Changing States of Matter: "'In the 'it's all about me' phase of my life"

Good things come to those who wait, someone once said, but waiting is the hardest part, as someone else said. This combination of adages describes my three-year-long saga to see They Might Be Giants, which finally concluded after the band added more dates and locations to their profusely postponed tour (top left). TMBG performed Flood in fine form at a small venue in Columbus; it wasn't exactly the 9:30 Club, but it was right on time (top right). The concert was just one event in a series of self-indulgences that helped me through seasonal depression in non-sunny Ohio. In a much bigger venue, the Palace Theatre, I spent an evening with Cary Elwes, star of the The Princess Bride, a comic masterpiece that still stands up (bottom left). I did a little humor myself, not stand-up but improv classes with Hashtag Comedy, which culminated in a graduation show at Woodlands Tavern, where we warmed up as a class backstage (bottom right).

The truth is, I have been taking informal improv courses since I was a student at Ohio University, where I met a wonderfully witty group of women who always keep me on my toes (top left), even when we are talking about hand stuff (top right). That's an inside joke from a reunion trip to Hocking Hills, where we mostly cracked one another up around the fireplace of our cabin (middle left). But we did make an outing to our alma mater. After a snowy stroll through College Green (middle right), we hit the Uptown highlights: shopping at College Bookstore (bottom left), lunch at Bagel Street Deli (bottom right), and day drinks at Tony's Tavern.

A couple of weekends later, we made an off-campus trip to hang out with another group of OU friends, this time in Dublin. Again, we mostly just shared laughs in the living room of our gracious host, but we did brave the winds to visit Bridge Park, a newish multi-use development on the east bank of the Scioto River. A pedestrian bridge called the Dublin Link (top left) provides a path to the older part of the city (top right), where we hiked to Indian Run Falls (bottom) before grabbing some beers back on the other side of the bridge, under the watch of a buffalo at The Roosevelt Room.

I am lucky to have a full collection of fresh air friends who are willing to stroll then swill. I met up with Sean at Wooster Memorial Park, where we did a loop that included lots of downed trees after recent heavy rains and winds (top). Luckily, the waters had receded as we had to cross Rathburn Run multiple times (bottom left) to ascend and descend then ascend again through the forests that had withstood the weather (bottom right). Afterward, we stormed JAFB Wooster Brewery for some refreshment -- and some amusement from the adjacent table, which was having an indictment party, complete with a cake decorated with the scales of justice.

A newish addition to the trail team is Bowie. Although he has led us on some longish walks, our first full hike was on the A.W. Marion State Park Loop Trail (top left). I really had to hustle with my hiking stick to keep up with him (top right). We could have used his go-forth attitude when we visited Bison Hollow Preserve. It took us quite a while to figure out how to get from the top of its slot falls (middle left) to the bottom (middle right) and into its sandstone gorge (bottom left). The hollow, which is pending dedication as a full-fledged state nature preserve, got its name from being the reported location of the last native Ohio bison. To be honest, the fact that bison were native to Ohio was a discovery to me, as was a light waterfall we found in a side gully (bottom right). In the spirit of self-indulgence, I declared the cataract as my claim, calling it Kim's Trickle.