On the Bus, On the Road

Well it's about time for a post. I've been a little behind with the posts, as you may have noticed. But my excuse is a good one: I've been working hard and writing a lot. Except I haven't been writing here on the blog--which is pretty much the only place you can read my words right now, as I'm still searching for a publisher for book 1 (if you have publishing contacts in the narrative nonfiction world, please email me).

Anyway, jeez, where are my manners. I shouldn't start advertising before I set the scene. At this particular moment in time, I am on the bus, on the road, literally writing as this bus is headed south from 33rd Street, New York City, to Penn Station, Baltimore, and with the free wifi, and all my writing/traveling energy, I've decided to end another blog hiatus, and write some words for the world to read.

Of course, you must realize that I will soon go back and complete the past posts for July and August. I started a few, but never got around to posting them. So, in the future, there will be new posts that are below this one, which might be a little confusing from a reading standpoint, but I'm not worried. You all are smart and I know you can handle it.

Yes, I'm feeling very relaxed now. Party because of the last three big days of writing in New York City, but also because of the fact that I happened to get very lucky and was able to finish a crazy sprint (with backpack and beard bouncing and all pockets jangling), a sprint across the city, which put me on this bus (the Bolt), just one minute before the driver headed out. I knew it was going to be close, but that was awesome.

The reason for my crazy sprint mission across the city: I had been down at Ground Zero, observing and remembering and talking with some people. Today was the ninth anniversary of September 11, 2001--yet another day that has sadly gone down in infamy.

So, being in the City, I felt I should go down to where the Twin Towers fell and pay my respects. Near Ground Zero, there was a building set up as a World Trade Center tribute/visitor center. It was a tremendously powerful and sad exhibit to walk through--as was seeing all the people, out on the street, and all the uniformed Fire and Rescue people, and the Police people, and all the cranes with the flags flying half-mast on their down-hanging crane cables. It was a special place. I had to linger. I had to buy a beer, and stand in the doorway looking out at the cranes, and sip slowly as I thought about death and life, and life and death, and the island of Manhattan (which means a lot to me and millions of others) . . . and then, I looked down at my watch--oh no! My bus was leaving in twenty minutes and I was so far from my bus! Time to run! Sprint to the Subway, grab the first uptown train, and hope for the best.

And I made it. And I think when I write the whole thing out (which'll be in the book version, of course), and explain exactly how I made it, it'll make you smile. For now, you'll have to trust me.
The city certainly made me smile. I decided on Tuesday night to take the bus from Baltimore to New York City so that I could stay in the City and work. I left on Thursday morning and spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (today) in New York City, mainly Manhattan. I got a lot of work done, and now I feel good, especially because this bus has an electrical socket by which I can power my laptop/writing machine. I will be able to write the whole way back to Baltimore. I hoped I could do this. And now I am happy. I picked a seat with a working socket. You never know with buses.

Now is the perfect time to head home. My camera batteries are just about done (I hardly ever let this happen, but it felt right today). My food is gone, no more sandwiches. My cash is gone. I have a little coffee and that's about it. I will hydrate later. I will eat later, and bathe later too. But now, I must write!

(Written and dedicated to all New Yorkers, past and present, and especially all Emergency Service Workers, on this, the 11th day of September, 2010.)