Purgatory Adjacent

[stevejosephson]

Since my mom is reading this (and likely only my mom), I’ll start with the lead - as you read this I’m on a plane back to England, or soon will be. Which beats an african jail, where we nearly ended up. I wish that I could say I'm not speaking literally.

Comments

[anonymous]

Glad you are well. Helluva mother's day present for our mom.
Love,
Linda

[stevejosephson]

Ah, it is mother's day, isn't it. They've actually started doing mother's day in africa now. So odd, the things that spread.

Don't worry - they can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man. Mmmm - on second thought, not sure I'm liking that appellation. I'll work on it.

Right now I'm on a train rolling north from London to York, and damn, I forgot how beautiful England is in spring. Golden fields of rapeseed, hedgerows, and twee villages. Wonderful.

[anonymous]

This mama is reading it, too. I'm happy to the outcome.
S

[stevejosephson]

You and me both. Odd - can't shake the feeling that what was supposed to happen didn't, fine with me as I'd much rather spend my days walking pub to pub across the vale of York than have food passed to me through a slot. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart.

[anonymous]

No matter what you have heard, I LIKE being a twin. Your twin! Please be safe!
Love, Susan

[stevejosephson]

Nay, my life wasn't at stake, just my liberty. On the good side, I narrowly missed running over a cheetah on the way back. A cheetah! Love africa.

[waynefromlorain]

You must be a part of the League of Extraordinary Gentleman Steve. Much like Allan Quartermain; Africa will never let you die or be incarcerated. Something like that. Old Witch Doctor proverbs are hard to get right. Now on to Glastonbury and then to the London Olympics. England or Bust.

[stevejosephson]

Africa does seem to impel me along. We had like 4 (potentially) major catastrophes that were offset by remarkably good luck. Just heard from my old student that engine in the truck got fried (which is bad) when he happened to be driving past the home of an old friend of mine (which is good). Could just as easily have happened out in the middle of nowhere and taken weeks to get out of. Balance.

And London was nice but a couple of days in town convinced me that the Olympics are going to be madness, no matter what preparations they've made. They can barely handle normal-day traffic, but then again, they sure have cleaned up the place. Good with the bad.

[waynefromlorain]

My dad always said the same thing: he'd rather be lucky than smart.
the ma

[stevejosephson]

I would say 'is it too much to hope for both?' but in my experience it often is. I'll stick with lucky. For now.