Not a tourist

The melatonin keeps me asleep till after five. There’s no sign of Donna or Colette till well after eight. In fact, there’s no sign of Colette at all.

Donna walks me round the “rambles” in Central Park, to the Bethesda fountain. I was at the bottom of the park with Megan and Angus a few years ago in the rain, but today is warm and humid.

We walk along museum row. I get talked out of five bucks by a stand-up comedian “giving away” CDs of his work. I’m fairly sure it won’t be funny, based on his street schtick. Donna complains that “now you’ve made me look like a tourist” :)

Past the Met for a photo op. Past the Guggenheim. And then a table on the street for an early lunch. Although Donna and I met up a few years ago, this is the first extended f2f conversation we’ve had since her exchange year in Edinburgh - 83/84. Bizarrely two of our friends from those days are also having a get together: Jon (Norfolk) is staying with Rico (Mexico).

The salads are good, and there’s a noisy street spectacle of a giant dumpster/skip being dropped off and dragged screeching along the street right by us. And then it’s time for a taxi ride back to JFK.

The flight to Baltimore-Washington is in a tiny jet. It’s forced to fly at 6000ft due to weather, so I get some great views along the way. I doze listening to a couple of episodes of Classic Scottish Albums (Stealers Wheel and City to City).

I just miss a MARC train to Washington and have 45 minutes to wait for the next, while two Amtrak services run past that I’m not entitled to board. The Metro Red line takes me to Zoo and I trudge through the heat to my Airbnb.

It’s a huge house with creaky, shiny wooden floors. My room is on the second floor and has its own outside deck overlooking a park. Where I immediately get bitten by some dusk loving flying creature. I retreat inside, shut the door, and engage the AC.

I make a brief trip down the street to get an empañada and some cans of beer. Then it’s movie brain death time: That Sinking Feeling - Bill Forsyth’s debut from 1979 Glasgow. A far cry from 2019 Washington, DC.