Ever been on an adventure?

Before Aunt Ester guided Citizen to the City of Bones, far beneath the sea, she inquired of him if he had ever been on an adventure. Something about the way she said the word adventure gave me goose bumps and my mind began racing, conjuring up thoughts of what adventures lay ahead for me. I can hear her saying the word now, adventure. Isn't life itself an adventure, or at the very least full of them?

Citizen found himself on an adventure that led him to the City of Bones, where the voices, imagery and power of his ancestors washed him anew. I’ve been on adventures before and I eagerly await the one that is just days ahead of me. Countless times I have visited the City but there is something in my bones that shakes and stirs with a new feeling. Some new spirit surrounds me and the upcoming trek to the city I almost want to call home. I don’t feel like this trip to the City will be like any other that I’ve had before.

Ever since the completion of my magic trick last month I have grown more and more excited about visiting NYC this weekend. Perhaps it is because I so fondly recall the last time I had the occasion to be in NYC on the last weekend in June and all the fun I had. I met new people, got reacquainted with old friends and danced the nights away. I recall standing in a line that was way too long and entertaining myself and others around me with observational humor in the rain. Finally I made it inside the Warehouse. Once I entered and my right foot touched the last step leading to the second floor I heard the intro of the official song of the summer, Crazy in Love. I grabbed AQueer by the wrist and pulled him on stage with me to rock it and sock it for a good hour of uninterrupted dancing. Lost in the rhythm and beats we found ourselves in the company of hot sweaty Black and Latino men who just like us were out to have a good time. No worries.

There is nothing quite as delightful and at the same time intriguing as the parade that New York has on the last Sunday of June that ends on Christopher Street and for Black people, the pier. Macy’s has nothing on this. That parade doesn't make me think. The first time I saw the parade I was as enchanted as a child during his or her first truly cognizant Christmas. There were thousands of people from every background that you could possibly imagine and more. All of them were happy people. All of them were celebrating. All of them shared one spirit of excitement and a unity.

I can’t help but to laugh out loud when I think about what lays before me this weekend. Indeed, I am ready for an adventure. I am ready to have new experiences. I am ready to face some people and some truths. I am ready to see the positive future and just as ready to feel the slight hurt and shun from parts of the past and present. Every day isn’t bright that’s why I can appreciate the sun.

Moreover next week I’m on vacation and haven’t decided which US or foreign city I’m going to rest my head in for five or six days. I have the pleasure to wake up and choose a coast or a continent to be on. Like Citizen I’m at a point in my life where I am searching for something, or at least I think I may like most people, need to have something reaffirmed in my life, in my spirit. Maybe that’s why I am so eager for the weekend and the time I’ll have next week. It may not be because of the fun I think I am going to have. It may be because of the time I need to piece it all together. If I will battle a demon, be embraced by a precious spirit, or be washed anew in the coming week is all a mystery.

Nevertheless, Aunt Ester, Uncle Andre and Sister Ruth Ellis... I am ready for an adventure.