos were taken and I'm not sure what became of it after that. I had been disappointed that we didn't have it with us when we visited the Scandinavian Village since it had been a beautiful day. Jo assured me that we could come back and take retroactive pictures, but the weather turned on us and we didn't get the opportunity again.

I know that this is really a very odd thing for me since I'm typically quite the photo journalist, and believe me when I say I'm not happy about it. But alas, sometimes this is just the way things go. Of course I hope that this doesn't plant any seeds of suspicion as to whether or not I really made a trip to North Dakota...I assure you, I did. But should any Doubting Thomas surface, Jo will surely will vouch for me (to say nothing of Continental and Northwest Airlines).

So, that said, my apologies again on the photos and I promise to not be so careless on my next trip which will be coming up towards the end of May (a long weekend in Niagara Falls). As for the photos missed this trip, I still plan to take them retroactively on my next visit to The Magic City - whenever that may be!

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Comments

[jo]

you could add pictures of our house
and the rooms that you painted...