Magic in Minneapolis

Stillwater selfie

The trip to Minnesota has been fabulous, full of the expected good things (spending time with Katie) and the unexpected interesting ones, and now that Katie has gone to school and I have time to kill before my afternoon flight, I have time to write a little about it.

First of all, I am so in love with the Minneapolis area that I could stay another week. There is water, water, everywhere, and so many places to see it. We went around Lake Harriet and walked along the Mississippi near the Guthrie Theater and also along the St. Croix River in our day trip to Stillwater, the birthplace of Minnesota, where we spent a good part of the afternoon taking a trolley tour of the fantastic homes and browsing in the stores and at stalls in an arts fair while a jazz concert took place, which we would not have done if our hosts, Lonny and Andy, had not had a book called "100 Things to do in the Twin Cities Before You Die."  For exercise, we climbed up a lot of steep stairs to get this view of Stillwater.

View of Stillwater

This was my best Airbnb ever, a historic house, recently on a home tour, filled with art and antiques, with two cute little dogs, and a modern kitchen that makes me want everything in it, and a bed so comfortable that, thanks to the comfort and the cool Midwest air, allowed me to sleep past that dreaded 4 a.m. hour and sleep until the more respectable 7 a.m.

A semi-retired couple had the other room. They had driven over from Dubuque, Iowa, just to explore the area, and we became instant friends. In talking to the couple, and to Lonny, one of the hosts, we discovered a big commonality in addition to our shared political values: three of us had had cancer. We played "can you top this," and I am happy to say that I have enough distance to be able to do it with a sense of humor, as the others were able to do also.

They gave me the prize, but after hearing the other stories, I said I wasn't sure.

Last night, I stayed up until midnight talking to Lonny about his large extended modern family, and by the time we were done, I wanted to move in...or at least come back in May for the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre Annual May Day Parade.

But, back to my regular reality, which is a little complicated.

I fly in to Boston tonight, sleep at Diane and David's, then head out early in the morning to get to at least part of the Tuesday class at The Literacy Project in Northampton, then do some writing, then hopefully get in another outside clinic in the waning days of our Wednesdays at The Canoe Club, then go home to get picked up to go back to Boston for my ECP at the Kraft Blood Donor Center.

You might wonder, why not stay in Boston, but then I would not get to do those other things. And also, it will be nice to see my dog...if I can tear her away from Jim and Jane's.

Up, up and away

In my dream, Dr. Alyea said that although I felt fine, I was not making enough blood and would need another transplant. He said I would need chemotherapy and a hospitalization all over again. I just could not believe it.

This time I would need to go to California. I said that it would be too far for most people to come visit, although I knew that at least my California cousins would. He said not to worry because they have a gym out there, and he showed me a video of bald people playing basketball.

So although I was filled with dread, I felt better knowing that I could exercise.

In reality, I was sleeping on the third floor of Diane and David's house in Newton, in preparation for my flight from Logan Airport to Minneapolis today. I'm going to stay for four nights at what looks like another great Airbnb that we picked by looking at the map and checking out places near Katie's house.

I'm excited to see her new house, ride bikes (it's flat!), walk around a lake or two, eat out and do other fun things. I also brought some work to do and the book, The Lowland, that we are reading for bookclub.

Yesterday in the pouring rain was a wash. It was one of the only times all summer that we were rained out of our Wednesday clinic, meaning that it will be the first time all summer that I will have a week without tennis! I still hadn't finished cleaning up after having tennis friends over for brunch on Sunday; the cleanup took a while as I suffered the consequences of taking all my piles of paper and other stuff and throwing them into a closet and then having to deal with it when it all spilled out.

Also I did an interview for a story I am writing. And being the world's slowest packer, by the time I got out of the house it was getting dark. For a minute I thought of staying at home and going straight to the airport for my 11:45 a.m. flight today, but then I would have been lollygagging under pressure and that would have been worse.

Diane was so nice to drive me to the airport in my car that I told her she could use any of my stuff: dog leash, tennis balls, tennis racquet, yoga mat, books, natural energy drink, coffee nips and any of the other inventory.

Fun in Minneapolis

We covered a lot of ground over the weekend: walking around (part of) a lake or two, walking along

the Mississippi, eating out, visiting Dinkytown (yes, the area around the University of Minneapolis is

really called that), drinking coffee (me) and tea (Katie) at Caribou coffee and other great spots in sections of Minneapolis that resembled Northampton on a larger scale.

View of the Mississippi from our walk.

We also went to the Gutrhie Theater, almost missing the play ("The Heidi Chronicles") due to getting stuck in traffic during the Zombie Pub Crawl , which, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, broke a world record with at least 15,458 people dressed as the undead gathering in one place, an accomplishment entered in the Guinness Book of World Records. What can I say? I never knew I would go to Minneapolis and run into that.

Best of all, of course, was just spending time with Katie.

My home-away-from-home for three nights was another great find on Airbnb (the first one being the bed and breakfast in Seville). It was exactly 1.3 miles from Katie, a hop, skip and a jump, with "my lake" (Lake Harriet) close to me, and Katie's lake
(Lake Calhoun) a short drive from her.

Nice day at Lake Harriet

It is more expensive to fly from Hartford, so I flew from Logan, where Diane was kind enough to pick me up last night. I spent the night in Newton and then drove straight to Northampton this morning so I could get to at least part of class at the Literacy Project. Then, coffee with a friend; then, stopping at Atkins; then, picking up Maddie, then, taking her for a mini-walk...and then, wondering if I should clean out the car and unpack my bag, but saying, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

Hello from Minneapolis

I took my mother with me on the plane to Minneapolis, and now I feel that she is keeping me company while Katie attends a program required by Teach for America.

Well, first of all, I am not saying that I actually took her. I took a framed painting – a "Lynne Gordon original" – that Katie wanted for her new apartment. The still life watercolor is an early piece signed  Lynne Lewin in her perfect handwriting.

I was thinking of going to Staples to get packing materials when it occurred to me that I could just wrap it in newspaper, put it in a bag and take it with me as a carry on. First I read the newspaper and then I wrapped the picture in it, proving that the paper is not just good for "fish wrap." I liked the idea of wrapping it in her beloved New York Times.

I prepaid the $20 required to check my bag, but on the way back I can just carry it on.

There were some adorable babies on the plane yesterday, making me even more anxious to see my own, who I can't believe is 22. She is doing well in the first year of her Teach For America stint teaching ESL in an elementary school here.

It incredibly nice here with a lot of cool things to do and see including a lake near her house and another near where I am staying (just 1.3 miles from her, another winner found through airbnb).

I had looked up a restaurant where I could have lunch but ended up at a different place that looked inviting. It is called French Meadow Bakery and Cafe, and its owner is......drum roll....Lynn Gordon.

On the wall there is a framed newspaper story about her, headlined "Risen Star Lynn Gordon."

How cool is that?

We are going to walk around Lake Harriet and then have dinner and go to see "The Heidi Chronicles" at the Guthrie Theater. Fun!

Close encounters of varying kinds

The graduate, Lily, center, with Diane, to her right, and

aunts, Suzanne, left, and at right, Mel and me.

I had a wonderful though rainy weekend in St. Paul, Minneapolis, for my niece Lily's graduation from Macalester College.

Lily is Diane and David's daughter and the same age as Joe, who graduates in two weeks from Bates. So there is a whole lot of celebrating going on this month, alongside musings about where all the time went.

It is so nice when family gathers for happy occassions. I sat near Lily and her friend at dinner one night and got a chance to talk to them about their interesting plans as geography majors. We saw some of the sights in the Twin Cities and ate a lot of good food (it seemed like we were always planning our next meal!) Found some good coffee places, too.

I also met some very nice people whom I'll never see again...strangers coming together for brief connections.

The first "encounter" was on my flight from Hartford. I used to like flying, then I got afraid of flying, and now I think I'm OK again, not that I do it very much.

During my scared days, just a little bit of Ativan helped. I had brought some with me this past weekend just in case, but I didn't take it in the airport. As I sat on the plane waiting for takeoff, I thought maybe I should reconsider. (It doesn't work right away, but including a layover in Philadelphia, it was a five-hour trip.)

I called a friend who has a similar problem.

"Take it," she said.

A woman sitting across the aisle had heard my question, and she leaned over towards me and said, "Don't take it. Just breathe. You can do it."

The man in front of me turned around and gave me a thumbs up in agreement with the woman across the aisle.

The woman next to me, who told me later that she is a medical librarian at Yale, said maybe I should take it but that if I didn't and I got nervous, she would hold my hand.

I joked that maybe I should ask the whole plane.

I didn't take it. My new friends asked me a couple of times if I was OK. The librarian and I chatted a lot It was a smooth flight, and indeed I was OK.

I had another brief friendship Saturday morning at the hotel, where a free breakfast is included. The coffee, no surprise, was pretty bad. I drank a cup and then was sorry I had.

I asked a woman at the front desk if a Starbucks was nearby, and learned that there is one, but not in walking distance. The woman said I could wait for the van driver to return from an airport run and then he would take me there.

The driver was a man who looked to be in his late 20s or early 30s. He told me that he is from Ethiopa but doesn't mind the winters in Minnesota. He just bundles up and then looks forward to spring and summer, which are beautiful.

He works part-time at the hotel; his main job is as a collector for the phone company. "I'm the bad guy," he laughed. He is also pursuing a college degree in fine arts from the University of Minnesota.

When we pulled up in front of Starbucks, he said, "Tell them Amby says hello."

I did, and the two young women behind the counter smiled and said to say hi back. I was all set to go with my capuccino, but they said to wait a minute, they had one more drink.

It was Amby's usual, a skim vanilla latte (or something like that).

He broke into a big smile when I gave it to him.

"I am blessed, blessed, blessed," he said.

I feel blessed by the major events this weekend and by the anticipated ones in the coming weeks and by the small ones too.