You’d Think I’d Get Whiplash

Dearest Rachel –

After waking up yesterday around five or so (Eastern time, mind you), and driving what turned out to be some seven hours, thanks to several bouts of construction and one point where a car we passed in the corner of the merge was completely burned out, down to the wheel rims (thankfully, it looked like its former occupants were standing around, talking to the police who were directing traffic around them, and wondering what they would do next), it shouldn’t come as much surprise that I decided to fall into bed even before the sun had a chance to set. It had been a long day, to say the least, no less so from having to deal with the emotions of the day before.

At the same time, it wasn’t as if I was going to have much time to take a breath, once I was home. After a night’s sleep in our own bed, I’m up (and after the sun, too; it’s like the thing never bothered to hit the horizon, for all I know and am concerned) and having to pack for the weekend. Now, it’s not like I didn’t know this was coming; it’s why I scheduled the trip to the island to run from Friday to Thursday, rather than the usual Saturday to Friday trip we used to take. This weekend is the one containing the one remaining anime convention I’m still attending, and only because we have a perfect attendance record, and even you would have wanted to keep it up (because streaks and strings aren’t meant to be broken, right?). To be sure, it doesn’t hurt that it’s effectively in our back yard, so to speak.

But even so, we’re still making a point of packing ourselves up and actually staying there on-site despite its proximity to our home. So we get home one night, and the next morning, we’re expected to turn around and head out again. Honestly, you’d think I’d get whiplash from the quick turnaround.

And not just from ending one trip and beginning another; let’s face it, I’d like that to become something of a way of life. If nothing else, I want to get to the point where heading to and from an airport gets to be almost routine, so I can be confident that I know what I’m doing at one. The trouble is, neither of these trips involve an airport; rather, I’m just driving from home to wherever I’m going. I’ve already mastered the art of the road trip, to the point where, even after a couple of years of being out of practice (having given up on Tennessee and Iowa, not to mention the island), I can still put one together, even more or less on my own. So yeah, this isn’t giving me the practice I really want.

On top of everything else, though, there’s the fact that we’ve spent the last week in a secluded cottage, away from basically everybody. You could wander around the property outside practically naked, and no one would know, let alone complain about it – although once upon a time, years ago, we came upon a map of the island that indicated our little corner of Schoolhouse Bay was rumored to have a “nude beach,” which caused you and I to give each other a look like…

Even Put-in=Bay, the “drinking town with a fishing problem,” was all but dead at this time of year. When we visited the winery to restock, the parking lot was empty (which mitigated, for the most part, against the fact that I couldn’t figure out where the ‘reverse’ gear was on the golf cart at first. I’d have been in trouble on a more crowded day, that’s for sure), and across the street, we were virtually the only ones golfing that day. Sure, that was due to a combination of still being off-season and on a Monday, when restaurants tend to take their day off, but still, my point stands that it was a thoroughly quiet week.

Not this weekend, though; we’re heading to one of the largest crowds of otaku in the country right now. It’s going to be loud and crowded, just the way everyone likes it – which is weird, given the stereotype of otaku as introverted, socially awkward creatures. You would expect an event like this to be anathema to most of them. In some respects, it is for me, and I don’t necessarily consider myself part of Otaku Nation very often – although the fact that Daniel and I spent a surprising amount of time watching this anime series or that might suggest that I haven’t renounced my citizenship from there to the extent that I might claim to have.

It’s a major shift from the quiet, solemn time spent on the island, watching the sun rise over the lake and thinking of you, that’s for sure. And while it has been part of the plan all along, in terms of scheduling, it’s still enough to keep me off balance. Then again, at least the time spent in the cottage watching stuff, while not exactly bringing me up to speed with the latest stuff, serves as a decent segue from one trip into the next, to minimize the disorientation factor somewhat (can I use the word ‘disorientation’ when talking about Japanese animation, though?). In any event, I’m going to keep telling myself that for now.

And for now, I’d appreciate it if you could continue to keep an eye on us, and wish us luck this weekend. Odds are, we’re going to need it.