On the Road. Again…

Well, it’s been an adventure.

I flew JetBlue from Boston to New York, then waited for two hours almost, for the connection to Seattle. The plan was, and is, while that’s a hundred, sixty miles from Portland, Oregon, where our denominational General Assembly is, it’s the perfect place for when our vacation (which begins immediately following GA) ends and we’re ready to fly home.

Two hours seems a bit longer when sitting in an airport terminal than in other circumstances. But, eventually, as the Buddha said all things do, indeed, pass, and the two hours or so disappeared into the aether’s. I boarded the plane and we took off. Well, almost. Actually we scooted along the tarmac, started that bounce into the air, before pulling back and stopping. The pilot announced he didn’t like the way certain lights lit on the dashboard. So, to make this shorter than it was in real life, we waited a bit then changed planes. Add another almost two hours to the experience.

After getting the rental car which will feature prominently in the vacation part of this adventure, it was not quite a three hour drive down to Portland. What beautiful country! Even from the freeway it’s a visual delight all the way…

Finally I arrived. I checked into the hotel in the Convention area of town. I’ve been to Portland any number of times. In fact my Buddhist half-siblings, Gyokuko and Kyogen Carlson run one of the country’s larger Zen centers there. But this was a part of town I had no real experience of. Turns out to not be the most compelling part of town, but, it seems, good for conventions. I went up to my room, a cozy enough affair. No sooner did I throw my shoes off than the phone rang. An old colleague and dear friend asked if I would like to go out to dinner. Which it turned out, I did.

Finally, at nine p.m., local time, midnight to me, I threw myself onto the bed & fell asleep.

I woke up bright eyed and ready to go at six thirty in the morning. Sadly, that’s six thirty Eastern time & three thirty local time. I sat for half an hour then made myself some coffee (I now never travel without the makings, so I’m not at the mercy of the swill hotels, even the best, have on offer), finished my newsletter column, shot it off to the office, and now, after a shower and shave, and throwing an iron quickly over a shirt am ready for the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, or the GA’s Ministry Days which kick off the event.

More anon…