12 31 99

wisconsin day one

The last day of 1999 dawned slightly chilly and clear. By the time the sun was peeking above the horizon, I had packed up the car and was on the road.

The turnpike was fairly empty for that time of the day, and I guessed that most people had the day off. I scanned through a few news stations to find out how Y2K was progressing on the other side of the world. Nothing had blown up. Satisfied, I popped the first tape of Mars and Venus in the Bedroom into the tape player.

I'll admit that I listened to that book for far longer than I thought I would. Some guy with an English accent narrates it, and after a while things started to feel a bit creepy. Alone in my car I listened to some English bloke extol the virtues of "quickie sex" and dressing up for your partner. The tape made some good points... But for every good thing it said, it then turned around and said something totally off the wall; like it's best to lie to spare feelings.

No thanks.

Before I got to my first rest stop I'd given up on the tape and listened to The Hobbit instead. But my attention started to wander badly, since I've read the book and having it read to me again was pretty boring. I threw all the tapes back in the back seat and turned on the radio again. So much for my great idea.

I have to say I had fantastic weather for the drive there. The sun played peek-a-boo between the clouds and the temperature was great, just on the chilly side. When I'm driving a long way I hate wearing a coat, and putting it on and taking it off every time I stop is a pain.

The drive took about seven hours, much less than the AAA "recommended driving time" of 11.5 hours. I knew that was too long! The intersection by the hotel was a total navigation nightmare, but I made it through and drove up the road to the hotel. The parking lot was empty, and I assumed I was way early. I went back down to the Wendy's and had a Frosty to chill my throat.

After half an hour or so I went back to the hotel and saw Dave standing with some furs in the parking lot. I zoomed in, parked nearby, and ran to give Dave a hug. He smelled and felt just like I remembered.

But something was weird. I think it might have been because I was sick, or I had just driven 7 hours. The feeling of "oddness" hung over me the entire weekend, and remains with me now as I write this. I have no idea what it is. It's a feeling of unreality, like the weekend never really happened.

Dinner, nap time, then off to the party. I met the editor of Morphic Tales, the zine in which I'm getting published. He had hoped to have galley copies ready for the New Year's party but work had gotten in the way. (I didn't mind.)

The main conference room was way too crowded for me, so Dave and I hunkered down with a small group of friends in someone's room. People came and went, but the small core group remained, and we had long conversations that I cannot remember for the life of me. I laid my head in Dave's lap and watched the last minutes of 1999 tick away.

One minute 'til. We collect our wineglasses, count it down, and I kiss Dave. For just a moment, he was the only other person in the room. Then everyone came crashing back with toasts and glass clinkings.

Someone outside (the resident asshole) started setting off fireworks, apparently in an effort to put someone's eye out. Several bottle rockets took odd trajectories over people's heads, bouncing off cars, and flying everywhere but up.

After that excitement, the evening wound down fairly quickly, and I could feel the weight of the 20 hours I'd been awake pressing on me. Dave and I retired to our room. I tried hard to forget that strange feeling.

Still Life in Words