Dr. Dog's House

I don’t really know what I’ll be doing tonight. It’s “E.R. Night,” so my wife will be occupied. My plans for this weekend are up in the air, too.

But I know exactly what I’ll be doing three months from today.

I will be driving west, across Wisconsin, to Minnesota, heading for the Twin Cities. I will drive to the south side of the metro area to Bloomington, to the Mall 0f America, and leave my car in one of the parking ramps on the east side of the mall. But I’m not going there to shop.

Instead, I will head for the light rail station and get on the train that goes to the terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. I will make my way to the baggage claim area.

At some point, my phone will ring. “Hello, I’m here, Where are you?” “Hello, I’m here. Where are you?” Eventually we will talk ourselves together, and B and I will see each other in person for the first time. Hugs and kisses will ensue, I’m sure.

I got to know B last August when she complimented me about an article I wrote about polyamory–she and her husband are in an open relationship, as are my wife and I. As we got to know each other better, we found that we have a lot in common, and as we continued writing each other, a strong friendship was built. We just connected well, I guess, and our relationship strengthened. Late last fall, we started talking about the chances of us meeting each other face-to-face.

Due to my goofy work schedule, my only real chance to take a long trip is in spring or summer–the fall and winter sports schedules are too intense for me to take time off. Meanwhile, because of her job, B can’t take vacations during June or July–that’s the busy season at her office.

So our chances to meet are limited to spring or else in August. It couldn’t have been during an August weekend, though. From mid July through the end of August, I’ve got to cover events every single weekend–and then the fall sports season starts before Labor Day. That doesn’t leave many options except in the middle of the week. So we were left to wonder … Could we meet in Seattle? Could we meet in Minneapolis? Could we ever meet, period?

The whole situation turned upside down early this year. In 2009, the Fourth of July is on a Saturday. Because of that, B learned in February, the office staff would get July 2 and 3 off. Instantly, as she told me later, she remembered that my neopagan camp in southern Wisconsin takes place during the first few days of July.

She dropped the bombshell in an e-mail at the end of February. To paraphrase, she wrote: Suppose I fly to the Twin Cities on the 2nd, you pick me up there and drive us to the event, we spend the 3rd and 4th there, and you drive me back to the airport for the flight home on the 5th: What would you say to that?

What would I say? I said that sounds like an excellent plan. For the last month or so, we have been discussing this and that related question. About two weeks ago, she booked her flight reservation. Now it’s a matter of waiting for July.

When I told my wife about it, she answered this way: “If you think you are going to do that … then you can drop me off at my sisters’ place along the way.” Her sisters live in Wisconsin, right on the highway leading to the Twin Cities. She wants to spend a few days with them.

So our current plan is that I will take her there on the 1st, we’ll spend the night there, and then I leave for the Twin Cities by myself on the morning of the 2nd … and then, after dropping B off at the airport on the 5th, I’d drive back there, pick her up and then we drive the rest of the way home. Meanwhile, David is going to make two stops at the house to feed the cats.

My car doesn’t have a lot of cargo space, and it will need to carry a lot of extra stuff for the camping–but now we are thinking we will just spend just one night in the tent. That means I won’t have to take so much stuff along. We will take just one sleeping bag and a couple blankets. It will be early July, and I don’t think we would need so much extra warmth at night. And if it doesn’t work out that way, we’ll find a way to stay warm anyway.

Both of us are going through what’s called NRE (new relationship excitement) right now, and the next three months may take forever to get here. But we’re both mature enough to know that eventually the big day will come. We have been talking excitedly about our four days and three nights together–what we’re going to do, what we’re going to see, what the camp will be like. You wouldn’t think we’re both in our 50s (and closer to 60 than 50).

In a few years, B plans to retire from her job, and then they plan to return to the Midwest, where they were both raised. Mind you, they won’t exactly be close, but they’ll be much closer than they are now, and I’ll be able to make an occasional visit. That’s off in the future, of course.

For now, we will enjoy a few days together before returning to the other person we love. It will end with one last ride on the light rail. A quiet walk into the terminal, a last, long hug and probably a few tears. One thing we plan to do is buy each other a little souvenir. Something relatively small, cheap and inconsequential. Something that we can look at later and hold and stroke as the memories come flooding back. Something to remember until our next close encounter of the best kind.