Highlights (and lowlights) of 2017

-1-man broadway play, NYC, blew my mind

-difficult breakup

-trip down to FL for Doug and Susan’s wedding, and to help Brett move apartments

-hanging out with Dolo and the Guerreros
-5 year old Valentina attempts to cut me a mohawk!

-volunteering at Philadelphia's center for the Blind & Visually Impaired

-improv class with Jesse Jeffs

-Mark passed away

-The Cash Registers in concert

-motorcycle out to the shore to hang with Arlene

-motorcycle out to Harrisburg to hang with cousin Candy

-shot 4 different handguns, an assault rifle, and a shotgun

-Mason’s baptism/became a Godfather

-summer weekend in Wildwood with Lauren
-Chris Cornell passed away

-last rides with the Nighthawk/sold my first and only motorcycle

-Royal Blood in concert

-trip to Chicago to checkout the city and Lauren

-KZak’s wedding in NH

-Union game with Chris and Noel

-Arlene passed away

-Harley Davidson 2,100 mile road trip 

-Olivia’s wedding weekend in Nashville

-dug out of YEARS of accumulated piles of notes and junk

-Shilpa Ray in concert!

-progress in forgiveness in relationships

-progress in personal finance
-progress in writing
-delicious (and tons of) food and fun with family through the holidays
-annual struggle to stay positive through the cold winter

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 10 (final): Sweetwater, TN to Nashville, TN

Waking up on our 'floating cabin' was great.  Such a soft bed, and Lauren got out of bed first to make coffee while I stayed horizontal and wrote my notes from Day 9.  We made omelets and hit the road.
My jacket still smells like gasoline, but luckily it was warm and sunny enough to just wear flannel.

Lauren had a bus to catch so we had to jet down the highway.  But an hour or so westward, she realized that we crossed a time difference, and actually didn't need to rush anymore!  We stopped for gas and got lunch at a cozy restaurant called Rose's Garden and had fried catfish, fried squash, dried okra, and blackberry cobbler.  All in all, the bill came out to $19!- hahaha, what?!

Back on the road, we made it to Nashville with time to spare so we went to a thrift store and bought me a shirt to wear at the wedding's rehearsal dinner.
I dropped Lauren off at the bus station, but it was too rushed to be sad/difficult.
The ride from the bus station was uneventful, and then I was parking in the driveway of our Nashville AirBnb, my final destination.  I guess that's it.  I return the bike to the local Eagle Rider's tomorrow.
Hmm.

This trip was enormous.  I'm sure the reality of it won't fully hit me for years to come.
Absolutely incredible.
Thank you God.

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 9: Suches, GA to Sweetwater, TN

Ouch!  Waking up on cold gravel is painful!  I gave Lauren my sleep pad last night, so the cold morning was a little rough.

The mountain roads were crazy twisty-turny, and that was first thing in the morning.  We found our way to a little bit more of a main road, and in less than 2 hours, we had gotten to Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort!!

So cool!! It felt like that was the destination of the road trip.  So many cool motorcycles- both racing and touring- and a few shnazzy cars too.  We took some pics, got lunch, people watched for a bit, and then hit it.
Tail of the Dragon!!!

I wouldn't say it was much harder than some of the other mountain roads we had already covered, but the difference was that it lasted for a while longer.  318 curves in 11 miles at approximately 15mph!  It was nerve-wracking and I was hyper-focused.  No room for error.  And we got to the beautiful lake at the bottom!  Wow, made it :)  Felt like I earned a badge or completed a rite of passage.
From there, we knew our directions and flew for about an hour down the main roads.  Lauren was loving the speed and we got up to 100mph at one point.
We arrived at Craighead Caverns/The Lost Sea Adventure, and were put on a tour right away.  This was one of the best caves I'd ever been in.  Huge.  But THEN- we got to the bottom and there was a LAKE!!!  I think the guide said it was about 40acres wide and about 70ft deep in the middle.  There were lights under the water and they illuminated the cave ceiling too.  There were even partially blind/albino rainbow trout in the water!- what?!  The water was rich with mineral, and when you put your hands in and rubbed them together, it felt like moisturizing hand lotion!  This underground lake was Top 3, possible THE TOP, coolest things I've ever seen.  I was floored.  Absolutely incredible.

We got out and it was 5:40pm.  Again, we flew on the motorcycle, noticing how we had been doing back-and-forth between 'peaceful scenery' to 'speed racer'.  We got to Euchee Marina and our 'FLOATING CABIN' with about an hour left before the sunset.  Beautiful.  We're getting desensitised to "wow!" moments here!  This makes me want to get a house boat on a lake.
We drove for gas and groceries, but I must've taken my eye off the nozzle, because gas sprayed over all of us!  Holy shit.  Scary.  We wiped down, and washed clothes and showered at home.  Yikes.  That was one of the very few negative things that happened among the numerous positives of this trip.
We made homemade ragu sauce, pasta, drank a 6-pack of Bell's Oktoberfest, watched Netflix, and passed out.
What a day!

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 8: Atlanta, GA to Suches, GA

Picked up Lauren at the airport this morning!!  Damn- I actually went to the international terminal and made her find me.  Whoops.  I blame the airport signage though.
We hit the road out of Atlanta traffic and were soon in the high trees.

We came to a beautiful lake and stopped to walk around and take some pictures.

But when we came back, I dropped the bike trying to back it out of the gravel parking spot.  Luckily Lauren wasn't on the back at the time.  Also, I'm glad the bike had big crash bars so the bike didn't get damaged.  It was so heavy that both Lauren and I couldn't pick it up, and a came over and quietly helped us get the bike upright.  And then... I dropped it again!  The stranger quietly helped again, but I was mortified, and really off my game for a while afterwards.
From Dougs suggestion, we made it to Wolf Mountain Vineyards and enjoyed some wine with lunch, and a spectacular view.

Afterwards, the roads got really twisty-turny.  "Double-black diamond" level, I'd say.  We found a quiet stream and took a stroll.  Eventually, we found our campsite by a beautiful lake, got groceries, set up the tent, and tried to build a fire, but the wood was wet and wouldn't catch (even with gas-tank gasoline soaked towels! ha!).  So, we ate a can of chili beans for dinner, and peanut butter and chocolate squares for desert, and it was delicious :)
It was freezing overnight and we could hear wolves howling through the mountains.

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 7: Jacksonville, FL to Atlanta, GA

Very interesting day of riding today!
With the GPS broken (since after DAY 2), I've been writing directions on my forearm.

It's been hot enough down here to wear short sleeves.  It wasn't long after I left Jax that it felt like I was in serious swamp-hick country.  At one point I was using the bathroom at a gas station and the other guy in there started talking to me about the automatic hand-dryer (I think), but I swear I couldn't understand A SINGLE WORD in his maybe 5 sentences!  haha!  It like I was in a foreign country.  The roads were long, lonely, and not super interesting, but it was nice.  I was anxious though because I wasn't sure of distances, just which roads to turn onto.

I started passing cotton fields in Coffee County, GA, and got out to touch some soft puffs.
I saw a storm approaching, and casually pulled over to get my rain gear, but then it started raining immediately and I had to rush to change!  After I started riding in the rain, the jacket ripped.  I hope I don't need it again.
Traffic coming into ATL wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.  Doug and Susan look great- I like them a lot.  Dolores, the french bulldog, is adorable.  We went out for sours at Orpheus Brewery, and then delicious BBQ afterwards.  We hung on their balcony, overlooking the city skyline before going to bed.

I'm waking up at 6am tomorrow to book tomorrow's campsite, print directions, and get to the airport to pick up Lauren!

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 6: Charleston, SC to Jacksonville, FL

Man, what a great time hanging with the Wrights in Charleston!  I packed up after a big breakfast, and found my way south on 17.  There was some car dealerships and urban sprawl for a bit, but then just long quiet road through the coastal marshlands.  Kinda scary to think about breaking down out there.  Very pretty though.
Got to Savannah and immediately started seeing the moss-covered, low-hanging trees I was hoping for.

I rode aimlessly through town for a bit, until I saw a big church, parked, and happened to be just in time for a Latin mass at the Savannah cathedral!  After mass, I was really hoping to find a good quick spot for a shrimp po boy and sure enough, after a 10minute walk: Savannah Seafood Shack!!  It was like finding that oasis in the desert. Ha!  In hindsight, this makes me appreciate not having a smartphone to tell me where everything is.  I got my po boy with hush puppies, delicious, and was back on the road.
Highway down to Jacksonville.  The huge bridge coming into Jax was a little scary on the bike.  Chris and Allison have a great house by the beach.  She's so pregnant!  We hung out with Nola the boxer for a bit before Ubering to a music fest on the beach!  Music, weirdos, clouds of pot smoke, beer, food trucks... it was great!  Got a burger and then a beer at Green Room Brewery.
Big, fun day!

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 5: Rest day in Charleston

No riding today.

We had coffee and breakfast, and then went to the beach with the dog and kid.  Dog beach!  You can let them off their leash, and Madeleine will chase her ball nonstop.  Tucker is cute, splashing in the water.

Got some sandwiches, and then Ben and I checked out 2 Blokes Brewery and Ghost Monkey Brewery.
Came back home, cleaned up, and went to a 1yr old's bday party.  There were about 10 1-2yr olds running around, and parents doting and watching.  I was trying to crack some jokes at the beverage and cupcake areas, but quickly found out that the humorous things about the party were lost on everyone- I was the only single guy/person there!
From there, Ben and I went to two different Edmunds Oast Brewery locations, met up with Will, and then went to Lewis BBQ!  We pigged out.

Then Revelry Brewery.
Then a house party of Ohio State football fans watching the game.  A bunch of the guys there were still kinda college fratboy douchebags, but it was still fun mucking around.  I got to hang with Steve French too!
Big day.  Going to bed in 'meat-sweats'.

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 4: Easley, SC to Charleston, SC

Oooff!  My head is still buzzing even though I arrived here in Charleston hours ago!  That bike is LOUD!!
This morning we made breakfast at the lake house, and then took the kayaks out.  Lake Saluda is gorgeous and seems to still have a bunch of properties that have not yet been turned into massive mansion estates on the water.  Rusty and I paddled out for about an hour and finally arrived in front of Debbie's place.  She was a ton of fun and then even offered to put the kayaks in her pontoon boat and drive us back across the lake!

So, I didn't hit the road until late today after an adventurous morning.  This meant that I was absolutely ripping the throttle east on 26 to make it to Charleston at a reasonable hour (hence why my ears and head are still ringing).  I almost crashed today.  I was coming into an off-ramp too fast- I wasn't going to make the turn and had to hit the brakes pretty heavy.  Stupid mistake- I was just in the mindset of getting to my destination quickly.  It's not a good way to ride.  I should remember that and allot more time for each days journey.

So happy to be in Charleston now!  I love it here at Ben and Kelly's place.  Theres Madeleine (one of my favorite pit bulls), and now young Tucker!!  He's adorable, but seems like he worries too much for a 1yr old, hahaha!
I will rest up here until Sunday.

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 3: Salem, WV to Easely, SC

I woke up and the inside of the walls of my tent were a little wet with the dew because the fly cover wasn't fully off the inner tent.  But I slept like a rock from about 11pm-8:30am straight!  No coffee so I was pretty sluggish, but got dressed, had some breakfast at camp, and then walked over to the Caverns and signed up for a cave tour!  It wasn't the biggest or most impressive cave I had seen, but was still really interesting nonetheless.  Dixie Caverns is a "living cave" and the drops come pretty steadily.

Came back to camp and noticed that my GPS had a big spider crack in it.  Didn't notice it yesterday- how did this happen??  Eagle Riders gave me an old model- maybe there was already a small crack in it that they didn't tell me about?  I called them but got no help, so basically I have no GPS for the rest of the trip- I'll be solely using my road atlas and talking to strangers for help.
I left camp late (around noon) and hit the road.  Just highway today- I was flying.

I was hoping to hit Wicked Weed Brewery in Ashville, but somehow passed Ashville entirely (no gps), so I decided to just keep going to Rusty's lake house.
He gave me directions and I eventually found my way to his beautiful lake house (5-week AirBnb) in Easely, SC.

We bar-hopped and watched the Eagles vs. Panthers game with a bunch of dumb hicks.  Back at the lake house was had a few more beers and a smoke.  The lake is beautiful even at night- I'm looking forward to kayaking tomorrow!

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 2: Petersburg, WV to Salem, VA

Beautiful Riding!!
The first road of the day out of Petersburg (220)- farms in the fog, trees in color, hills, curves.  Beautiful.  During the ascent up to George Washington National Forest, one of the corners looked like it defied gravity!  The roads are tilted on corners, but with such a steep incline around this sharp bend, it looked like I was approaching an Escher drawing, or a road out of the movie Inception!  There are so few cars on the road, it's fantastic.  I was wrong to doubt Rodney- cruise control is glorious (on straightaways).  I was in full yellow rain gear through the fog and clouds in the Shenandoah Mountains.  Beautiful country.

The Rockfish Gap visitor center lady (new from Ohio) was great.  Her ears perked up when she heard me mention beer on the phone with Rusty, and immediately recommended I check out a nearby brewery!  Good lookin out, visitor center lady.  I got to the brewery, but it was closed until 3pm though! ha!  Instead, I got lunch at a Chinese buffet in Waynesboro, VA near Rockfish Gap.
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY!!  Foggy, and a little wet, but both cleared up soon enough and it was just heaven.  (I had a feeling it would clear up, so I strip-changed out of my rain gear in a gas station parking lot).

  After a lovely ride on the BRP, I slogged down 81 to arrive at a perfect first campsite, Dixie Caverns in Salem, VA.  I set up my tent, drove to get groceries, came back to camp, cracked a beer and had dinner.  Afterwards, I had a smoke, and played the harmonica in the dark.  Beautiful day.  Thank you God.

*I noticed in myself and then in 2 other campsites: we're still on a phones a fair amount, despite being outdoors/camping.  Just because we can hear crickets doesn't mean people won't still be glued to their internet connection.  But even here- in this trailer park more or less- I find that if I simply turn off my phone or put it away and then sit still and look around at the trees and leaves and hills, I'm not missing anything.  Nature will keep you on your toes- at least for a city boy- anything could happen at any moment.  Which tells me that it's not merely good enough to say, "I'm just gonna to get out of the city and enjoy nature to decompress."  In this instance, physical location might not be enough to change problematic behavior.
I wonder if my perceived attachment to my text messages is really just loneliness kicking in on Day 2 of the solo road trip?

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 1: Philadelphia, PA to Petersburg, WV

The bus from Philly was delayed in traffic.  AJ picked me up at the Washington DC bus station.  She's very well-spoken, accomplished, down-to-earth, fun, and pleasant!  Tacos for lunch were dee-lish!
Eagle Riders tells me they don't have a GPS, despite my reservation?!  Finally they got me setup with one, but for about an hour I was almost in tears.  Once I was good to go, I was so surprised- even with the additional helmet, everything I packed fit on the bike!
And I got on the road!!!!....only to hit Washington DC rush hour traffic leaving the city.  It sucked, but I didn't mind so much- I was finally on my bike!  After the traffic, man, riding became FUN.  There were colors, twistys & windys, bridges, and soon there weren't any other cars!  Glorious.  I was racing against the sun though, trying to get to Van's cabin in Petersburg, WV (the middle of nowhere, West Virginia) before dark.

Averaging 85mph, I got the bike up to 105mph at one point!  Yaoowww!!  I made it to Van's road as the last remaining light disappeared.  The cabin was at the end of a long (10minutes?!) road, and it just got worse and worse the further back I went.  Finally I arrived at the gate to her property and turned off the bike so that I could walk up to the house to find the gate key under the porch.  As soon as I turned off the bike's headlight and flipped on my small headlamp, I was like, "Oh fuck this.  Nope.  I'm not getting murdered by ghosts on my first night."
I got back on the bike and found a nearby motel.  The two ladies at the front desk asked if I wanted "the haunted room" and even showed me that their list of rooms had one marked *haunted*.  I was so tired at this point and had little energy to entertain them.  I finally got a room (that wasn't haunted), but still immediately prayed for protection and slept with the bathroom light on ;)
I started reading Last of the Mohicans (my chosen book for downtime on the trip).  But the way Cooper writes, I think I only absorbed about 50% of the first chapter.
I had a dream that Matt McGuiness and all my favorite regulars and I were on a plane and Matt was sitting in the back of the pane on the top of cases of cold beer.  People could go back and ask for however many they wanted.  So we all got drunk and were partying!...but then I woke up and was sober.

Nighthawk, Season 2 (last season)

After some 7,000 miles of road eaten, I've sadly said goodbye to my first motorcycle.  But in the ominous words of Yoda or whatever, "There is...another..."
Here are some highlights from my last few months with that awesome 1997 Honda Nighthawk 750...

Roadtrip to Harrisburg!

I had wanted to do this trip since I got the motorcycle last year, but for whatever reason, couldn't make it happen.  Going through the Amish country of Lancaster PA on the way out was surprisingly pleasant.  I got roasted wearing a tank top in the blazing sun however, and felt that burn for days afterward.  I arrived to my cousin Candy's house without much difficulty.  She had me park the bike on her back patio?! hahaha!  We went to Pizza Boy Brewery and then one of her friends' son's hs graduation party.  It was a great day!  I took 76 on the way home and averaged about 85mph, massacring a few thousand bugs against my helmet, windshield, and body (see pic below).

Roadtrip to Sea Isle City, NJ

Got to visit Arlene and her cute little dog, Rey!  They're attached at the hip.  We took beach chairs out to the beach and enjoyed some beer and wine as the sun started to go down.  The ride to and from SIC is pretty uneventful though unfortunately, and I was glad to hop off the bike after I got home from that one.

Warm Weather Beasts

Though I started it in the fall/winter of '16, a lot of the work that went into my most recent childrens story happened this spring.  Here's part of how I've been pitching the story to publishers and agents:

Warm Weather Beasts is an unexpected buddy story about a boy, a bear, a man, and a motorcycle, experiencing a long winter’s hibernation.  Just as the natures of the two ‘beasts’ are overlapped, I see the physical words and the scene of this story intertwined and enjoyed in playful ways.  Warm Weather Beasts hints of patience, loneliness, and wild joy, with a touch of motorcycle maintenance. 

Penn Queen Diner, NJ with Margaret

Media to visit Steve and Sara at their beautiful new house

Driving range in Fairmount Park

Hahaha!- I pulled up to the driving range with a $4 thrift store golf club sticking out of the top of my bookbag :)

Relay for Life in Conshy with John, Penny, Chris, and Sam

Riding Serena over to her and Nicks place around the corner

Breaking down in Fishtown with Lauren

On maybe our 2nd time hanging out together, I took Lauren out on the bike up to Fishtown to buy an extra helmet.  After the purchase, we were about to hop back on the highway when THE CHAIN FELL OFF THE BIKE!  CK-CHARNKKKKK!  At the time it broke, we were going only 2mph pulling away from a stop sign, but we were told that if that happened at speed, it would've been a chainsaw nightmare inside the motorcycle and against our legs :s   This was just one of the many blessings that happened in what could've been a disastrous day.

Cemetery with Mom to go visit Grandma Rose and Pop-Pop!

Getting caught on the highway in tornado wind+rain with a ton of debris flying through the air!

Wow, that was dangerous.  Just in case mom ever reads this, I won't go into detail..

Heather & Dimitry’s in Lower Gwynedd

I took the bike out their house (about an hour outside the city) to make homemade pasta, sauce, and meatballs with/for the 3 kiddos.  As it turned out, the boys didn’t care much for the motorcycle or even the dinner for that matter!

Mohawk under a Mohawk helmet?

77,000 mile mark!

Granted, I only put about 7,000 on it myself, but still!  That's apparently an incredible amount of miles for a motorcycle!  That Nighthawk is a work-horse!!

Selling the Nighthawk to Nilson

The kid learned how to ride pretty quickly (I consider myself a good teacher!).  Hopefully he's careful out there!

It was tough to say goodbye.

-dreaming of a Honda CB 1100…

dirty duck water

(working at) The bar is a place where flippancy is valued.  Gotta have tough skin cuz it's gonna get intense and weird.  Can't easily stand up for equality and respect when an idiot calls an inappropriate joke across the bar.  Water off a duck's back, right?  But what else is that water carrying with it?  (how is that flippancy carrying over and affecting my personal life and virtue?)

One of my finest moments...

Although it may seem like a stupid, “meat-head” reaction, a few weeks ago, I believe I had one of my finest moments.

            I was at the Royal Blood concert at Union Transfer with Kim.  We were on the standing room floor, but towards the back, on the side.  It was an ‘all ages’ show and she didn’t think there would be a mosh pit for a Royal Blood concert, but I bet her otherwise.  Sure enough, there was definitely a pretty intense mosh pit up front, but we felt safe and comfortable about 20ft behind it, watching the show with other passive fans.  Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crowd from our right surged against us!  The five closest people around me and I struggled to regain our balance.  It seemed like somehow the mosh pit had moved back and shoved us laterally somehow.  But when it happened again just a few moments later, I looked to the right to inspect.  What I saw was that our fairly docile neighbors were being pushed around by one, probably drunk, guy purposely stumbling back and forth.  It seemed like this guy was enjoying taking advantage of the back area, and seeing how much he could bully these people not intending on moshing.  After the 2^nd crowd surge against us, I recognized the situation and moved my feet towards him as he ‘stumbled’ back towards to right side of the crowd.  He had at this point, cleared an area of about 10ft. in the middle of the floor.  The right side of the crowd, for possibly the 3^rd time, struggled to regain their balance against the unwanted agitation.  I moved into the open space, my toes, calves, knees, hips, shoulders, and arms stacked, and ready for this asshole to start terrorizing the crowd towards me again.  He took 2 and a half steps in my direction and I let my muscles twitch.  The guy had about 40lbs and 4inches on me, but he wasn’t expecting my strong and direct hit, and I caught him unaware, putting a well-anticipated check into his chest and shoulders.  If I had gone just a little bit harder, I probably could’ve put his feet in the air, but I admittedly did not want to start a fist-fight and pulled up a little bit at the last second.  My hit connected just fine though, and I popped him good.  I stood him up and he was shocked at the hit.  It moved his body backwards about 3 feet.  I was scared of the space between us now, and immediately tried to sign with my palms pumping downward, “cool the fuck down, man”.  But before the guy could react any which way, another guy from the crowd jumped between us, facing the asshole, and backed my warnings.  He got in the guys face and told him to stop or get the fuck out.  It was like the crowd was waiting for someone to step up to this guy, and as soon as I made the first move against him, people stepped in to fill in that uncertain space.  My adrenaline was spiked, but I calmly walked back to my spot next to Kim. 

            The funny part is that there was a young Asian couple where I had been standing, looking at me like I was the assailant.  When I walked back and tried to get next to Kim, my date, they looked scared.  I couldn’t explain the situation over the roar of the music, and it also looked like Kim was oblivious to the entire situation.  I tried to explain it to her and them in between songs and after the show, but apparently I was the only one near me who saw the whole thing through!  No one came up to me afterwards saying, “hey, thanks for stepping up to that jerk pushing around the crowd”, but I left with such an accomplished feeling of bravery and justice served. 

Racist Braille reading

 I’ve been volunteering at a Philadelphia center for the blind and visually impaired for the past few months.  I’ve been regularly meeting with the same blind woman to transcribe written articles to Braille.  I read the written copy of an article out loud while she follows on her Braille copy to make sure they’re perfectly lined up before the copy is ready to mass-print for the nation-wide copy that the center distributes.  After 10minutes or so, we’ll switch: she’ll read out loud from her Braille copy while I follow along on my written copy and make sure we’re in sync.  We chit-chat a bit sometimes- it’s not all business!  While I’ve felt my time there isn’t used in the most efficient way, I’ve enjoyed my time spent volunteering and with my blind partner.  Today was different, however.

            I haven’t always been the most punctual volunteer, often showing up around 10-15minutes late for my 10am-12noon time slot.  “What are they gonna say though”, I figure- “I’m a volunteer.”  But, after I overslept and missed last week’s ‘shift’ entirely, I concluded that I should ‘resign’ after this week so that they may find a more accountable volunteer to fill my position.  Knowing that this would be my last shift today, I was excited but a little sentimental. 

            However, the article we were transcribing today prompted an unexpected altercation.  From inside Harpers Magazine, we were transcribing an article on the history of an American museum commemorating a multi-national socialist union revolt in the early 1900’s.  The article occasionally juxtaposed the multi-cultural revolt to modern-day Trump America.  With any mention of ‘Muslims’, ‘Trump’, ‘unions’, ‘socialism’, or even ‘equality’ and ‘social justice’, my partner would cynically snort.  After a few outbursts, she said, “I’m sorry- I don’t know if we already talked about your political views, but…  I just always hear about MUSLIMS!  It’s always about the Muslims!  I mean…”.   I waited for her to continue.  I forget exactly how she continued, but it followed along a quasi-racist(for religion?) path.  I tried to make an offhand comment to dispel her anger, but figured it was a passing sentiment and not to dig too deep.  However, a few other mentions of unions of multiple cultures mixing together prompted another sarcastic outburst and I had to engage.  She became embarrassed and insisted she wasn’t racist.  Although I just sat back and let her go on, she continued to work herself up into a Fox News-ish frenzy; angry and scared of an idea about an American country dedicated to all walks of life and not, I’d assume, just the white.  It got a little tense.  I tried to continue with the reading, but felt compelled to address her snorts when she made them at a mention of ‘social justice’ for instance.  Strange, I thought, how this relationship has devolved. 

            Anyway, I finished the shift and humorously told her to lay off the Fox News- that it’s making her angry and scared.  She laughed.  But- this was my last shift, remember!  So, in a day or two, I’ll call up the coordinator to say I’m finished volunteering there, but once my partner gets word of my ‘resignation’, I’m sure she’ll assume it was because of our last meeting’s awkwardness!  Good, I think.