#32 / 2004 Tour 3: Georgia

GETTING OUT OF A JAM IN GEORGIA

#32

After the LEAF festival we headed south towards Georgia to visit an old friend.  Dana is an educator, a photographer, and what I would consider a philosopher as well. She has finally gone home to Covington after many years living in New Orleans. She introduced me to the Big Easy back in the early 80s. Later on she married and ran a biker camp right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I haven’t seen Dana that much in the last few years, but when we get together it’s always as if time has stood still. I never realized what an impact she had on me until we caught up awhile back after many years apart.

      
We met at one of those 80s self-awareness groups. She was the first person I ever met from New Orleans. The most outstanding thing about Dana is her continuous search for spiritual and emotional growth. She never lets up.

Being with Dana has always been like trying to ride a whirlwind – always so much action going on. Right now she is carrying a full school load and has four photography exhibits going on simultaneously. She is active with a group of artists that support each other with goal setting and follow-ups. Today Dana lives in the home she inherited from her parents surrounded by acres and acres of beautiful trees, bushes, and flowers.

       
It was years after I met Joe before Dana and I got together again. Joe and I drove out to the biker camp for a visit. When I saw her out in the fields shouting out directions and herding bikers from all over the world around her property that I realized how much I had become like her. I can really see my own personal growth when I spend time with her. And I am proud of myself when I can stand along beside her and begin to feel like we are on more equal ground.

       
So…it was a humiliating and terrifying experience when I crashed her computer. It held all her photography, her schoolwork, her book. I couldn’t believe it. I was sending out some bulk email, apparently too large a file and I disabled every application on her desktop.

       
Here I was confronted by everything I was trying to leave behind – electronics and all their complications. I don’t have a phone any more, no responsibility for a house, or bills. And all of a sudden I am burdened with this complex problem that may cost me my entire travel budget if I have to replace her equipment. After eight continuous hours on the phone the first night I broke down in tears. “Dana, I need your strength right now, because this is almost more than I can bear. This has ruined my visit. It’s exactly what I am trying to get away from.”

       
And of course Dana in all her wisdom says, “You can’t ever run away.” And she never got angry about the computer or made me feel incompetent. All she ever said was, “I just need to get my computer back to where I can use it.”

       
The next morning I was so full of dread. I had nightmares all night and spent the whole morning trying to figure out how to get out of the situation. I finally came to the conclusion that if I couldn’t solve the problem I was going to leave $200 on the kitchen table, leave a note, and run before she got home from work. I know that sounds awful, but I just had to develop some sort of escape, I was beside myself. I felt so incompetent, I was miserable.

       
But like most problems, it was a lot easier to solve when I had an exit strategy and started throwing money at around. After paying Microsoft, ultimately, the problem appeared to be that I simply blew out all the shortcuts on the desktop. All programs were accessible from the hard drive. I did convince Dana she needs to get her computer run through a few diagnostics at the computer store. I even left her a hundred dollars towards the effort. On the way to Plains, Georgia, the next day Joe handed me back the hundred dollar bill. Dana had given it back.

       
So again I have learned even more valuable lessons from Dana about friendship, determination, and love.