valentine’s night 

was wonderful

downtown

beautiful view

of the

frozen river

shared border

between

two countries

with

cityscapes

old and new

snow falling

no worries

about driving

bitter cold

warm company

a new dress

romantic

took a cab

to a

lovely dinner

in a beautiful

historic house

glowing with warmth

and

hints of

delicious food

and then

the play

one of my favorites

sweet

musical

love story

calm

and after

ready for

the trip back

into

the

comforting embrace

of

 our warm hotel

but

the cabs

were hiding

in

places unknown

staying warm inside

remote garages

and

mg rescued

a woman’s lost glove

part of a another

happy couple

and

in return

we met them

 they were

in the same

transportation predicament

waiting for their car

and she said

‘don’t worry.

you have a ride with us.’

and

we uber-ed

with the

random strangers

 when

the driver

finally arrived

we immediately

headed

in the wrong direction

turn signal on

lost

confused

friendly

new driver

mario 

second day on the job

in over his head

from brazil

no sense of direction

worse than mine

didn’t know the city at all

using his boss’s car

so much laughter

and we had

a crazy ride 

and saw

our hotel

in the

opposite direction

drove through the city

more laughter

 one of our hipster

fellow passengers 

and tried to

take on the role

of navigator

she had begun

celebrating early

and was

 much loved by her partner

who accepted

her funny side

and her state of

altered reality

that was clear

and we all

told mario

‘look for the biggest building in the city. 

the one you see in all the pictures.

head towards the river.

you can’t miss it.’

but 

somehow

he did

miss it

and 

even more

laughter

and

survival bonding

and i

offered her

my rose

as a thank you

for the ride

as they finally

dropped us

and headed off

for places unknown

their own destination

even farther away

and it was

 like being part of

a performance art skit 

and

so glad

we held on

 embraced the adventure

 for the ride of our lives

the perfect ending

to a magical night.

—-

be willing to step outside your comfort zone once in a while; take the risks in life that seem worth taking. the ride might not be as predictable if you’d just planted your feet and stayed put, but it will be a heck of a lot more interesting.  
– edward whitacre, jr.