Alone in the condo the next day, I sat staring out the window looking over the city fifteen stories below, the phone between my hands. Debating to call Joe to check up on him, or to just head out to the city here for some walking around and exploring. I wasn't sure it was polite to call anybody long distance, so I settled the phone back down in the holder and headed for the shower.
As I got into a taxi about an hour later, with no destination in mind, I just said "take me to someplace interesting that I can walk around and check stuff out." The cab driver had laughed, mentioned a few places I'd never heard of, and I ended up here: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/crc/pages/-5925-/
That park is great. Historical and entertaining, there's always something going on there and the people of that area are just so friendly. They've got fantastic sections of the park for kids and teenagers, and there were so many sounds of play, laughing and excitement to hear. They've also got this walkway made of bricks with people's names etched upon them.
If you go to that park one day, you can look for the brick that has my name upon it that my client had made for me that year, using my nickname: Capri Lavender Blue. I'd nicknamed him Chili, after he bought me some the year we met, when I by chance ended up in Ohio for Hands Across America.
Hours later, as the elevator drifted me up to the fifteenth floor, I noticed the light for the sixth and ninth floors didn't light up, and it made me laugh. Sometimes I think I'm just living this life looking for the punchlines or any small bits of humor, even if just naughty potty humor. I'm easily amused.
My Ohio friend had a great sense of humor. As I walked back into his place, searching for him room by room, I found him laying naked on his bed with a wide smile upon his face, eating an orange and watching the news. "Where have you been?" he asked.
"I went to that huge park by the river, that place is great!" I exclaimed and got onto the bed with him. He handed me a piece of his orange and I sucked it into my mouth and we both eyed each other mischieviously.