Burt has arrived. We were supposed to go visit Emmy for dinner, but. His first words were "I exist" - to echo some discussion from the emails on the subject of virtual personae and whether we exist as physical people or not.
He somehow managed to stuff two bookcases, a stereo, a record player, a bunch of books and two boxes of old LPs (mostly duplicates or worn out ones - including the full box of Concert for Bangla Desh and "All things must pass" by George Harrison, with all three records, and later I realized that having only the first two at home I have missed nothing).
He's rather fat and bulky, with a hefty jowl and cheeks, and I couldn't have guessed how much hair did Beatrice mean when she described him from their first meeting. Speaks rather clearly and with some reserve, plus some deadpan humor - mostly due to fact that even when he makes a joke, he doesn't laugh first, exactly as the custom in our city demands. When he laughs, it's with minimal facial expression, mouth closed, even though he's got the perfect american teeth.
So after two years of emails, we finally met. Small is the world.
His account of the event:
It occurs to me that a couple of weeks have gone by, and I haven't said anything about the fact that I finally met Gradivoj and his family. That was on Sunday, two weeks ago, I guess, and 8 days after they reached A-burg. Their house is right off U.S. 29, north of town, 2 1/4 hours drive from my home. It's a nice little 3-bedroom house in the woods at the end of a street. Gradivoj looks more or less like his picture, but maybe a little grayer (as he said) and scruffier. They had a bed for themselves and for each daughter, a table and four chairs in the dining room, and nothing at all in the living room. I brought them an old futon and mismatched frame. His eldest, Go, figured out how the frame was supposed to assemble, which I never exactly knew. I had a long, pleasant talk with Gradivoj about many things. They made me lunch and dinner, trying to figure out how to make Serbian food with American ingredients in an unfamiliar oven. The result was good, though it may not have been what she intended. So, of course, we talked about the potential availability of things like European sausage. I invited Gradivoj to come visit me soon. He said that he would like to do that sometime, but that he was very busy (understandably!) right now. Also, the habit of getting into a car and going somewhere rather far just for fun on a Saturday is new to him, an alien concept. He is also keenly aware of how much his boss has invested in him, and wants to put in lots of hours right now. There is also the fact that the Peugeot wagon his boss gave him is 15 years old. It's working fine, but a little time is probably required to build confidence in the vehicle sufficient for a 200 mile round trip. I was able to tell Gradivoj little about what you do when your car breaks down, because it hasn't happened to me all that much, and, when it did happen, I did many different things depending on where I was and who I was able to call and what had happened. When the subject came up, I felt awkward not really being able to give that sort of advice, and then remembered that I had just driven thousands of miles through Canada in my 19-year-old Alfa and not worried about it.
Gradivoj, if you get your phone sorted out, let us know your number. Next time I see you, I have a bunch more records and books, and a box of old blankets (crummy things useful for guests, hope they don't make you feel like a refugee) and some other odds and ends that didn't fit in the car last time. I hope you get the other channel working on that stereo. I'd like to hear what the problem turned out to be*.
Next weekend I might go to upstate New York. Zyanna and Geoff are going that weekend. I might do a parallel trip and meet with them at some point. It amuses me that one of their favorite places to spend their limited vacation time is that same area where I went to college and where some of my friends lived (and were glad to escape). It is indeed one of the most beautiful parts of the country. It amuses me less that they actually have thought of moving there. Partly the idea is sad because friends would be moving away. The idea also presumably wouldn't be put into practice if Verborgen continues to make progress. It's nothing that will happen right away.
The weekend after that I plan a road trip across West Virginia, ending in Parkersburg, on the Ohio river. I'm going with a group of Alfa Romeo owners.
I might be able to visit A-burg sometime soon, if you like. If I don't go to New York a week from now I might be around. Otherwise it could be on the weekend of october 23, maybe.
The weather is beautiful here, and I should get out and do something. It may be my last chance in warm weather. Unfortunately I had some harsh dental work during the week. My toothache spreads into a headache often. Maybe walking around will make me feel better.
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* I pulled out the cartridge from the player's pickup and put it back. It's a classic trick that programmers use to fix hardware (04-X-1989.). That was all.
6-II-2014 - 30-VI-2024