Tuesday, 23 July 2002

The reunion was fun and I had a great time. But, by the end, I found that it was also kind of sad and stressful. Checkout time was 11:00 Sunday morning and there was a line of a dozen or so Clarion people all checking out at the last minute. We said extended goodbyes and talked about possible future meeting places. I promised Genevieve that I'd seriously consider going to WorldCon in Toronto in 2003.

It was still early, and we weren't a bit hungry (having eaten too much good food for several days in a row). So, once we had checked out, Jackie suggested that we just hang out in the Owen lobby for a half-hour or so. It was a reasonable suggestion, but one that I wouldn't even consider. I simply had to get out of there. I couldn't take saying goodbye to any more Clarion folk. I fled.

Jackie wondered why I was behaving that way, but accepted that it was simply an irresistible impulse, once I acknowledged that I knew I was behaving irrationally.

Our plan had been to go to lunch at Sultan's, one of the two best of the handful of restaurants I'd eaten at during Clarion last year, and then, perhaps, go to a bookstore.

With Sultans's in mind, I parked in Lot 91, the free lot about a 20-minute walk from Owen, where people without parking permits have to park. It's right across the street from Sultan's.

Since neither of us was hungry, we went for a walk. Heading the opposite direction from Sultan's took us past a medical center and a life sciences building, and then to a chunk of land with a forest on it.

Walking through the forest was nice. Gradually, I managed to calm down.

I'm sorry I didn't track down another couple of people to say goodbye to before I left. Sorry guys. In my brother's family they have an expression for this sort of clearly irrational behavior. They call it "brain chemicals."

Anyhow, things went fine after that. We had lunch at Sultan's, then headed out on the 2-hour drive to my dad's house. Katy cooked a great dinner, despite the fact that the power went out twice. I read some of my dad's nearly-finished book on land trusts.

Monday we drove back home and got the cat and the mail. Today I was back at work, trying to get ready to go to Singapore in less than a week.

I'm once again thinking novelish thoughts. I'll keep you posted.