I was suppose to start on April first, but the fact of the matter is that I had to delay my start due to illness. I was travelling back from Calgary and a sinus infection reared its ugly head the morning was to head back. I ended up being the sneezy, drippy, leaky, watery eyed Ebola infected passenger huddled against the window filling tissue after tissue while coughing, grunting and snorting my way across the country. I tried my best to contain myself on the filled to capacity plane. Early on I tried to covertly pull a tissue out of its pack, but the sun shining through the window of the darkened plane illuminated the "tissue lint" and created a huge swarm of tiny fireflies. the woman next to me was horrified. When the plane finally descended into Boston, the depressurizing of the plane caused ear pain that was reminiscent of the ice pick scene in Basic Instinct. Ultimately my hearing was completely blocked and I found myself in a silent movie for the next few days.
So it was only this morning that I was able to get my start and begin my quest toward whatever it is I'm shooting for. I figured I'd start out simple. There is a hill near my house that has a fairly immediate and significant incline. I brought my old dog Bean along for the trek. My goal was to scale the incline three times at a brisk pace. The first time up was not pretty. Halfway up my breathing became labored and my steps inconsistent. I let Bean off of her leash and she trotted around investigating the mysteries of the woods. Bean seemed to look over at me and she seemed to be snickering, stating "Holy crap, you're pathetic. Heal, heal!"
I finally got to the top of the hill and started to scale Garrison Tower. I took in the panoramic view of the immediate area while enjoying the colorful graffiti that lined stairway. Apparently, if you're looking for a good time, you need to call Janie Hebert or be at the Tower at precisely 9:00 PM and she'll "Rock your world." Jimmy Schoenfeld is a big giant scumbag and depending upon who you believe Weezer either rocks, or sucks ass.
I started back down and Bean followed. I got to the bottom of the hill and turned around. Bean looked confused. "Hey, bald guy. We were just up there. Where the hell are you going?" She loyally walked along side me but her expression was clearly indicating her displeasure. She seemed to be saying, "You know, I've peed all over this city and there are a ton of places I haven't marked. We don't need to go up there again." But up the hill we went.
The second trip actually seemed much easier than the first trip, and as I started my third, Bean just sat there in disbelief. "Really? After a cold and wet winter, this is the walk you take me on? I can't wait to get home and sh*t in your shoes." Part of the way up Bean jumped up and grabbed her leash out of my hands, ran into the woods and dropped it in a pile of leaves, much like a loyal friend who takes the car keys from an inebriated buddy, saying "You can't be trusted with these right now." When Bean and I finally descended for the third time, she kept going, not wanting to risk a fourth climb.
When we got back to the house she walked just ahead of me and stopped at the door. She looked at me as if to say, "Hey mountain boy, how about opening the damned door?" When I let her in she ran up toward my bedroom I think to fetch my dress shoes. What a good dog!
