Today’s the day! We are up, at what feels like dawn, but is more like 8:00am(which to most waiters IS EVEN EARLIER than dawn!!). We are due in-studio for a news interview with WANE, the Fox Ft. Wayne station!

PJ is taking us there by bicycle, it’s just a few miles, but after our giant beers at The Rail, it felt just a little bit longer. PJ was actually interviewed by this station not to long ago for his website, but never got to tell them what it was called (fwbikecommuter.blogspot.com), so it’s our super, secret, secondary mission to get him a little plug in there-shouldn’t be a problem.

To our surprise, we are early. A rarity, for me at least. We waited awhile outside a locked door, wondered if we were in the right place, which PJ assured us we were, and he was right! A woman let us in, escorted us to “the green room” where we waited for showtime. The same lady came and got us, PJ stayed to see how we looked on the T.V.

So…the interview went well, got to talk about BikeFree, our ride so far, how we are doing, etc…Now…as far as the super, secret, secondary mission……an utter failure puts it mildly. I’m actually hanging my head in shame as I type. She was just to quick for us!!! Paul and I just wanted to chat. You know, have a nice conversation
piece with her. Well, let me tell ya, that is not the way it was. She was like an Army
Ranger extraction unit commander. She got in, she got the intel, and she got out!
Before Paul and I knew it they were on to the morning commute(which would have
been a great opportunity for us to talk about fwbikecommuter.blogspot.com!) but alas, no! The cameras are turning away, the mic’s are being unclipped from our jerseys, and there is that lady again to escort us back, and out. PJ didn’t even notice that we forgot to mention his webpage, fwbikecommuter.blogspot.com, but did say that I talked too much, and we were both slouching! Otherwise, we were fine.

So, we three rode back in town just in time for more World Cup, with the English against ze Germans, and aside from an awful call against the Brits, was a much better game than my own country put forth yesterday. Anyways, it was quite a day of eating and soccer. Which, in most parts of the world, is enough to make any man, woman, or child happy! Paul and PJ both needed naps, so my temporary neighbor, Mike, took me out for a local beer and to be with the people and watch Argentina v. Mexico. It was noon! But hey, for one month, every 47 months, we citizens of the USA deserve the fun they have everyday in Europe and South America! So we cheers’d beers while Argentina moved past Mexico, and PJ and Paul napped it up.

Being that we had to get 180 miles to Chicago by Wednesday I too had to break from
the festivities to pack and get it all together. Of course, twenty minutes later, now “all together”, I met back up with Mike and his wife Jocylin. They took me over to the neighborhood homestead of Patrick and Heather, who were also drinking giant cans of beer, and now we are starting to develop strength in numbers. I’d actually say that we were developing an impromptu block party! I love it when that happens! And it wouldn’t be a party without PJ, who must have smelled the good time from across the street, so he and two more neighborhood friends, Chris and Stephanie, came over and we partied until the wee hours of nine o’clock PM!!! Tonight the adage “quality not quantity” is in full effect!!

As I lay down to sleep the reality that we have to leave West St. in the morning sets in, and I find myself really not wanting to leave this house, this family, their, now our friends, Fred, Belly, and the Stevies. But then I think about how rich they have made our lives in just the past three days, and that this certainly is just the beginning of a beautiful, and lifelong friendship. Thank you so much PJ. Ava, and James, let’s convince dad to make plans to go to Brasil in four years! Angela, I didn’t forget about you, I left you out on purpose because I, Adam, wanted to thank you personally for the chances we got to talk together. I found great friends in PJ, the kids, and the rest of West St., but a kindred spirit in you. If I can find the happiness and calm you have found on a road that didn’t always rise up to meet your feet, where the wind was rarely at your back, but stinging your face as you marched forward through life, I will feel truly blessed.

This entry was posted on June 28, 2010 at 12:10 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Adam's Blog by Adam 2 Comments