We loaded up on Sunday and headed off to the land of Big Ed's North. (A local eating establishment famous for breakfast.). Bartowsky calls the place, "Enormous Edward's," in that college humor, pithy banter way that corrupts names while retaining meaning. This, like a lot of things with Bartowsky, we've come to enjoy. The occasion was slightly solemn in the sense that after this breakfast of high cholesterol and abundant salt disguised as pork, eggs, butter, and even a salt shaker, Bartowsky left for his sophomore year at college. Of course, his mother followed him in her new mini-van filled to overflowing with Bartowsky ephemera. (The new mini-van came as a result of trading in the old mini-van and the beloved Avalon. Yes, the Avalon we picked up for the Fast Present trip. Happy wife, happy life. Debt-free life = Bonus Round. Bye-sniffle-bye, Avalon.) The photo above shows Bartowsky reacting to an admonishment from his mother after throwing a fictitious UNC-W gang sign at Enormous Edward's. No gang garbage is allowed to intrude upon the sanctity of breakfast. Even fictitious gang garbage is banned. I myself silently removed a non-existent bandanna after taking the photo above. I am going to miss Bartowsky and his penchant for hibernation in his room here at the ranch. (Which is code for a tract home in North Raleigh.) I already miss the road trip and dragging his tuchus through 25 states at a frenetic pace. I miss the fast, urgent way he talks and the way he laughs, and even guffaws, at his own jokes. I will miss the Avalon, too. But truth be told, I am way too tall in the torso, not to mention fat, to be contained by the Avalon. Much like the way Buddy boy is too large to be contained by protracted hibernation in a tract home. His excitement about returning to school was and is palpable. Like the remains of an electrical storm. Bartowsky told us the mockumentary/documentary he is doing on the Fast Present trip will be ready in six to eight months. "I underestimated the time involved," he said. No worries. We all do. In the meantime, I am waiting for two things: the lab results of the lesion biopsy from the old esophagus. And I am waiting on the work being done on the Avalon replacement: a Honda 1,300 CC VTX that I picked up when we got the van. The dealer took it in on trade, and it was in need of attention. Eleven years old and it showed 6k on the odometer. I picked up the new van and the used bike in one fell rebel-without-a-clue swoop. Obligatory VTX photo below: I already have visions of trading it in on a Stateline -the VTX successor that has EFI in lieu of a carb and a choke. But I will get comfortable on this bike first. It is vastly different than my Triumph bikes. Ah... the curse of the wandering eye.
I have visions of riding the beast down to Wilmington. Another road trip. Maybe early in the morning with the sun shining as the highway to the beach rolls out before me. Early AM so that we can meet for breakfast at an Enormous Edward equivalent. Bartowsky and his old man. The future and the past sharing a salt shaker. Life is too short not to live.
2 Comments
10/18/2019 11:24:48 pm
This is just goodbye for now. I mean, sure, there is no telling when we will ever meet again, but I am hoping that it comes sooner than what we expect. Of course, people are going to think that this is just wishful thinking, and I do not mind. As long as we both want it to happen, then I know that the universe will find its way to make it happen. I just hope that we are still friends by then.
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11/17/2022 10:41:32 am
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