treacherous, at best.

two winters ago, jodi, loyal, peter and i drove to des moines, iowa, through a blizzard, to see the red hot chili peppers. i remember that school was closed. when that happens at a college in minnesota, you can be sure that the weather is objectively bad.

i don't love the red hot chili peppers. i don't love iowa. i don't love driving through blizzards. i do rather like being alive, despite how much i complain about it.

so i can't remember why i decided to go. a free ticket, a chance for adventure. it was march 1, and that point of winter in minneapolis is a pretty desperate time. in retrospect, i wonder about my mental stability and ability to make rational decisions. cabin fever is for real.

we packed a survival kit. its contents were something like: a jade dragon, various spiritual writings, extra socks, and half a bottle of whiskey, a pink rock that said "lucky," a sodoku book, a copy of "forbes life," some gum, glowsticks, and a box of kleenex.

the highway was closed for most of the day. then it reopened for emergencies only. the radio said driving conditions were "treacherous, at best." well.



we lived. the concert was okay. we're lucky we lived. i give credit to the jade dragon.

wednesday morning i waited for the wrong bus. i don't know why. by the time i finally realized it was the wrong bus, i was nearly 30 minutes late for work. i waited in the pouring rain for the right bus and ate a doughnut while a homeless man told me about all the jobs from which he had been fired for tardiness.

saturday night, a recently married couple rented out the store for their reception. they knew about the space because they had been on my tour. luckily they gave me their leftover champagne. otherwise how would i have been able to deal with the toasts about love love and love and the glittered pine cone decorations. the party favors were little bird nest ornaments attached to clothes pins with the couple's names written on them. she gave me one. "you can cross out the names..."

i'm feeling similarly to how i did the day of the blizzard. my whole g.d. life is a minnesota winter right now. the conditions are all present for doing something equally spontaneous and foolish. i think i'd want to pack a slightly different survival kit though. only slightly.