In Company In Seattle

May 13, 1pm
Day 2:  Seattle, Washington

I was running on adrenaline when Kevin and I sat down in a corner coffee shop in Seattle.  I couldn't have told you the last time I had gotten a full night's sleep.  Despite this, settling there with Kevin was a beautiful new vibration in which to dwell.
After a short caffeine break, during which he told me the story of how his version of "Streets" had been born, we found our way to the hotel that Heather had reserved for us and got me checked in early.  I reluctantly left Kevin's company to get a much needed bath and take a moment to ground.

After a bath, a meditation, and some clicking through the latest U2-buzzing on social media, I descended the urban hill to meet Kevin for a bite before evening check in at the GA line at Century Link.  I could see and feel my energy getting a little, em, EDGY, like an addict chasing her next fix.  Kevin and his lovely girlfriend Olivia joined me for a quick, anxious bite down the road from the check in line.  I had passed by the fan-designated official unofficial check in spot briefly on the way to our dinner spot, and there I spoke briefly with Joy, and met Trish in person for the first time.  Trish was the Canadian U2er who had a beautiful distinctive retro style, and had been a stage crasher (as Bono was most recently heard to call the fans that got onstage throughout the last tour, though I'm not sure how one earns the designation of stage crasher after one has been expressly invited to the stage, and even in some cases flown in internationally on the band's dime for the express purpose of doing so, but that's another conversation)  more than once during the I/e tour.

As I had run off to meet Kevin for food, Joy gently admonished me to be back in time for 7pm check in, and I promised we would be there.

Kevin and Olivia and I were present and accounted for at the check in line at 7pm.  Kevin and I dutifully got ourselves checked off as I received a text from Heather telling me she was on her way.  This was good.  This might all just work out, I realized then.  Kevin and his girlfriend left the mad scene, and Kevin promised to meet me back at that very spot at 7am.
   I turned my focus to a relaxed presence in the GA check in scene, attempting to be relatively discreet as I awaited Heather's arrival by Uber.  The familiar faces on the scene looked warm and welcoming to me.  I saw fans with whom I had interacted in Vancouver, like Susan, whom I had met at The Pint on Thursday night,  and the handsome guy that could have been very bad for me at the Vancouver Hostel ("hey you were at the hostel in Vancouver" he said to me when he saw me in the Seattle check in line, and this was an improvement from my previous interactions with him wherein he begrudged me a chair where he had been resting his feet at The Pint and otherwise ignored me.  Yes, this is what I'm attracted to.  At least I realize the problem now, I tell myself).  Otherwise, there was Woody, Trish, Joy, Margaret, Bridget, and multitudes more... the tribe was in congregation and full of nervous exitement. I met Ken and found out where the fan gathering would be that night:  in a pub called The Owl and Thistle.

Heather made it from the airport then and got her number marked on her hand.  We headed over to the bar, enjoying a magical walk through Seattle streets, where a music festival was happening around us.  The rain dripped off and on and we stopped to take pictures of the sculptures and art along the pedestrian walkway.  It was very clear to me why Kevin liked living here so much.

We headed over to the bar to meet our U2 tribe.  And it did feel like a soul family reunion.  Finally I got to meet Astrid, my on-line friend from Austria.  We had been messaging each other for the past two weeks after connecting due to both looking for last minute tickets for Vancouver.  I had a clear bag for her to use for tomorrow night's show and she paid me back for it.   We talked for awhile and then I rejoined Ken and Brian and Heather for a little while longer, trading Bono stories, and just enjoying each other's company.  By about 9pm, Heather and I decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep before the long day we had planned for tomorrow.