making my way west

Saturday.

Buddy and I were at odds most of the day, through no amount of innocence on either side. I stormed off to the Queen early, armed with a BOGO coupon. I met Chris in the alleyway; she seemed to have forgotten all of our ill-timed run ins from the previous year, and seemed genuinely glad to see me. (as an aside, I forgot to mention that I saw Brooke the night before. she looked slick, man, slick.) I was angry. I mention this because I so rarely get that angry, I think I can only remember one other time in the last ten years. Fairly monumental. I sloshed along in my Earth shoes, the same ones that brought Shelly and I together two years ago, with a late arrival and a whisper in the back of a massage therapy classroom. The soles are coming apart on them now, and I had scarcely gone ten paces before my heavy wool socks were already damp. Ah well. Might as well be uncomfortable all the way around.

When I got back, I demanded and got Buddy's Jeep, and wasted 45 minutes driving around town aimlessly looking for an open bank. Cashless, I returned and gathered Dan before we headed out for our day. Buddy stayed home, in bed.

We had left earlier than planned, so showed up at Brian's before he and Katie got home from collecting a wine chiller mini fridge. Brian is a wine afficianado, and his girlfriend Katie is a happy enabler. He has quite the impromptu wine cellar in his basement, one that I am always glad of when visiting, and this trip was certainly no disappointment- they honored Dan and I (and Katie's dad, who was helping them with the cooler) with a ridiculous spread including 4 types of cheeses, marinated artichoke, bruschetta, a cracker plate, and of course 2 different bottles of wine. I only allowed myself two glasses as I would be driving us down to the Springs in a few hours, but Dan loaded up. A sly wink passed back and forth assured the both of us that my turn would come.

After a few, happy hours with them it was time to head out. I had to use the restroom before we left, at the same time as Dan, and Katie told him to go ahead, that "Liza's bathroom is upstairs." It got a real, genuine smile out of me for the first time that day. Even after all these months, I knew I belonged. Let me tell you, friends, when you find this feeling, don't let it go.

Hugs and waves exchanged, Dan and I folded ourselves back into Buddy's Jeep and headed down to the Springs. Despite being overcast, he was still able to get a pretty good view of the foothills. I had fun pointing things out on the way down- Castle Rock and the geological formation that gives it its name, Monument Pass, and the like. I didn't even bother with the Air Force Academy or New Life Church- despite visibility being too poor to actually see them from the roadway, I didn't care. We had a long, awkward, and good conversation on the way down, clearing the air for me a bit. I discover a little more all the time that I really like talking to that kid. He's a great listener. (Once again, when you find these, don't let them go... they are rare.)

I brought him into town on Garden of The Gods road, and then drove him through GOG itself. It was just on the darker side of twilight, and gorgeous out. Despite the chill I lowered my window. Things seem more tangible when there's not glass in between. Dan muttered for a moment about the beauty, then we both fell silent. Sometimes words don't do things justice. After completing a circuit of the park, we snuck up on the west side of the Springs from behind and found ourselves in the company of one McDavid, which thrilled me to no end. We headed over to Adams, and as Dan and she quickly fell in love with each other over the best organic food on either side of the Mississippi, I took a fond look around. In just three days time, the restaurant would be moving over to the newly renovated/restored Spa building in the center of town. There were already evident changes- the weird, busy wallpaper had been pulled up and the walls had been painted. The smell was the same, though, and Lucci and Sam were both working. I got hugs all around, and as always they came and sat at our table for long moments, ignoring other customers and catching up. I love those girls. I got to sing Sam her song one more time, and she smiled and laughed at me just the way she always did. And of course, as Dan dubbed her, "Old Farl" had to show up. I swear the claw-handed woman has some sort of sensor-- Liza's down at Adams. Must go. Must have awkward moment where we face off and then provide 15 second long non-sequiter conversation. Check.

So a couple of hours later (not that it wasn't it's own illustrative point, but I did talk to Dan about the "slow food" movement), we left with little boxes. Mine said, "Do it effectively do it" on the top, and McDavid, who wanted a slightly more menacing message to ward off unwanted eaters, had a variety of saying scrawled upon it. "Poison, posion. Scary feminine stuff. Placenta sauteed in man juice. Do not eat. Posson."

We sauntered back over to the Jeep, much fuller (and a little drunker, we did in fact split a bottle of organic Ladybug red table wine) and whipped that sucker around to Manitou Ave, and went into the Ancient Mariner where we had some more drinks and played a rather forgettable game of pool. I remember Dan lost both times. (the first we didn't count as an actual game, because all he did when he tried to break was shoot the cue ball into the nearest pocket. did I mention we were drinking?) I rubbed his shoulders for a moment, and a man who would have been absolutely creepy anywhere else but was perfectly normal in Manitou came up and asked me if I could work on him next. Sure. He plopped down and groaned for about five while I dug into his right shoulder. He had a pearl earring and a great, shaggy head of gray hair, racing down to meet a teal flannel shirt. He had a nice ring, too. Finally Dan saved me by leaning close to him and saying rather loudly, "Think you can sleep on that, now?" (his original complaint is that he couldn't sleep.) Yes, we are the smoothest operators in the known world. Still, I shot Dan a grateful smile and bucko thanked me heartily before stumbling off.

After I finished my Fat Tire (booyah!) and Shelly showed up, we shoved off. We dropped McDavid off and there were hugs and love all around. Dan looked at me accusatorily, wagging his finger and telling me I shouldn't have kept all these lovely people from him for so long. I just shrugged. He was to drive back up to Denver, so I gave him some rudimentary directions and dozed off, content to leave him in charge of transportation. I woke up to a hand squeeze at the Lincoln Ave exit, and gave him sleepy but followable instructions back to Buddy's. It was just after midnight, and we stumbled in her apartment to find her sleeping on the futon in the entryway. After quick tooth brushing, I tumbled into bed, falling back to sleep before Dan could get out of the shower.