(no subject)

[sorcyress]

It's been a while since I did a con-report, so have a con-report of "My Memorial Day Weekend In Maryland But Not At Balticon", done in the it's-been-a-while "awesome/good/bad/ugly" style.

The Awesome

• I RODE A SLEEPER CAR FROM BOSTON TO BALTIMORE AND YES IT WAS EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER DREAMED OF



• Look, Veronica and I have basically taken the exact same goofy-smile selfie every time we've hung out in the last five years, but there's a reason we both get these giant goofy smiles and it's because I love her so much and she loves me so much and we are so good together and it's so amazing to actually spend time in the same place!



• When I was leaving Veronica's for the final time, I got to help her kiddo into his car seat. I leaned over to give him a hug (with his permission) and he said quietly "if you want to give me a kiss that would be okay" and OH GEE HERE IS MY HEART MELTING.
  
  This is made extra-funny by the fact that about half an hour earlier he had looked at me and asked "why are you still here?"



• CICADAS CICADAS CICADAS CICADAS CICADAS GHOST CICADAS JUST EMERGING FROM THEIR SHELLS COLD CICADAS WITH RAINDROPS GLISTENING ON THEIR WINGS DELICATE CICADA EXOSKELETONS CLINGING TO TREE TRUNKS NOISY SCREAMING CICADAS FILLING MY SOUL WITH POWER JUST STANDING AND LISTENING AND LAUGHING CICADAS CICADDDDDDAAAAAAAASSSSSS!



• Do you have any idea how powerful it feels to cry on that swingset at that playground, probably fifteen years since the last time I was able to do so? I mean fuck, just being able to swing on that swingset again was...so right for my heart.

The Good

• Like, I told my side-boss I'd bring her a pair of exoskeletons to give to her two children (who are very into bugs) and uh. If you would like a cicada exoskeleton, I have JUST A FEW. Artisanally hand-collected by me and Veronica and her kiddo!



• The rule was I was here to see Family and Bugs. The bugs were plentiful, but the family also turned out unexpectedly grand and a little broader than expected! I saw Tom and Barb when I arrived at their house (as they were on their way out to visit my mom in Texas). I saw my grandparents and brought them lunch! I saw VERONICA and her husband and housemate and wee beastie (who will be 5 in a few months, so uh, not that wee at all). I saw Neva and spent an evening eating dinner and watching telly. And as my very last action before driving to the train station, I swung by Miss Marsha's house and got to see her and Mr. Mike and even Dan!
  
  (And yeah, every person mentioned there is capital-F Family to me. Neva and Barb and Tom were all part of the village that raised me, grandparents share blood, Miss Marsha and Mr Mike are the other parentals in the Best Friends Clan that I was raised in and why I sometimes joke I have five direct siblings instead of two --Veronica and Dan and Cecilia were a part of my childhood just as thoroughly as Shannon and Alys were, and it was lovely to get to swing by and do some fast hugs).



• Oh yeah, I showed up on Mr. Mike's doorstep, having rung the bell and had the incredibly satisfying experience of watching his eyes stare at me analyze the face above the mask and suddenly register and brighten. "We're all vaccinated!" he said "So as long as you are too, come on in and take off your mask". There were hugs all around and it was _so good_.
  
  I got stabbed with a needle twice and spent a couple days drained out and exhausted and now I get to hug people again. Ten out of ten, absolutely would fucking recommend!



• Long drive nonwithstanding, getting to hear stories from my grandfather --about himself and his father and grandfather and even further up the tree-- was a really lovely way to spend a few hours. I don't know how much of it I'll remember, but it's nice to have it in my heart for now, and know that --even though I don't tend to engage with it-- I do have a personal history deeper than just myself.



• Dang I watched a lot of Taskmaster. Showed a few episodes to each of Neva and Veronica, and it was just...fun!

The Bad

• You know how sometimes cicadas get confused about whether or not humans are trees? I definitely _definitely_ lost some amateur entomologist cred by FLAILING WILDLY at a couple of specific exploring bugs. The most notable was when I was filming one-handed, and went to put my phone in my pocket with my other hand...and encountered a cicada attempting to enter said pocket and managed to FLING both bug and phone across the grass.
  
  (I did not stop filming though, because I'm kindof a boss.)



• I spent basically two and a half days in MD, ready to look for bugs, and two of them were super wet, cold, and gross. I am officially (mildly) Displeased.



• It turns out my mom's parents live way way _way_ fucking down the Chesapeake Coast, like practically in Virginia down south. I did not want to spend _four fucking hours_ of my weekend driving in the rain-fog-mist-torrents-drizzle, ye gods! I mean, it was nice to get to sing along with the music and all but also aaaahhhh noooo.



• The Park On The Left is changing, slowly. No more fireman's pole, a different tunnel in a different place, they took down the little kid swings and combined them with the regular ones. The climbing structure is Not Quite Right Anymore. And the big tree next to the creek has been cut down.



• And this isn't news, I've known it before, but someone cut a few substantial limbs off My Tree and I can't climb it anymore.

The Ugly

• Okay so you know how you're not supposed to put diesel into a gas engine? I was feeling so pleased with myself for having done such a good job with the rental car, that I didn't even bother to think critically about like "huh, it's so weird that the gas nozzle doesn't fit right into the tank, I'll have to ask the owner about why his car is so weird".
  
  Genuinely, bless the enthusiastic older man who leaned around the pumps and said "I didn't realize that kind of car took diesel!" and then was gentle with me through my immediate "oh how badly did I just fuck myself". He was quick to reassure me that it would be okay as long as I didn't turn on the engine, and I was able to call the car owner and the rental company and sort things out and...sigh.
  
  Owner was wonderfully nice about the whole thing, I think in no small part because he was responding well to my being a Responsible Adult who called him pretty much immediately, explained the system, apologized repeatedly, and reassured him that this was my dumb mistake and I was going to do what I could to make it right. I got in touch with the rental company to get a tow, and left him waiting with the car while his wife gave me a lift the mile down the road back to the train station.
  
  It was such a genuinely awful thing to end the weekend on, but you know what? No one died, no one was even hurt, I didn't miss my train, and old dude ensured that it was a mistake measured in hundreds of dollars instead of thousands.
  
  But damn, someday I will have a good Turo experience in Maryland where I don't end it by gleefully throwing a match directly at the bridge I just crossed.

And it's not con-reportable, but it is good --I've finished a small amount of grading as I ride the train back home to Massachusetts. I am woefully underfed and still have plenty more to complete, but at least it is gradually getting done.

May you find joy in your life. I love you.

~Sor
MOOP!

Comments

[knit1purr2]

I am so glad that you were able to come down and visit! We had so much fun talking, playing, and going on the cicada safari with you.

[squirrelitude]

I'm jealous, but I'm also really happy on your behalf that you got to like... roll around in piles of cicadas like Scrooge McDuck. :-D

(Metaphorically.)