Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
You wouldn't think it would be too difficult to find a little coffeehouse in a town that only had a coffeehouse and a movie theater.
But it became an Odyssean task.
A friend of mine, Mick Choder, was performing at the Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville, and he had offered me free admission. I got ready well ahead of time, looked the directions up on Mapquest, but made the tragic error of not confirming them with a map.
Naturally, I got lost.
I called the coffeehouse. When they asked me where I was, I wasn't very helpful. "Some stupid little windy road." I mentioned the last big intersection I'd crossed, Phoenixville Pike. The woman gave me a set of directions that got me more lost.
This time I asked directions from a convenience store, and he said, "Oh, you just go straight up 29." This was what I'd been told at the first convenience store where I'd asked. (Unlike many men, I'm not afraid to ask for directions; I just have bad luck with the quality of directions I receive.)
During my backtracking, I noticed this time that Phoenixville Pike was Route 29, and that you didn't go "straight" up 29 but, in fact, made a 90-degree angle turn. So following 29, I found the bustling metropolis of Phoenixville. The coffee shop was completely obvious once I got downtown: colorful and lit up, surrounded by dark storefronts. It was if it was mocking me: "See how easy I am to spot? What took you so long?"
I got there just as the opening act was finishing, and out of a sense of guilt, signed her mailing list. She thanked me and introduced herself. I hid behind my giant mug of cafe mocha and said, "It smells like vanilla in here."
When I told Mick about my travails, he said his family had just arrived, too. I found out they also got their directions from Mapquest. When, oh, when will we learn?
But soon, sitting back with my mocha, I felt better. Mick took the stage; he was in rare form that night, performing some of my favorites of his songs, such as "Send a Message" and "Fly to Me" (both on his album, "OK, So Now What?" which you can buy at CD Baby; and he's not paying me to mention this, either).
He even covered "In My Life" by the Beatles. We got into a discussion afterwards about whether it had been primarily written by John Lennon or Paul McCartney. I argued for Lennon, because it had that poetic/spiritual feel to it.
As always, he played a lot of songs that fit right in with my thoughts: songs about reflection and taking the good with the bad, and rising above life's problems. I've been particularly reflective since launching on a project to help someone construct a more complete history of the Penn State Monty Python Society. So his songs fit with my own internal soundtrack of the moment.
The packed coffeehouse applauded vigorously for him. It definitely made up for being late.
Moral:
Odysseys
are best when there's something worthwhile at the end.
Copyright 2003 by Alyce Wilson
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