Hey, it's good to be back home again. I have passed three nights sleeping in my own bed. I had a fresh blanket and a fresh set of flannel sheets and I remade the bed and it has been more cozy than any hotel bed where I had slept over the last five weeks. And I stayed at Holiday Inn Expresses and Baymonts and, my personal favorite, Super 8s. Super 8s are surprisingly upscale and beat the Holiday Inns & Baymonts and Magnussons one encounters. But for the last three nights, my bed has been the nirvana of bliss, my closets with my clothes and my refrigerator stocked with my growlers, Pigeon Hill and Dutch Girl and Heavenly Vineyards.
Today, I set up the laptop on the dining room table, plugged into the wireless from XFinity, put on my headphones and took meetings from Alaska to Florida. I had literally taken the curtains of their rods so I could see the sun arising on the old houses across the street. When the sun's glare penetrated into the room, I put them back on their rods. During a long lunch, I had my garage top off my oil, replenish my fluids, check pressure on my tires and replace a lightbulb, all of which done for free. The headlight was a warranty repair. Van's just offers all of these check up services free of charge. And that's why I made a point to visit them today.
To finish up my long lunch, I ate a sandwich on the shores of the Muskegon River near the sign that showed where all the monuments were located along the Veteran's Causeway. Over thirty monuments await the faithful from all branches of services and all conflicts, North Russian Expeditionary Forces to Iraq Conflict. Then back to the home office, still in blue jeans and a tee shirt. I'm not sure I could work in a normal office again after this short experience working from home. I'm going to need a coffee pot. I can't leave home for coffee until ten, which is too late for coffee.
I did go next door for coffee today, CityHub has a pot by the door and even gave me my own mug. I listened as Julia Miller and a customer talked about wattage as a measure of a cyclist's potential and I dutifully reported on the bicycle trails of Swedetown and Copper Harbor. I promised to bring the architect of the Copper Harbor trails to Muskegon for at least a lunch and learn. I had met him at a gathering for coffee one Saturday morning up in Copper Harbor, everyone gathered for a chat around the clerk's desk at the Gaslight Grocery Store. Just like us around the CityHub Repair desk. I see Aaron walking around the village with his dog, relaxing after building mountain biking trails all over the country from March until November. I wouldn't go anywhere if I didn't like bringing back news and ideas so much.
Tuesday, I remembered Market Day at the Farmer's Market and I was hankering for apples. So I went to visit with my usual vendor, Larry, who also drives truck and practices as an artistic blacksmith. Larry was happy to see me and he gave me a few Honeycrisp apples for free and then served me up a quarter pie slice of pumpkin pie. So I ate pie and shucked and jived as he chatted to customers about the quality of his fruit. And he has a lot to say about that.
I finished up the day late in my home office and drove over to Hennessy's to see if any familiar soul awaited in the friendly pub. I found Dane, who specializes in watching patients on the suicide watch at the local stress unit. He had grown a long a straggly beard and I said to him as he smoked outside with two waiters. "Dane, you look like Charles Hackley's statue at the Muskegon library". "That's right", he answered. "There's a look alike contest coming up". "That's what I'm aiming for," he answered. "You're going to win", I predicted. "May the best beard win", he said.
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