T Minus One

The morning held a bittersweet farewell -- not to my family, who will be coming to Salem to see the first ceremony tomorrow, anyways -- but to the Bumblebox. The good folks at White Bison had figured out a place where I could swap the gas-guzzling behemoth out for a panel van like the one I was originally supposed to have.

The new van has exactly the same construction as the old one, but is about the size of something suburbanites would use to drive their kids to soccer practice. In other words, it means I can back up, make turns without hitting curbs, and get more than one mile to the gallon. The downside is that I have to start remembering where I parked, as it will no longer be painfully obvious.

This was my first opportunity to meet the team, and early signs appear very promising. There was some problem with Maria's flight, so I haven't met her yet, but Don and Marlin have their same powerful presence and radiating sense of conviction, and Wayne (who I'd never met before) seems like a real nice guy and a real benefit to general organization and success. There were a few other people I met -- it sounds like one elder, Ozzie, will be traveling with us for a few days.

My van has no real ability to hold people, so I have become the official equipment van. I now carry all my own stuff, plus several hundred books, some ceremonial equipment, other people's luggage, T-shirts for sale, some rocks (not sure what those are for, yet), and some extra tripods and such that someone at White Bison found and provided for me. I've also been given temporary custodity

***

This was the point that a four-plus hour adventure began involving the emergency room, swine flu, and the police. It's now 2AM and I'm going to bed.