So The Cops, who I have a well-documented obsession with, are playing a three-night farewell stand at the Sunset Tavern. The “Rock And Roll Circus” began last night, which, as Seattlites know, was also the first night of Snowpocalypse 2008. Ice and snow blanketed most Seattle streets, but the Sunset Tavern website assured me the show was still on, so my husband and I bundled up and trudged resolutely off to the bus stop.
The bus stop in question is a couple of blocks downhill from our house in Queen Anne. A couple of cold, icy, slippery blocks. As I picked my way down our street, I realized that I was confident neither that I would make it to the bus stop safely, nor that I would be able to climb the hills to return home. But that didn’t matter. This was The Cops, and I was going.
It took about ten minutes to make it to the bus stop, as opposed my normal rate of exactly three. Metro transit assured us that the #17 was both running and following its regular route through this part of town. The sign at the bus stop indicated that the bus should arrive any minute, but as the 17 is notoriously late even in perfect weather, we weren’t alarmed when ten busless minutes went by. Eleven. Twelve. At fifteen, we decided to wait another fifteen minutes, maximum, before giving in and returning home.
By the twenty-eighth minute of waiting, my toes were actively in pain. I was wearing tights, thick socks, and combat boots, but it apparently wasn’t enough. I could feel at least eight of my ten fingers, but a couple I wasn’t too sure about. And the bus was still nowhere in sight. Still, I’m a stubborn one, and I was bound and determined to wait the full thirty minutes we’d allotted.
And in the thirty-first minute, we went home.
I was bummed. Even though there are two more nights of the Rock And Roll Circus, I really really wanted to attend all three. Clearly, I was even ready to risk breaking a limb or two following the icy path to my musical destination. Frostbite, however? That was a little too far. I guess it’s good to know one’s limits.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bus to go wait for again….