The storm that scared ten year's life out of me while landing the other night has chosen to keep me company here, with its cold temperatures and a near-constant drizzling rain. So Friday, while the wife was doing her thing, I was cruising aimlessly around the roughly triangular area between Livonia, Ypsilant and Ann Arbor trying to get some sense of the land and the people. But because of the low hanging, dark clouds and the constantly re-forming sheet of water on the windshield obscuring my view I couldn't see very far and, to make my feeling of isolation from the place complete, I couldn't get out on the ground and connect. It's hard to get people to sit still for very long, much less make their acquaintance, when it's 45-degrees out and raining. People don't have much time for a stranger when they're wet and cold and hurrying to get warm and dry. Go figure.
Not surprisingly, I don't have any amusing anecdotes to share about my first day here. I didn't even get any decent pictures between the raindrops on the camera lens and water down my collar keeping me uncomfortable. It was not a productive day in the conventional sense of the word. No pictures, no real story to share, just letting my mind wander as I watched the Michigan scenery flow past the sides of the car. Thinking, watching, listening...
The classic rock is playing low on the radio, the windshield wipers are whooshing faintly as they fight their constant back and forth battle with the raindrops, and slowly a thought creeps up out of my subconscious, "You know what? Michigan is gorgeous, man." This day I'm only about twenty minutes east of Detroit and there are trees, rivers and lakes everywhere you look, and to top it off the fall colors are in full flush right now. I'm an old SoCal boy, so the only seasonal color changes I'm accustomed to are seeing the landscape go from green to brown and back to green, with the occasional widespread flame and smoke. This is the first time in my life I've been in four-seasons country while the leaves were turning, and it is just as stunning as everyone says it is. Even in the flat gray light of a rainy day I can see that. Nice place, wish I could get out and rub elbows with a few of the locals. I keep driving.
I've been in the rental car now for about and hour and a half, and it's getting that stuffy, almost-too-warm feel of a car that's had the windows up and the heater on for too long. I turn the fan down a notch and crack the window a hair to let some fresh air in. I'm going about seventy on this wet highway and people are FLYING by me. I guess us SoCal folks really DON'T know how to drive in the rain. I haven't seen one car on the shoulder pointing the wrong way yet, and in San Diego on a rainy day you see one or two every ten minutes. No big pile ups, no slow traffic, everybody just bombing along in the rain like it's no big deal. Crazy Michiganders...
I head back in the general direction of our hotel and realize I haven't been paying very close attention to where I've been going all afternoon. I'm pretty sure I'm in the right town, I'm pretty sure...shit. I make a U-turn and head back the other way. Shit again. Everything's starting to look the same and I realize all my aimless wandering and pondering has led to my getting good and lost. I pull into a parking lot to get my bearings and look up and down the long, straight road I'm sitting next to that looks just like every other long, straight road around here. Funny thing about getting lost is, you could be around the corner from where you want to get, and you're just as lost as if you were on the dark side of the moon. Lost is lost man, and I am lost. I pull out my phone to use the GPS app I loathe so much and realize I should have charged my phone up this morning while I was sleeping in. I'm down to 6% charge left, the sliver of red on my little battery icon barely visible. Shit and shit again. Now the dilemma is, do I go for the GPS and hope I find my hotel before my phone taps out or do I call my wife and admit I'm lost and ask for help? I laugh at myself thinking about how spoiled I've gotten. If these are my two worst options I must be doing pretty good. Aaaahhh, damn, I'm calling the old lady. "Hey babe, what town is our hotel in again? I'm lost." She doesn't laugh, that's good. "Where are you?", she asks. I'm pretty sure she's not trying to be ironic. "What town?" I ask a little more pointedly. "Livonia" comes the reply. I tell her my phone's getting ready to die and hang up. I don't bother telling her I'm already in Livonia. I heave a big sigh and get on with the business of being lost. At least I have gas in the tank, but to add another layer of tension and urgency to the mission of getting un-lost comes the realization that it is almost dark. I take a left, go two blocks, cross my fingers as I take another left and lo and behold, my lizard brain must have been on duty because all of a sudden I realize my desired destination is straight ahead. I don't even know how I did that, but I am no longer lost. I pull into the hotel parking lot and lie to myself about what a great job I did finding my way back. I head up to the room and wait for the better half to get back so we can go out to dinner. Life is good.
I've only been in the midwest one other time in my life. I spent a weekend in Green Bay watching the Packers beat the Chargers while Bret Favre tied some record of Dan Marino's. The weather on that trip was fantastic, with highs in the mid-70's and clear skies. The main takeaway from my time in Green Bay was that midwesterners are a different breed from what I'm accustomed to dealing with every day in my hometown. Friendly, polite and accommodating to a fault. I don't know that I've ever been around so many gracious, hospitable people ever. I haven't had too many chances to check the premise here in Michigan yet, but I have a feeling it's going to be more of the same. I'll keep you posted.
Sorry for the lack of photos. The weather just wasn't having it.
Tomorrow I'll tell you all about our drive across the prairies of Ontario, a day at Niagara Falls and an evening spent in Toronto.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment