I just got back from Chicago, right in time for a blizzard whose “stats” beat the still-legendary blizzard of ’78, which brought Rhode Island to a halt for weeks. For once, the hysterical tone of the news before the storm actually UNDER-sold what was coming our way. We had whiteout conditions all day today, and I shoveled a bit, but the near-hurricane force winds made it a useless task. My car is behind a mountain of snow right now. I did lose power and WiFi, but I was prepared with bottled water and candles and all the other things. I did my grocery shopping and come on I survived Irene and Sandy and the Case of the Empty Shelves. It wasn’t that bad. The side of my house facing the South-east is completely covered in snow. I could step out my window and ski down the side. The winds have whipped up these massive mountains.
Meanwhile though … I was just in Chicago for a week, staying with Mitchell and Christopher. It was weirdly warm in Chicago. 60 degrees one day! It was almost ominous. All we did was watch the Winter Olympics. Let’s hear it for the US women’s hockey team! True champions. Let’s hear it for Alysa Liu’s lightness and effervescence on the ice. And the wonderful figure skater from Georgia (the country) who won the gold in one of the events, maybe the free skate, I can’t remember which one. He was superb. We watched whatever event was on. Women’s mono-Bobsledding. Snowboarding. Skiing. We got involved emotionally with the personal journeys of the athletes. Coming back from injuries, or whatever: we were deeply invested. And also we watched Daisy Kenyon one night. It was the most relaxing week ever. Well, it’s not all we did. I went to a reading of a new script one night and we also went to go watch Ru Paul’s Drag Race at a gay strip club I used to live near when I first moved to Chicago – my old neighborhood! (We used to go to it all the time when I lived in Chicago decades ago – it was a good place to meet up and have a drink before raging out into the city to wreak havoc) – and it has not changed at all – which I LOVE. I’m not against change, but I walked in and it felt like no time had passed at all and there’s something comforting in that. It’s a cozy little strip joint. (With Ru Paul on the telly).
My point is, Mitchell was wearing shorts that night. In Chicago. In February. Shorts. It just wasn’t RIGHT. We took a long walk one day and I was sweating in my winter clothes. I did not pack properly at all. I flew home on Friday, and stepped off the plane into the 35-degree weather. That’s more like it.
Right after I left, on Friday – three days ago – Mitchell and Christopher got on a plane to … Puerto Vallarta. On Sunday, they were at a rooftop bar and posted pictures of the plumes of black smoke rising in the city. We didn’t understand immediately the seriousness, but it quickly became apparent. And from then on, it’s been chaos. They aren’t staying in a resort, so there hasn’t been any food, and some of the women who work there have been cooking rice and beans for everyone. People are helping each other. As we do. Websites were crashing, and the WiFi was not good, so I was doing research on my end (in just 8 hours I would lose my WiFi). Alex and I were texting as all of this was happening, and I said, “I am on hold with the State Department right now.” Which I was. Alex said, I shit you not, “So is Chrisanne.” We were DYING. No wonder why neither of us could get through. Alex was like, “Of COURSE you two are calling the State Department at the same time. OF COURSE YOU ARE.” Listen, you’re supposed to be able to register with the State Department when you travel, so at least the consulate or whoever knows you’re there, and the website was crashing, because everyone was clearly trying to do it at the same time (and there were those on Reddit – vacationing in Puerto Vallarta – who had successfully filled out the form on the State Department website, so there was hope.. Mitchell tried for hours). So whatever, I called the State Department and I didn’t get anywhere. Chrisanne actually got through and she was told to download some app that was supposed to help in some mysterious way. As gas stations exploded below. Unbelievable. Thanks so much for your help.
I saw some congressman saying on television, “8 people in my district are in Puerto Vallarta so I am closely monitoring the situation …” This gave me the idea to message Mitchell and Christopher’s rep (whom Mitchell actually knows, due to years of collaboration with the Chicago Parks Department because of Mitchell’s involvement in the Midnight Circus, which he works every year.) It’s not that these people can DO anything but you want someone to know you are there.
A New York Times reporter reached out to Mitchell based on his social media posts and – to add to the surreal nature of all this – he was interviewed yesterday. It looks like maybe the flights will be back up and running by the time they want to leave but how to GET to the airport is the current question.
Tomorrow I’ll begin digging myself out of the mountain heaped up around my house. Sadly, and coincidentally, I bought a pull-out couch so I can have people over – finally – and it’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow which I seriously doubt is going to happen. We had to shovel out a narrow canyon from our steps to the driveway. Plus nothing is plowed. There’s not a snow plow in sight. The conditions were too hair-raising today for the plows. God forbid someone has a heart attack today or experienced some health crisis. So we’ll see about the sofa. The number of people who’ve lost power has broken records. Trees are falling from the weight of the snow. One fell into an electrical box and set the pine tree on fire: witnessed by my brother and his wife, who still don’t have power. Frankie is quite confused why he can’t see out of any of “his” windows. He sits there staring at the wall of white, occasionally glancing at me like, “…… wtf.”
Sending out love to everyone in Puerto Vallarta, my friends, and the locals, and also the brave hotel staff who have basically taken on the role of the Red Cross, and the ladies who took it upon themselves to cook up a small meal with what they had on hand to feed the people staying there. Everyone’s making friends with each other. Down here on the ground, people take care of each other. There’s nobody else but us. Like my neighbor with his small snow plow: he comes over and plows our driveway in the middle of the night, without being asked, saving us HOURS of time. Hoping for the best for all. .
