stormdog | Jun. 21st, 2012

So back on the 14th, I wrote that I would be driving to Detroit with

lisagems. And I did, in fact, make such a trip! But instead of leaving on the evening of the 14th, we left on the morning of the 15th. I was tired and it was really late after work and packing and everything, and I didn't want to arrive at 3 to 4 in the morning.

We arrived instead around three or four in the afternoon, if memory serves, after a long, hot car trip. Even with windows down it got pretty bad in my little A/C-less Suzuki. Though I've rarely had problems with heat. When I was younger, and my brothers would sleep downstairs in the air-conditioning on hot Summer days, I usually stayed upstairs on my own bed. But I did worry a little about Lisa, who seemed to be getting overly hot. I decided at one point that we needed to stop for cold drinks, and that seemed to help.

Prior to that, on the way out of Chicago, we took 41 around the lake in the hope of avoiding horrible traffic on I-94. In my opinion, it was worthwhile. Not only had I never seen that industrial sort of south-side area up close before, but we ended up stopped at a drawbridge while a large freighter was pulled through by a few tugboats. I was very excited, and dashed out of the car and up to the bridge to watch the action. I didn't get any photos, but I was chuffed to see that the ship was the Algoma Navigator. I'd seen the Algoma Guardian moored in Toronto when I was there, and it was neat to see a second ship from the same fleet.

The trip out of Chicago also involved avoiding bicyclists who were having some kind of large event, seeing a very Prairie style building out around the state line, and just enjoying fun new scenery that I want to come back and photograph.

In Detroit, we met up with my dear friend

red_ceilidh and her menagerie. As well as sweet Sienna Smile-a-bull, there were her three cats and her new dog, Padfoot. Padfoot is completely and thoroughly wonderful. Big, but still a puppy and all sorts of energetic and playful. I'm so glad to have met him and seen how much he plays with Sienna and makes her happy. Speaking of, Sienna is looking *so* much better now that she's on steroids to deal with the terrible skin allergies she was having all over her body. I'm just so glad that she's feeling well too. Seeing all the fuzzies in fine fettle really cheered my heart.

It was wonderful seeing my friend again too, who I miss, worry about, and think of often. Huge thanks to Ceilidh for letting Lisa and I stay at her house, feeding us, and being a wonderful host despite all the things on her plate these days.

That evening, I got to meet Lisa's friend, Peter, who was kind enough to take she and I out for Lebanese food. We reminisced about La Shish, a similar restaurant I'd gone to when I was living in the area and generally had a nice time walking around Wyandotte and stopping at a coffee shop afterward. He's a new Facebook friend now and I'm excited about reading about his current stay in Japan.

The day of the tour arrived and the lot of us (myself, Lisa, Ceilidh, and Ceilidh's friend Bob who'd arranged the tour for me) gathered outside the Masonic Temple Theatre building. Things started about 10 o' clock and we moved into the lobby. I was impressed from the beginning. The building is a wonderful specimen of Beaux-arts Neoclassicism, which happens to be one of my favorite styles. It was full of beautiful stone, metal, and plaster work, symbolism, and ornate decorations. The old-style manual elevators made me very happy, as did the huge plaster ceiling medallions over lights, and many other things. The place is just gorgeous.

But as the tour went on, I started getting anxious. I'd originally hoped to leave around noon, but when I learned the tour was usually about two and a half hours, I figured I could stay 'till 12:30 and still get back to Chicago in time to help

danaeris unpack. After the lobby, we began looking at Masonic ritual halls. Not just one. Or even two or three. I think we saw five of them.

I don't mean to imply they weren't neat. Each one had it'sown theme; ancient Greek, ancient Egyptian, US colonialish, and so on. The architectural details were fantastic, and the Masonic history and lore the guide was sharing was interesting. I would have been more interested and less anxious if I'd had more time. But I'd come specifically for the architecture, and more specifically for the theatre, and I was getting more and more anxious about not having time to spend in the theatre itself. It got to be about 12:30 and we finally saw the chapel/santuary, then the small theatre, and finally we went into the stage right door of the Masonic Temple Theatre itself, the 4,000-plus seat beauty that it is. And I had about ten minutes to take photos before my hard deadline.

I ran out and took a few snapshots, a little too stressed to put together good compositions. I slowed myself down and got a few better shots, but soon I resignedly went back up on stage and told Lisa that I had to go. As she and I walked past the flyrail, I reached my hand out to touch a rope and said goodbye to the theatre I'd driven two-hundred and fifty miles to have ten minutes with. Then I stopped in the hallway, turned around, and burst into tears on Lisa's shoulder.

Lisa, who was rather grumpy herself with our tour guide (the tour was, in actuality, supposed to be primarily for me and all the others were coming along because it was a tour), stepped in. She told me that she was going to drive my car home, and that because she is a faster driver, she would save me half an hour and I was going to take that half hour and go back into the theatre and take more photographs.

And though I was still nervous about time, I did. And it was good. I didn't have all the time or take all the pictures that I would have liked, but I got a lot more than I would have otherwise, and I'm grateful to Lisa for understanding how important it was to me and giving me justification to go back in. I got some good photos, I've posted a few of them, and will have more to go in the future. I hope, too, to get time again in the Masonic to get more photos of her; she's gorgeous. And despite all the difficulties, I'm so very grateful to Ceilidh for arranging this tour for me. It was an amazing thing to do for me, and I feel indebted to her for having given me this chance. For someone who loves theatres like I do, it's an opportunity to be treasured.

Lisa and I left the theatre somewhere after 1, and true to her word, she saved me time on the way back. I've been accused by Danae of driving like a little old lady, and it's true. I drove 55 to 60 the whole way to Detroit, partly to save gas and partly because I want to be gentle on my 18 year-old sub-compact Swift with a 1.5 liter engine. Lisa drove 70 to 75 on the way back while I, in a state of continual low-grade stress, pretended not to know how fast she was going. As we got in toward Chicago, I elected to save some more time by taking the Skyway, outrageous tolls and all.

In the end, it turned out that Danae had finished unpacking some time before thanks to help from our friend Anthony, and I really could have stayed longer had I just called and told her what was going on and asked if I had more time. I need to remember: I can call people and ask for plans to change; they don't want me to feel like I have an iron-clad schedule that they will be enraged with me for not keeping to. Especially when it's something that means so much to me. But it also meant a lot to me to be there for my partner when she needed my help moving to a new place.

So since Danae didn't need out help, I dropped Lisa off at her place (she'd originally offered to help unload) and showered, then met Danae at her new place. I realized how stressy my day had been: she showed me the goodbye card that all her coworkers at Fermilab had given her and it made me sniffly. (It hit a weak spot; it had dogs on it.) Then she showed me a framed picture of Wilson Hall that the creative director (a photographer who I've met and talked to) gave her as a going away present, and that *really* made me cry. We ended the evening by lying down in bed and watching some Escaflowne, snuggled up together. That was exactly what I needed and I, exhausted and feeling safe and loved, fell fast asleep.

Masonic Temple Theatre, House Right