Life is But A Dream - Part Two

Day two in Minneapolis.



Our second day in Minneapolis I woke up far too early for having gone to bed well after 3am. It’s a strange thing, not being able to sleep well in a place that isn’t my own. I heard rustling around the kitchen and I sat up, thinking it’d be Laura. A girl I hadn’t met the night before was walking past the living room, probably wondering “who the hell is that?” We made eye contact, neither of us said a word and she left the room and I dropped back down. After she’d left and I was sure there wasn’t a chance I could fall back asleep, I got up and wrote for some time, journaling about the previous days happenings and then just dinking around with a story I’ve had in progress for far too long.

Brandon woke around 11am, and Laura around noon. We snacked on blueberries and chatted for a while about places to go and see between Minneapolis and Chicago. I was glad when it was decided we’d all spend the day in Minneapolis together. I was enjoying my time with these new people, in this new place. At first we were going to go to the State Fair, then we changed it to a bike ride through the city, but we finally settled on a day at the lake. We first stopped for lunch at Jimmy Jons and then walked to the beach. It was a quiet day of getting to know each other, of dipping our feet in the water and running the sand through our fingers. We walked back up the path to the boat dock and got drinks (lemonade and tea....) and sat watching the water and talking to the ducks. Jacob excused himself and walked out to the dock. We stayed on the shore and talked about traveling, moving away from home, and, of course, what animal we’d choose to be.

Jacob returned a bit later and said, “that guy out there offered me a ride on his sailboat!” We exchanged excited glances. “He said that a guy sailing the boat called Magic could take us all out.” Without much else being said, we headed out along the dock. Magic had just pulled in when Jacob said “hello friend! Mike over there said you might be able to take us out on your boat?”

The man replied with a thick German accent and a smile, “Sure, hop on.” Three people were already in the boat and we all quietly acknowledged each other. The German man was named Warner. He climbed in after the rest of us and took us out into the lake. “O.K., everyone. Please, take two deep breaths and release them slowly. Do you know why we do this ever time we set out? Freedom. Let go of life’s stresses.” We all followed suit. “On my boat I like to stay away from chit-chat. We only chit-chat because we’re all so good at it. Let’s stay away from that. Instead, I want there to be a period of silence. Listen to the sounds of the world, man-made and natural.” I looked around; every one was breathing deeply, eyes closed. “After the silence, however long it lasts, we will all begin singing the songs of our childhood.” Everyone’s relaxed faces turned to awkward smiles.

We were quiet for a while. We listened to people laugh on a nearby boat, the seagulls on the shore, the water lapping against the boat, the wind against our ears. Then, it started, “you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. So please don’t take my sunshine away.” Quietly at first, and more confidently as we went, we all sang along with Warner. We went from song to song, louder and louder as we went. All of the songs are one’s I remember my mom singing to me before bed every night for years. I dipped my hand in the water, I took a deep breath and I smiled.

“We sing childhood songs to take us back to a time of simplicity, to anchor us into the now,” Warner said, and then he started in on another song. “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.”

We were out on the water for a while and Warner let each of us steer. Then, he took charge and pulled us back up to the dock. We thanked him and parted ways. All of us completely “Zenned out”, Jacob went swimming in the lake while Laura, Brandon and I laid out in the grass. The rule of no chit-chat seemed to have followed us off the sail boat.

“Are you guys itching to hit the road?” Laura asked.
“Not really,” Brandon said as we stood, “but we should.”

We walked back to Laura’s house. The whole way back I imagined this being my city, my home. I know I said it about Missoula, but I was sincerely upset to say goodbye to Minneapolis. To Minneapolis, to Laura and Jacob, to the lake and the vibe of the city.

We said our goodbyes on Laura’s front steps. We welcomed either to stay with us if they’re ever passing through Portland and we gave them the blog site and told them to tag along on our trip. It’s amazing to me, how you can fall in love with a place after only being there for twenty-four hours.

A last-minute decision leads us up north to Duluth, beside Lake Superior. The fog was so thick we could hardly see in front of us. We found a KOA, set up, and then got back on the road to see the lake at night. As the fog was so dense, we couldn’t see the lake hardly at all. Even still, I could sense it was a mass, amazing site. We headed back to our KOA around 1am, blogged, chatted, drank and then attempted to sleep. I say attempted because guess who forgot a sleeping bag, a pillow and a sweatshirt? Yep, that’s me. I froze the whole night and maybe slept a total of two hours. It didn’t seem to matter too much, though. I spent the hours thinking back over the last couple of days and imagining what the rest of the trip could be like. I then began to think back before I ever had issues sleeping, when my mama would lay down beside me and sing songs to me. So, in the dark, surrounded by the chirping of crickets, I began to sing my favorite quietly to myself.

“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

Enjoy every minute,
Mary

 Jacob and Laura

 Captain Brandon

               Warner behind Brandon.