First Toe

The first toe (left, second) of my trip comes to an end that is the begining of a begining. Tonight I will fall asleep, head full of thoughts of past and future (I feel like I have no present at present)--Chicago will string these together for me (Abbey and Oxy girls, high school and college, mid-way between places, old and new memories strewn all over this city)--and wake up plunging towards New York. My time here has been very nice, my Uncle Chris and Chumel as very accomodating and comfortable hosts (its rare that I stay with family and its very nice) and it was a fantastic way to begin my journey: slow, easy, but filled with good things. I also got to see my dear Abbey from high school who I really haven't seen much of in the past 1.5 years (whom I absolutely adore right down into the core of my being), had short but really good visits with Celeste and Nia from college, and then spent my last evening with my most favorite girl in the entire world, Catherine Petru. Catherine was in Chicago for a PIRG-related conference (super perfect coincidence). I got to meet some of the PIRG people in her life and we made our way to a fanTAStic cafe on Clark in Andersenville(o?), then ended the evening breifly at my uncle's. I love that girl so so damn much. She really feels like my family. Like my other family.

It seems that I am one of those people where it is imperative that I stay up very late on the night before I am about to do something big because I must remain to process and sink into everything and what I am doing, what is about to happen, to squeeze a little bit more out of being in the now before the future becomes the now. It's nearly 3 a.m. here. I'm planning on waking up at 7:15. I will save this to my flash drive, post it tomorrow from Naguine's, and read a short story (maybe 3/5s) before I fall asleep. What will I dream about? Maybe Catherine and I will be underwater or my mother will be sowing a garden of children's toys and candy canes.