Aug 9th...I woke up in Ally's bed, my leg hanging off the side and almost touching the floor. It was one of those mornings where it took me a minute to remember where I was. I heard Ally running around the house, and it was a hard realization that the child's voice coming from the hallway beyond the door was not one of mine. I was a long way from home and it would still be weeks before I would wake up to Ang or Jess making noise in the house. I climbed out of bed, rubbed the cobwebs from my eyes and stretched until my hands touched the ceiling. I hadn't met Ally yet, as she was sleeping when I arrived, and she was being shy when I first came out into the living room. After a few minutes she warmed up to me, and before long she was telling me her life story. I learned about every pet they have, and had, and what her life was like living across the street from a farm. Sudsy cooked up an amazing breakfast, which probably constituted the best meal I had on the road during the entire trip. He shredded potatoes for fresh home fries, and threw together a pork patty before my eyes. I almost couldn't believe what I was witnessing. I usually picked up breakfast from the local McDonald's, but today my mouth was watering as I watched my friend prepare the breakfast of a lifetime at his big butcher block workspace. The smell that came from the frying pan when he dropped in the thick patty made me stomach turn over with hunger. He declined any help, and served it up with two eggs and four pieces of whole wheat toast within a few minutes.
I finished breakfast and sat down at their center island with the laptop for a few hours to punch out a blog post. Sudsy was watching TV in the living room and we chatted sporadically while I banged away at the keys. I realized then just how hard it would be to write quality updates while on the road, as it took almost 4 hours of writing, editing, and inserting pictures and links. Even as I sit now and write "Day 10", 2 days after I've come home, I think about the next tour and some sort of voice recognition software so I can "write" while I drive, and then just have to edit and insert extras when I get to the next wifi. When the post was done I got in touch with Dej so she could double edit, and before I knew it, we were almost ready for dinner. Sudsy had fired up the grill in front of his brand new steel wood shop that he had waited his whole life for and just had built. As a fellow woodworker, I obviously loved the idea of having a huge workshop just a few yards from my front door. We talked about life, and how we were standing on the property he grew up on, and has lived at for longer than I have been alive. I thought this was one of the most interesting things to learn about him. I secretly wished that when I went home, I would be returning to the house where I grew up, in Levittown, NY, to find Dejah and the kids there waiting. Unfortunately, it was all a sad daydream as not only do I no longer live there, but when my childhood home was bought from my parents it was severely renovated, becoming what is known as a "McMansion" here on Long Island. Gone is the small cape, with the eaved 2nd floor that was fine for kids, but a future head injury for anyone over 4 foot tall. Now stands a monstrosity that dwarfs everything around it except the bigger brick McMansion next door. Sudsy told me about the fire that leveled the house many years ago, and it was weird to think about what changes he had seen on the same piece of property over so much time. Pretty soon, the seasoning rubbed steaks were done, as well as the grilled corn on the cob that I was drooling over the entire time we talked. Grilled corn is one of may favorite summer side dishes, which isn't surprising given the amount of fresh sweet corn that's grown local to my home. Long Island may not be known for corn like Iowa or Nebraska, or potatoes like Idaho, but our local farms put out an excellent harvest of both. We went inside to eat, and dinner was just as good as breakfast. It didn't take long for me to devour a huge piece of meat and an ear of corn, and I was off to the shower to get ready for Debi Nuxoll's party. I cleaned up, and started to prepare for the night inside my head.
I didn't want to let the past two nights put me in a bad frame of mind, so I put all 880 watts of sound to good use. I clicked over the car stereo to the ipod, and pressed the menu button. A few seconds later the familiar sound of Dave Matthews guitar was putting me where I wanted to be with a live rendition of "So Right" (which just so happens to be the name of our corporation...Hmmm). I was renewed with purpose as I tapped on the steering wheel and sung along, following Sudsy's truck to the park. "oh, how I love your pretty rock-roll kisses..." My mind filled with a night not long before, when Dejah and I spent our 1 year anniversary at the new Citifield in Queens, NY for the DMB show. I was able to barter a days labor for the tickets, and it became a fairytale ending to our year long first date. I thought about the pictures we took while we sat in the parking lot before the show, and I realized how much I missed her smile and laugh and how I couldn't wait to get back home to them.
We pulled into the parking lot and I got my first look at our outdoor venue. It was a covered area with more than a few picnic tables, and my main concern was light as the sun was going down in a little while. There was one light at the end of the pavilion that had a nice clear area underneath it. Sudsy helped me unload the car and we carried everything up the small hill to where I was going to set up. I counted 5 people already there and I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. When Debi commented that it was only 2 households, I wasn't sure if I should take that as a good sign or a bad one. We talked about the tour, how it was going so far, and everywhere I still had left to go. We gave some time, and before long guests started to trickle up to the group. One girl who came posted it to her Facebook page, and she got some more people to show up within a few minutes. We started a little late, but with an excellent crowd. I kind of prepared myself for a stage like night, and it was a good thing I did. We lined up the picnic tables in front of the scent display and I had an excellent position to address my audience and give my opening presentation.
We played our version of the guess that scent game, which everyone enjoyed including myself. I always find it fun when people know the scent but can't quite place it, and then watching their reaction when you tell them it's something like buttered popcorn or firewood. It usually ends with..."Ohhh, I knew it!!!" After navigating our way through the easy selections in the scent display, we moved on to a modified Microderm Abrasion demo, which was short and sweet since we had no water and towels to do real "hands on" testing.
I could tell that everyone was excited to get started, so I explained the process of mixing scents and we began. With so many enthusiastic participants I was moving for over an hour straight, running back and forth between the tables of guests and the scent display. It was awesome. This is the way our parties are supposed to be. Lots of people laughing and having a good time, mixing scents and sharing them with everyone in the group when they discover a combination that's really good. One of my favorite mixtures from the evening was Aquarius & Lick Me All Over, which I think smelled awesome when fused together.
Needless to say, I was ecstatic at the turnout and the positive response by everyone who attended. Orders were placed and it was soon time to pack up. I said goodnight to the hostess and the guests as they left for their cars, and was happy to have Sudsy to help me carry everything to the Honda. It was a very good night for me, and I felt relief as we walked across the parking lot. I followed Sudsy back to his house, and apparently spent too long on the phone with Dej in the driveway. When we finally hung up I came inside to find everyone off to bed and I felt bad that I hadn't come in earlier. I went into Ally's room and settled in for the night. I had a big smile on my face as I checked the Facebook page and returned a message or two. I drifted off to sleep with LeRoi Moore's saxophone and Carter Beauford's cymbal's still echoing through my mind. Everything was So Right.
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