I love when you're getting near a big city at night, and you can start to see the glow on the horizon from an hour away. Soon we're in a red sea of brake lights, and we fight our way into the city. We get to the venue on-time somehow, and the night goes off without a hitch.
This city is a little more intense than the others. I can feel the energy from all the people around me,with their busy lives, and hardened nature. Don't get me wrong though, I love it. We kill it, and it's all good.
We're hosted for the night by a wonderful couple, and breakfast the next morning is great. I'm a man of simple tastes, and some good home brewed tea in a little black mug,with a bagel and cream cheese is all I need to start the day right. You have to appreciate the small things.
We load up in the van, and head downtown. Walking around this city, I feel a sense of history that the cities out west lack. Old brick and stone grace the sky right along with all the monstrous steel, and it stretches on and on and on. There's a lake that might as well be an ocean, and when we head to our next destination in the city, we follow the shore of it almost the whole way there.
I'm very excited about our stay tonight. I get to see and stay with an old friend and roommate that I haven't had a thorough visit with in ten years. We arrive and are greeted with all the warm hospitality we could ever expect. The scent and decor bring me back immediately to fond memories of late nights with soda,cigarettes, chocolate, and chess. A time in my life when reading and conversation was more than an ample supplement for having cable and a nine to five.
As the sun goes down, more and more lights get dimmed,and more and more candles get lit. Of course, there is an acoustic in my hands, and an impromptu performance follows a bountiful meal had earlier. This night is filled to the brim with intoxicating music and stories. As one by one people are pulled into sleep, my friend and I engage in a battle of chess. The second match is better than the first, but I am still defeated in a two game sweep. Ah, good times.
Now it's just the two of us, and it's far too late for any normal human being to be fully functional and firing on all cylinders, but we still decide to go out,brave the cold, and walk over to the lake. We get to the sandy beach, and head up the shore towards a lighthouse. A pitch black sea, with a backdrop of skyscrapers and apartment high-rises, and the sound of waves coming to rest on the rocks and sand are my current surroundings, and it's surreal.
We head out a narrow concrete path leading to the lighthouse,the cold ominous lake terrifyingly close on either side. There's not a soul in eyesight, which is hard to imagine in a city with such magnitude. We pause to take it all in, then head back. The night, now early morning, ends on a great note, and we crash.
Morning comes a little sooner than I would have preferred, but that's alright because a warm shower, and home cooked breakfast await upstairs. This is a nice reprieve from snacks in our mobile grocery store filled with junk food. This not only re-charges me for the rest of the tour, but will for a long time to come. I can't wait to see my old friend again, and it will not span a ten year gap between our next match of chess and wits.
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