Two Strangers, a Potluck and a Stubborn Mama

Another Home Office Report While Ama is in Denver for the weekend:

This month the Seattle aunt and uncle visited for two of the three days Ama was away, thus reducing the amount of time we were lonely. The aunt and uncle brought the Ikea kitchen table we'd been waiting to be in stock for over two months. Ama will be so excited to return to a dining room with a kitchen table!

The fun of this weekend, however, culminated in today. Mr. Man and I had two possible agenda items for today and I thought he would be interested in neither of them. First was a meeting at the new LGBTQ community center for a committee meeting to organize some family events. I explained to Mr. Man that he would be the only child at the meeting and that it might be boring, but that I wanted to go to a meeting to help plan fun for families with two moms and two dads. Surprising to me, he said he wanted to go and packed a sack full of toys in the hot pink Andy Warhol expanding banana bag. We were going to take the bus, but he and I got playing with the harp and replacing a string that we missed the bus that would have made us on time. We decide to drive and we would have been on time had the car started properly the first time and we not been stopped by an amazingly long freight train one block from the office. We arrive 12 minutes late and Mr. Man announced in his most precocious tone, "We're late because we got stopped by a really long train." Immediately we are welcomed. Mr. Man was amazingly patient and actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

We drive back home to prepare for event number two, which is a veg potluck organized by a local resource group. We've decided to make vegan zucchini bread and a bean and rice salad. Mr. Man helps with all the baking and plays at the new kitchen table while I prepare the salad. I check out the details of the event and scope out our commuting options. I wonder about the feasibility of carrying a platter of zucchini bread, a glass bowl of salad and a tote bag containing our serving utensils on two busses. However, we have enough time to make it on time and I'm concerned about the car not starting and also being low on gas. We hop on the first bus easily enough and make our connection with ease. Once we get off the final stop we have to walk about three blocks to the Quaker meeting room. By now my arms are getting tired from carrying the food but more importantly there are huge looming dark clouds coming up behind us and they are flashing lightning. Mr. Man spots the lightning and starts to panic. (Thanks to Ama they've read an educational book about electricity and Mr. Man promptly reports that you should never be outside in a lightning storm for safety reasons.) I calm his fears, praying that I remember the address and know which way to turn when we get to the next street. Fortunately I turned the right way and we find the location before the storm comes any closer. Rain comes down in sheets while we are at the potluck. I enjoyed a huge veg feast, Mr. Man ate little and played the entire time in the nursery adjoining the meeting room. He came out briefly to see the speaker who had pictures of her volunteer work in New Orleans doing animal rescue.

When it's time for us to go home, it is only slightly raining, but I am regretting that I did not pack my raingear, for there are more dark clouds off in the distance. We get Mr. Man bundled in his waterproof coat and head toward our bus stop. I'm thankful that all of the zucchini bread was eaten, for now the empty platter and a mostly empty salad container are much lighter. We get to the bus stop and I'm concerned by a cursory look at the schedule that we just missed the bus and that the next one doesn't look like it's coming for another hour. While I'm digging for my phone to call to check the schedule the bus comes. Perfect! We pile on and get off at our next connection. It's still sprinkling, so we're happy when we find that our transfer point has a bus hut. We are dismayed however to find that the last bus that services this stop was 30 minutes ago. This seems absurd. There was a man at the hut just before we arrived and when he sees us loitering at the stop, he comes back. He and I discuss the situation with the bus and I confirm by calling Trimet that the bus is not coming back to this stop until 5:48 am Monday morning. We discuss our options. It seems we can walk about a mile to a different transfer point where for some odd reason our bus does run. I briefly consider calling a cab or the only friend we have in this town. I assess Mr. Man's energy level and we decide to walk. Stranger #1 says he'll walk with us, as he's heading to the same place.

We begin our trek. I say I hope he enjoys talkative travelers. Mr. Man has put on his precocious voice and has been gabbing non-stop today. Stranger #1 inquires if we went to a birthday party. I explain we were at a potluck. Stranger #1 inquires if Mr. Man ate all the desert, as he is very hyper. I respond that Mr. Man ate very little at the potluck, rather he just has a very natural hyper charm. We have gone about six blocks when Stranger #1 inquires if I want to share a cab. This is perhaps mistake # 6 for me for the day, but it by far my biggest. I say that I don't have cash, only a credit card, and I think we'll walk unless it starts to pour. The dark clouds are of course still looming. We continue to walk, although Stranger #1 generally walks about 25-50 feet ahead of us. (I think he enjoys quiet contemplation.) In about 2 more blocks, Stranger #1 says I'll just pay for the cab. Mistake #7. I say thank you, but we'll continue walking. Mr. Man is a picture of talkative perfection and we make it to the last block. At this point Stranger #1 is too far ahead of us and makes it through the huge intersection one walk light ahead of us. Stranger #1 continues south on the road we had been on instead of turning left to the bus stop that is our destination. Mr. Man and I comment that he must have decided to go another way. By the time we cross the intersection, we are too far away to yell ahead to him.

We head to our bus stop to see when our bus comes. It comes in 30 minutes. We're in front of a gas station and mini mart. Mr. Man didn't eat much at the potluck so I offer to take him to the nearby Subway to wait the 30 minutes. He declines. We go into the gas station and get him a Clif bar and water. We go back to the bus hut and sit down. Enter Stranger #2, who has just returned from a 2 day hike in the mountains. He is occupying one seat and his huge gear backpack is occupying the other seat in the bus hut. He asks if we want to sit. We say no, thanks and sit down on the ground where Mr. Man eats half of his bar and much of his water. We begin the long wait. The dark clouds have moved in closer and are now flashing with thunder. Fortunately they are behind the bus hut so Mr. Man doesn't see them right away. When he does see the lightning he panics once again and tells me we should be inside. The problem is there is nowhere inside to go that we wouldn't possibly miss the bus. I calm him and tell him that if the lightning comes close to us and the storm starts to get really bad we'll go inside. Stranger #1 helps immensely by talking to us about his trip and generally being really friendly. Mr. Man hugs my leg and hides his head for most of the flashes of lightning.

About ten minutes before the bus is to arrive, it begins to hail. Hail about the size of pennies. The sound as the hail hits the glass bus hut is deafening. The hail lasts merely two minutes and is replaced by sheets of water. We are blessed that our bus hut is facing north, as we are entirely sheltered from the elements. A lake of water has grown in front of the bus hut and every passing car threatens to cover us in a wave of water. Fortunately we are dry when we get on the bus. Mr. Man and I make a plan for walking home in torrential rain. To my dismay this bus is on the route that goes down 13th instead of 17th, so we will be dropped off 4 blocks from home instead of right on our corner. We're about half way home when the bus stops to pick up a passenger - no one other than a totally soaking, dripping Stranger #1. He sees us and we greet each other. I ask if he got stuck in the hail. He says yes. I apologize that we didn't run after him when we got separated and explain that we thought he decided to go another way. He said no, that he just didn't know where to go. I am so unhappy that we weren't able to help. He is simply drenched and dripping from head to toe.

When it is time to get off the bus it is only drizzling. Stranger #1 follows our lead when we get off, asking if this is 17th. I explain that it's 13th, but that we're walking to 17th from here. He exits too. Once again he races off ahead by about 25 feet. Mr. Man and I turn into our driveway to see a soaked Stranger #1 heading across 17th. We had no idea where he was heading, but we hope he got there safely and was able to dry off.

We left the potluck at 7:30 pm and arrived home at 9:09 pm. Amazingly we arrived at home 90% dry. Mr. Man has been instructed to deter me from taking the bus the next time we go to a potluck.

A post-adventure commuter tip: Always check the bus schedule and use the online trip planner for the return trip, even when you think you're familiar with the bus schedule. It will helpfully tell you to transfer to a different point and a different bus.