Exploration

“Wanna ride some bikes?” Tyson asked with a tilted head and the accompanying smirk. It was 10 pm on Friday., cold as any mid-October evening in Chicago. I had ingested a couple drinks.

“You wanna ride bikes man? Yeah, lets ride.” I answered.

We sailed down the streets. It was dark, cold, and slightly foggy. My hands were freezing as we made our way into a park, lights sparsely distributed along the black path.

I rediscovered something in that park. Its hard to say what, but I can describe the feeling. Ive been worried about impending doom for too long. What if I don’t find ? What if I get lost? What if I fall? When will the economy fail? What will social unrest be like? What if What if What if. Death. Death. Dead.

I smiled. There was no what if. There was the moment. I felt the wind through my hair and the fatigue of my legs. I saw the lights, blurred by the fog, pass by and reappear. I appreciated it all. It turns out that if I simply choose to appreciate each moment: the smell, the cold, the lights, each moment is pretty awesome.

We rode again Saturday night, this time to have dinner with an older woman Tyson had met during his Celta course.

Her name was Marilyn and she was mighty energetic. She bounced from one subject to the next faster than a positively charged subatomic particle. Money troubles, problem 17 year olds, you name it, she covered it 3 minutes ago. You just were not paying enough attention.

Her husband, a jolly old man by the name of Steven, seemed to be her polar opposite. He talked slowly in a very calm and collected tone. Marilyn contrasted him not only in speed, but with a shrill voice. We ate and began having some after dinner tea when an atomic bomb of conversation began.

Steven expressed his great admiration of America and I, attempting to be a gracious guest, bit my tongue as long as I could. Eventually though, my principles conquered my social norm habits, as is usual practice.

I recall saying “There would be no Mcdonalds in France if the French were not eating their cheeseburgers.”

Eventually Steven, Tyson and I were involved in some sort of philosophical political debate. I still bit my tongue at points as my views were very contrarian but overall it was a good discussion. Marilyn was obviously feeling left out at points. Every time I looked in her direction she snagged me into some sort of short discussion. As nice and hospitable as she was, I couldn’t help but immediately try to sneak back into the other conversation.

Sunday, we moved. I am now officially living in Christchurch with my own digs. Its cozy but it works. Tyson is giving me some much needed cooking knowledge. We are beginning to watch Battlestar Galactica. I am starting to look for part time café work.

While the main part of my adventure is probably 2 months away, a major step has been taken. I am separating myself from things I could not seem to shed at home. We have no cable. No Adult Swim. I have no car. No xbox 360. I have less time on the internet. I am glad.

I am leveling up, you see. Everyone knows you cant level up by staying in the same dungeon forever.

Cheers.