"REEL AROUND THE FOUNTAIN"

Hello again from the Mass Turnpike. I walked in to pee and overheard the following from a bathroom stall, and then at the sink area, between a little girl and, presumably, her mother:

Girl: Mommy, is Jesus mean?
Mom: NO!!!! Jesus is loving and kind and the only person who will save you from going to hell.
Girl: But is he mean and that's why he got killed?
Mom: No, the people who killed him were very mean and that's why we have to teach them about how loving Jesus is.
Girl: Those mean people are here?
Mom: They're not really mean, honey, they're just kind of like dummies. They were jealous that he knew the truth and so they nailed him on those pieces of wood.
Girl: Are the people monster people?
Mom: No, they're Jewish people, baby.

My response (standing next to her at the sinks): Ah, HELLO?
Her response: Hello friend. Sorry, I couldn't tell.

Jesus!

Anyway...

Yesterday evening, I drove from Providence to the northern burbs of pretty Boston. Such a significant and special time of my life was spent here, so it proved a bit emotional, but in a great way, of course. I stayed with my dear friends Sandy and Marty at their new digs. The three of us went to dinner, then Sandy and I went back to the aforementioned North Shore Music Theater, where I worked twelve years ago. It was both wonderful and nostalgic to return to the area, to that theater that still smells the same after all these years, to sitting at Sandy's kichen table, where all the world's problems can be solved. I left this morning, after a tearful goodbye on both our parts. She began to cry when she saw her name in the acknowledgements of my book, her crying made me cry, my crying made her cry more-- mosly, we were just glad to have found the time to hang out and sit and be silly.

After leaving, I walked around downtown Salem a bit (another place I really love) and noiced how it had changed since I'd been back. Then, I tracked down my friend Helena and spent a few glorious hours (that went by all too fast) in a cute coffee shop (Atomic Cafe) in Beverly, Mass. Just talking and being silly and catching up like we used to.

Although I am eager to get home and actually live out of my my apartment again for a while, I must admit that I've had a really spectacular week.

The guys sitting behind me are talking about whether it is worse to have "the wicked worst blue balls" or to have to pee "wicked bad". Good times. Anyway, I'm expected in NY in a bit, so I've got to motor. More later.