Out of the frying pan and into the steamer

Bye, Doha!

 We began our summer with a small road trip through Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. From top left: First meal in America at Hog-It-Up BBQ in Winchester, VA (RIBS!); little roadside attraction (Farnham Colossi); Discin’ through the countryside; O’Betty’s Red Hot in Athens; And some sights in Cincinnati (Findlay Market, Roebling Bridge, artsy hotel, and a butterfly scavenger hunt at the Krohn Conservatory.

Then it was on to Columbus to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law for their occasional time with us without kids. We had a great time together, culminating in a magical afternoon/evening 

It all started with an impromptu visit to an escape room downtown. None of us had ever tried escape rooms, and all had varying levels of scorn for the idea. It turned out to be an absolute blast, surprisingly intricate, well-constructed, full of adventure (dungeons, hidden rooms, secret keys and codes), and challenging. We didn’t quite finish (even though someone couldn't figure out which side of the sign to show in this photo...), but everyone wants to try again .

Look at these two cuties!

Instead of Ubering back to the AirBnb, we decided to get a drink and a bite to eat, which turned into an epic, but very chill, bar crawl. The weather was absolutely beautiful, the city was gearing up for their pride weekend so there was a fun vibe going on everywhere, and we had so much catching up to do! It was wonderful and easy, and felt like a great way to switch gears into summer mode.

Our final stop kind of wrapped everything up in a beautifully weird, funky, butting-up-against-surreal visit to Hoof Hearted Brewery (say it out loud, please). I definitely had this one marked on the map, firstly because it was only a block away from the house, but then because of the art and attitude displayed on their website (hilarious artwork). The reality of the visit was so much more than I was expecting.

On our approach, we caught the tail end of a full-on barbecue and drag show at the LGBTQ thrift store across the street. Queens in full regalia, all the neighborhood out to watch and eat, warm fuzzy chaos. 

We followed the smell of the twenty-something’s smoking weed on the patio (Ohio recently legalized, and they are leaning into it), and opened the door of the brewery to a full-on EDM show, with a DJ station styled on the front end of a corvette, ear-blistering volume, and a handful of various dudes sitting or standing alone or in pairs. 

This makes it look way quieter than it really was...

The bartender was a tall black man, late twenties, with scruffy hair and a short beard. He was immediately friendly and engaging, and also very, very high. We all placed our orders and went out to secure an outside table, thereby saving our eardrums from the incredibly loud, but freakin’ awesome, music. When I went back in to get the rest of our drinks, he leaned across the bar and hugged me, nestling his head on my shoulder. I don’t know what we talked about, but it was calm and comfortable, funny, and weirdly intimate. I just don’t know how to describe the way this interaction filled me with joy, but it did. I hung back and listened to the music, watched a man dancing with his handkerchief, drank their delicious beer, and shared a few more words with the bartender, then hugged him goodbye when we left. 

I love that brewery, and I love that man, even though I never got his name.

I’ve written before about magical moments, and touched on my relationship with America, and this day felt like both of those things, and lots more. Fortunate to be alive, to be in this place at this time with these people.

A few days with D&K led into a flurry of family and friends that would define the middle portion of our summer.

Family reunion on my mother’s side in Bluffton, OH. Nice to see all of the cousins, some for the first time in 10 years or so (and some of their offspring, for the first time ever). Also a chance to see my siblings and niblings.

Lazy days in Michigan at The Land, puttering about with the ‘rents, cooking, napping.

Off to Cleveland (Ohio again!) to meet up with some good friends from our time in China. We slipped right back into it, lots of walking, card playing, food, and drink. It has been many years since we’ve seen these two, and we enjoyed getting to see where they came from.

Then it was back to Michigan to pick up the folks and head north to Traverse City, where we spent a lovely few days touring wineries and the Lake Michigan coast. It’s a pleasure every time I’m able to spend social time with my parents, getting to know them as they are now.

Then it was time to get less mid and more north: off to Tacoma, Washington! We immediately headed out on 6th avenue with good friends from our time in Doha, and had a great night with another international teaching couple. Over the next few days, we ended up spending what in retrospect seems like an imposing amount of time on their front porch in a beautiful little neighborhood, watching the world go by, basking in the gentle northwest summer, enjoying each others’ company.

After a quick stop in Lacy for lunch with Rani’s family and an introduction to the new addition, Coen, and a tour of her parents’ new home, we landed in a nice little duplex on a quiet street in Olympia. The lavender is riotously blooming, the poppies are poppin’, and we have some time to unplug and spread out and try not to get too nervous about our upcoming move. 

We enjoyed our time in Olympia, shopping for Manila, taking long walks, discin', and visiting with Rani's family. 

I found great peace among the trees.

And enjoyed our time with Rani's side of the family. This is Jesse putting out his yard on the 4th, the growing family playing cornhole, Olympia farmer's market with the sisters, and their new backyard with the future water feature I designed.

(This is when I was supposed to post this, but he time got away from me and it is now a month after I started writing this post. )
And then, of course, we MOVED TO THE PHILIPPINES!

It's been a week or two of rain, shopping, setting up a new apartment, figuring out food and phones and house help and new faces and places. If my sinuses hadn't also decided to object riotously to the new milieu of smells and textures in the air here, I might have gotten this post off more quickly, but I've been just barely keeping it together for the past week.

Life here is nice. There is a new interesting restaurant every 10 feet, everything we need in walking distance, and friendly helpful people at every turn. I think I'm going to like living in a city, and in this city in particular. It rained solidly for the first week, but the weather has turned and, while it's hot and sweaty, it's tolerable. I am getting used to being damp if I want to go anywhere. Just yesterday we got our second round of large furniture, and now our house is starting to feel like a home, although we don't have the bulk of our belongings, which are probably somewhere in the Indian ocean right now (hopefully still on a ship).

School orientation has been very reasonable. Everyone's nice and helpful, the school is huge and amazing and has lots of history and community and character. I'm weirdly calm about starting with students in a few days, and hope to hang on to the chill as classes start. I may be completely misreading things, but I feel less pressure, maybe than any first week of school ever. I got this!

First minute in our new apartment (get a load of that view!), first day of work, first look at my classroom.

Old friends, new friends, school courtyard from the 3rd or 4th floor..., our place gets some furniture, classroom starts to come together... maybe....

It's Sunday afternoon. Today, I woke up and stretched, then made coffee and drank it with Rani while looking out over the golf course from the 20th floor while the sun started heating things up. We cooked eggs and toast for breakfast in our tiny kitchen, then went out to search through the various malls for various odds and ends on our lists, then had a nice lunch, bought ingredients for dinner, and made it home just before we melted away into nothing. Rani is cooling off in the apartment while I dipped out across the street to have a couple of delicious Filipino ales and finish this blog. Thinking of you all, hoping your summers are coming to a satisfying close.

Peace and love,

Jon