This story began on January 2nd, 2011. It was a Sunday morning. My cousin and best friend, Coty Durazzo, had just gotten back from California the night before, and we were both staying at my parents, along with one of my classmates, Seth Keymon. When I awoke, Coty was outside on his cellphone. It was his step-mother. She said she missed him and wanted him to move back to North Carolina with her and his father. That's all it took. His flight was booked for Tuesday; just like that my best friend would be uprooted and taken from me, again.
With our time together now permanently limited, we decided we must do something great, before it once again ran out. By nine o'clock PM we had accomplished nothing, and all of our nerves were on end. I had almost resigned to my bed, totally defeated and frustrated with all things. But then something inside me lifted, and a conversation started:
"If you could do anything right now, what would it be?" my cousin asked.Exasperatedly I looked at him, and then it hit me. "Duluth!" I proclaimed. Coty had never been, and according to my experience, the North Shore had never disappointed. Plus, the road always provides some sort of a cure.
So that was it--we were going to Duluth. I walked into the living room to see Seth comfortably nestled on the couch, pleasantly losing his mind to his laptop. I asked if he was coming, and seemingly sluggish he arose. I sent a text to my aunt, Skye Harrison, who lives in Duluth, to see if we could crash at her place when we arrived. We started to pack our things and bundle up (the temperature on this lovely night in Savage, MN was a bone-chilling -11° F, and it is always much colder on the Great Lake). We received the "okay" from Skye and we were on our way.
As soon as the wheels started turning on my old Buick, Coty and I instantly felt better; everything seemed to disappear. The rest of this blog is about the restoration we found on the road that night, and the realization that all things--even the ugly, uncomfortable, and unsettling--come together in the end to create something that doesn't often compute with our human understanding, especially in the midst of our present circumstances--the realization that true beauty exists everywhere, and the ability to find it regardless of whether we want to find it or not, is a gift worth chasing after. This is our North Shore Adventure.
...we arrived in Duluth at about 1:30 AM; anyone who has taken the journey there should know about the point in which you come around the bend on 35 North, and there in front of you is a view (that snapshot doesn't do it justice) of the whole city, in all its wonderful splendor...just as we came around that bend, the chorus to Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" blared over the sound system, and it was too good to be true. We drove through downtown, then down to Canal Park. I parked the car in Grandma's parking lot, and we walked to the shore. Every single rock and boulder was covered with at least two inches of ice. It was cold and absolutely beautiful. We stood there for a few minutes and took it in. Seth and I peed on the rocks. We shivered. We walked back to the car and drove to Skye's. I was supposed to work in the morning, back in Bloomington at nine o'clock AM, so we were just going to sleep for a few hours, catch the sunrise over the lake, and then drive back to make it in time. We went to sleep about 2:30 AM, and set our alarms for 4:45 AM...4:45 came and none of us were ready for it. We fell back asleep and didn't wake again until 11 AM, leaving no chance for me to make it back for work. Luckily I was able to get off (I am working for my Grandfather, so I texted him as we left for Duluth, and he got back to me at 8 AM that morning...close one!) so we could enjoy our day in the city. Skye drove us into town so we could catch some of it in the daylight (something neither Seth or Coty had ever done). We went to the Electric Fetus and I found a couple sweet 7" singles for only a few bucks each (click the images to learn more):
We went to lunch and then Skye took us down to this area of the lake I have never been and we walked around on the ice and snapped a couple of photos:
After that, we headed back to Skye's apartment, packed up our things, and started our journey back to the Twin Cities. Our trip was short, but it was just enough to realign all of us, something that remedied our self-loathing and restored our understanding of what life is actually all about: chasing after the beautiful.
Coty's road haikus:
(click to enlarge)
"Everything has washed away--I'm perfectly normal again...I'm sitting smiling in the sun, the birds sing again, all's well again. I still can't understand it...Something good will come out of all things yet--And it will be golden and eternal just like that--There's no need to say another word."
-Jack Kerouac, Big Sur
