Back entry: con vida despues de la buena noche

6/19/2010:  The ads on the bus stops in Columbia Heights always amuse me.  I passed one yesterday with three Heineken bottles lined up against a dark background beside the words “una buena noche se recuerda todo el dia.”  Nothing sells beer like paying homage to the hangover.  When I saw that ad, I was standing on a packed bus, trying to make myself as unobtrusive as possible while carrying three heavy bags (with which I was delusionally planning on hitch-hiking a few days later).  A woman had already lifted her toddler onto her lap, offering her seat to my smallest backpack, and I straddled a gym duffel full of ropes, cams, slings, nuts, and carabiners.  At the end of the day, I hauled all that stuff to Union Station and caught the Camden Line to Baltimore.  Making good use of an idle hour to practice tying climbing anchors, I frightened the train-riding public with my 21-foot length of cord noosed into a loop.

Fast forward to 24 hours and una buena noche later, when I awoke to the jolt of wheels touching down and felt my head tilting forward as the plane slowed down.  I looked out the window and…MOUNTAINS…felt almost alive again.  Now it’s a crisp 70 degrees with abundant sunshine in Spokane, and I’m on my way to see my grandparents.  And, con mis disculpas a Heinekin, la noche ya se me olvidó.