The Beginning?
Today I met a most intriguing woman. At the point where I wasn't thinking seriously about dating, or even paying, eHarmony had a free weekend. No sense looking a gift horse in the mouth, so I went on, and tried out a few leads. One of them seems at this point to be perhaps promising, and we met for our first date, after numerous emails and some phone calls. But since she lives in Iowa, three hours away, this was a very long date, as it's a very long drive. (I had accidentally misset the distance parameters on the eHarmony search when I first logged in. Usually I look no more than an hour's distance away.)
Nothing seemed to go as planned. We had hoped for a long walk in the arboretum, but it was a
miserably rainy day, with Seattle-style rain- a cold, persistent, wet drenching that reaches into your bones and pulls them out of your skin. We had planned on going to the Geology Museum in town, where I recently set myself up to do volunteer tours, 
but I didn't realized it closed so early on Saturday. Happily, our first event, meeting at Macha Teahouse, went off without a hitch. Macha is rather cool, as it has a Moroccan Tea Room, representing where I spent three years, and a Japanese Zen Cave, representing where she spent a number of weeks and became enamored with the language. The Moroccan room did bring back memories. Additionally, Macha has some really excellent tea.
.
After some awkward introvert getting-to-know-you time, we headed out for a walk, to spite the rain, driving in and through the arboretum.
There she pointed out to me that wild turkeys roam the Madison woods, occasionally gobbling up unsuspecting children.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This is largely because they have no respect for the rule of law, whether that be rules against the eating of humans, or traffic violations.
The walk was short, due to the rain, and we found ourselves wandering into the zoo, the last major free one in America, where I'd previously been with my dad, and had him committed. Here he is, still trying to get out:
Nothing seemed to go as planned. We had hoped for a long walk in the arboretum, but it was a
miserably rainy day, with Seattle-style rain- a cold, persistent, wet drenching that reaches into your bones and pulls them out of your skin. We had planned on going to the Geology Museum in town, where I recently set myself up to do volunteer tours, but I didn't realized it closed so early on Saturday. Happily, our first event, meeting at Macha Teahouse, went off without a hitch. Macha is rather cool, as it has a Moroccan Tea Room, representing where I spent three years, and a Japanese Zen Cave, representing where she spent a number of weeks and became enamored with the language. The Moroccan room did bring back memories. Additionally, Macha has some really excellent tea..
After some awkward introvert getting-to-know-you time, we headed out for a walk, to spite the rain, driving in and through the arboretum.
There she pointed out to me that wild turkeys roam the Madison woods, occasionally gobbling up unsuspecting children..
.
.
.
.
.
This is largely because they have no respect for the rule of law, whether that be rules against the eating of humans, or traffic violations.
The walk was short, due to the rain, and we found ourselves wandering into the zoo, the last major free one in America, where I'd previously been with my dad, and had him committed. Here he is, still trying to get out:
The museum was closing shortly after we got there- for two strong Js, it was a difficult day! We were having a great time getting to know each other better, but none of the events were going as planned. We visited my aunt's place, to care for the dogs, and then I - unknowingly - suggested the movie "He's Just Not That Into You". Unknowingly because I didn't remember that she'd already seen it, and I thought for some reason it was more romantic than the title suggested. (It's basically a long argument for not trusting men and ending relationships. I think I'd been won over by the use of Facebook within dating relationships, prominently featured in the previews.)
.
At the end of the day, it was gratifying to be able to talk, and find we were both on the same page. I personally have found the way she thinks, and what she thinks, incredibly provocative and engaging. We both felt there was promise here, and yet were mystified that there was not an immediate click. But there is definitely enough promise for a future meeting, and we are considering how to do that, somewhere between Wisconsin and Iowa.
Comments