Awesomest Commute

Tonight I was driving home from work on the usual route. Usually I do not make any phone calls during my commute. Usually I do not pick up the phone when it rings. I do not text message while I am driving, usually. This commute was different.

First I texted Doug:
Ahh... week is finally over. 2 nite im gonna snuggle w puplers, sat & sun cram in all xcercise i missed. u busy during super bowl?
Doug texts me:
Yes. i've got my girls 24/7 next 5 days. miss you babe.
I text Doug:
10-4. i didnt want 2 watch super bowl w u anyway. nahnah nahnah boo boo. the mtns r infuckincredible right now. miss you prince.
Doug texts me:
I was a bout to tell u to check out the mtns. B-fuckin-eautiful.
I text Doug:
Thought id get bonus pts 4 usin nahnah nahnah boo boo and infuckincredible in the same txt. do i win somthin?
Doug texts me:
Yes infuckingdeed.

Earlier today he had honored me with bonus points for using "whistle pig" and "twitterpated" in the same text. For that he gifted me with a date to the Daily Grind Coffeehouse as I passed through Knoxville earlier this afternoon. Fyi, we were texting about Groundhogs Day and being in love during spring.

Between text messaging, speed racing on White Pine backroads (all of White Pine's roads are backroads), and gazing at the warm glow of the sun revealing the texture of the Great Smoky mountains, I managed to miss Maria's unexpected phone call. Because she was calling on a Friday afternoon, and because we had just yesterday talked extensively, I knew it was an important phone call I needed to return. First I listened to the message. As I expected: big news. Could it be she was engaged or accepted to Berkeley? I call her up, and not surprisingly, she is off to Berkeley next fall (if she decides, for now its an offer). Congratulations, Maria, my Lil Miss Virginia. Despite the fact that you are going to a totally different culture and coast, you will totally adapt wonderfully, I totally know it. Just a scan of the UC Berkeley homepage and I know it... "the ethics of ethnomusicality in a cosmpolitan age", "campus sustainability efforts", "campus combats global warming". Congratulations babe. I'm schwillin some California wine in your honor tonight.

Then Miss Kelly from Seattle rang me. We shared the joys of the previous week and the week ahead. There was no shortage of joy at the Nichols Menagerie last week. I puppy sat for two friends. There were four puplers at the Nichols Menagerie and I was the fifth member of the happy pack. It was awesome. This weekend I train for 16 hours to become a certified aerobics instructor. I am strangely enthusiastic about that. Perhaps the greatest joy I am carrying in my heart lately is for Jill, Lance, and baby Simret. Tomorrow Jill and Lance travel to Addis, Ethiopia. On February 11th, they will meet baby Simret at the orphanage and become a family. Oh heavens, Jill will be a mommy. You can follow this story on Jill's blogspot. I'll be schwillin some special edition African Starbucks throughout the week in your honor.

After all the telephone communications I parked the car at the top of Hill Street in front of the Nichols Menagerie. I listened to Erick Baker's new track Stay Awhile. I looked down on my lil town, my mountains, my lake, and my heart was filled with emotion. I felt organic love: pure, simple, essential. I prayed about eternity, patience, the blessings in my life and other's lives, and prayed that my family still thinks I am lovable. God, it feels so good to be here, thank you for 30 minutes of time to hear from those I love and who love me.