J.R.R.
Tolkien wrote, “Not all those who wander are lost.”
Apparently
Tolkien never tried to fit an emissions test, a Bluesfest, an Oktoberfest, two
rugby matches and a cocktail with his mother-in-law into one rainy Saturday.
Because I intend to wander
today. I just need a schedule.
This is the last full weekend of summer, and
Mother Nature has decided to celebrate by throwing thunderstorms at us. That is
fine, summer has never gone quietly around Chicagoland anyway. We will just
have to wander between the raindrops.
There is Bluesfest down the
river. BuckleDown, the best damn brewery in Illinois is holding their
Oktoberfest. The Chicago Blaze has a doubleheader against a great rival and
somehow in all of this wandering, I need to make it back for my traditional
Saturday cocktail with my mother-in-law.
That isn't wandering, it is coordination.
I may need that Star Trek thing that lets
you travel around.
Maybe that is the point of
Tolkien's line. Wandering doesn't necessarily mean you don't know where you are
going. Sometimes it means you are willing to take the long way. Stop somewhere
you had not planned. Listen to a blues band for another song. Have one beer
with people you were not expecting to see. Stand along a rugby pitch in the
rain because going home would be sensible, but sensible wasn't what you had
planned for the last Saturday of summer.
So today I am going to wander down the river
for some blues. Over to BuckleDown for Oktoberfest. Out to the pitch for some
rugby and back in time to raise a Saturday glass with JoJo.
…And if the rain changes the route, so
be it.
Getting a little lost every once in a while might be the whole idea. Besides, autumn is waiting right around the corner and
pretty soon I will have an entirely new problem…
Trying to wander through all those falling
leaves without busting my ass.
Enjoy the last Saturday of summer and the
smell of summer rain.
