East coast freewrite!

What’s up, Hive? I’ve been saying for a while now that I was going to do a freewrite and this is it. It’ll be very condensed for the dramatic changes I’ve been going through. For tonight, I’ll just be focusing on the recent trip I’m currently on, from Minnesota to Pennsylvania. Originally, I’d planned to travel with Hive account@guthrie to see the eclipse in the path of totality with Hive account@roadscape and Hive account@lovejoy, but after news of my Opa falling and breaking his hip, my mom, Hive account@bonni, warned me that if we wanted to see him we should make plans to do so soon. With that, I adjusted and found that we’d also have an opportunity for a total eclipse in Ohio on our way to see my grandfather on the east coast.

The timing worked out and I made Hive account@guthrie’s school aware of the unfortunate situation with my grandfather. It was tricky to estimate when to leave Minnesota to be in the vicinity of the path of totality within a few hours. I didn’t want to be there too late, or too early. Also, with a Tesla, it’s difficult to negotiate stopping to charge and this would be my first time driving to the east coast by myself. The Model 3 is significantly smaller than the Model Y. Quite a few factors to consider but we got on the road around 10:30p.m. and thus began our journey to Pennsylvania in bro company.

Hive account@guthrie is almost thirteen now and his sense of humor is awesome. Completely in line with my own. He also has developed great taste in music with also made this trip enjoyable. He’s been dying for a road trip after we missed our opportunity to make it to D.C. in December for a protest because of a blizzard. We passed through Wisconsin and Chicago with relative ease. We stopped at the Ohio rest stop and I saw a woman wearing a keffiyeh […a Palestinian scarf that’s become emblematic of the resistance and seen at protests all over the world]. She immediately got excited and we become fast friends.

Her name was Anne. I gave her a few zines I’d done with Palestinian friends in Minneapolis. We took a selfie together and we our separate ways. I would later friend out that she went on to D.C. where she serendipitously met my friend Sabry, a community leader within the Palestinian community in Minneapolis. She was telling him about how she met a photography from the Twin Cities, and he said, “Wait! Do you have a picture of him?!”. Small world. Hive account@guthrie and I arrived in Toledo, Ohio and found a remote park where we watched the totality eclipse; a sight that I’ve been eager to witness since Hive account@tarotbyfergus told me about his experience in 2017.

Once we got to Pennsylvania, Hive account@guthrie pretty much feel into the relaxation of visiting his grandparents. Snacks, desserts and comforts. I’ve been visiting friends like Hive account@joshbalz. I’ve been spending time at a cute coffee shop in Wilkes-Barre called Abide, allocating some of my leisure for illustration and exploring new AI platforms like Haiper.ai and Udio. I’ve been getting sushi at my favorite spot here and coming back to Istanbul Grill for the best chai I’ve ever had. I decided tonight that we’ll be extending our trip by one more day so I’m looking forward to lunch with Hive account@bonni tomorrow and trying to savor our remaining time here.