Journey to Chicago, Part 5

Weather in Chicago was hot, muggy and wet. Fortunately I had made a pancho from outdoor material which worked well in sudden showers without making me too hot. I just don't associate rain with heat. Also, it was odd that when the air conditioner was on, condensation formed on the outside of the windows.

Music at the conference was outstanding. At one point I approached a flute player to find out about his flute, a "ney." It was wooden, vertical, with holes of course for the notes. In all flutes, a way must be found to separate the flow of air. In European flutes, the flute is held horizontally and the player blows across the hole. With recorders and penny whistles, etc., "fipple flutes," the mouthpiece is designed to separate the air flow, and the player simply blows into the mouthpiece. I found out that with the ney, the air flow was separated with his tongue.

While in home health nursing I became very good at finding my way around, so I was surprised that every time I drove from the Renaissance back to the Days Inn, I became confused and lost. It became a complex for me, raising my level of anxiety whenever I faced the drive. Complicating this was my partner's tendency to play off my anxiety and add to it by making unhelpful comments such as "this looks familiar," or "this doesn't look familiar."

While I realize most women would be impressed with a man who wishes to stop and ask directions, I really don't want to ask a lot of total strangers for directions, as they usually aren't very helpful. Especially since I think his real motive is that he just loves to talk to people. I became very irritable with this whole process, and had to tell myself to stop trying to control his behavior, and make agreements with him instead.