Friday Harbor

 

Back in the 70s and 80s. I was out of here every chance I got. There was so much to explore and I was ready to take it all on. So every weekend that there was something to do, every  summer vacation when there was something to go to see. I was collecting experiences, places, and people that were new and I was learning everything I could learn. At one point I attended a Workshop in Friday Harbor, WA. That was a three day Workshop on presenting. Because at that time I was a presenter for the district presenting Learning how to learn to fellow teachers. There was an interesting man that I met there. And at the end of the three days, he said, let's keep in touch and I said, fine, he was interesting and I wanted to know more about him. He had an interesting job too. I wanted to know more about. So about a month later, he called and said. He had some time off in the middle of August. Would I like to come and spend a few days in Minneapolis? So I said, sure. So we arranged so that I arrive on a Thursday and leave on a Monday, which gave us Thursday Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do things together. So, when I arrived In Minneapolis it was pleasant to see his smiling face and get a big hug, and I was pleased that I'd made this taking this risk and come clear across the country to do something with a strange, actually a strange man. He had a big agenda for us. Started with Bob Fosse's Dance Plenty of luscious meals in fancy restaurants. Went to the Guthrie Theater to see. Merry Wives of Windsor set in. Prohibition days. And then on Sunday, the day before I left. I was on the back of his motorcycle wearing a  lovely leather coat and wearing a helmet that was piping in opera. And off we went someplace in Minnesota where there was a Renaissance fair. It was acres big, was huge and it was full of people doing Renaissance stuff, including a full out blacksmith shop where they were making the tools that were used in that day. They were traveling minstrels and there were people in costume and all the little shops and. Those cafes and shops and there was even a joust going on somewhere, but I don't know where that was. I didn't follow through to see that. Partway through, he met some people that he knew, and when he introduced me, he did not say. I was a 4th grade teacher from Crescent City. He said I was a College instructor from Northern California. That gave me a big clue about where I fit in his friends. And it also was the beginning of the end. I knew at that moment, so off we went and lovely day shared a Turkey leg and a couple of cauldrons of some kind of frothy yellow brew. And then. It was time to come home. After an amazing date, certainly something that would never have expected to have happened. About a month later, here comes the dear Sharon letter saying I'm looking for somebody with a little more ambition. You are too content with an ordinary life. And I realized that that was coming, and that it was true, and that I was relieved because I could never have caught up to him culturally or intellectually. I couldn't discuss foreign movies, and I didn't know all the scenarios. From operas. It is interesting though, and I did start getting Netflix foreign movies so I could try to understand what the. Importance was of knowing how to watch a foreign movie. And I did actually look for some operas just to get to add to my collection of knowledge. But it was a fun date, it didn't end well, but it gave me something to think about and some lovely memories of things I would never have experienced without taking that risk. Any time I learn something about myself, it’s worthwhile. That's all.