Lian and the UW Bells
Yesterday, I was going to meet my friend Lian from high school at Pies and Pints at 5:30. She's visiting from London, where she works in the foreign service. I haven't seen her in 20 years. She's coming through Seattle just for one night on a vacation up the West Coast. She is a certified tower bell ringer, one of very few, so she visits bell towers when she can to ring the bells. The are only 4 bell towers on the entire West Coast. She said I could come inside. I was so excited.
I leave my house at 4:30. By 5:00, it was clear that there was no way I'd get to her on time. She had to be at the bell tower by 7:00. I call her, embarrased and apologetic and furious at the I90 traffic, which had managed to reached never before seen levels of insanity.
By 5:30, I was still on Mercer Island. There was a bad accident, and they shut down the bridge. I was enraged. So out of this rage came my hair brained idea to text Nick Edwards, and see if A, by chance he was near the theater and B, was interested and willing to go have a beer with a complete stranger on my behalf, so Lian would at least not be sitting there alone.
He was, and he did. Amazing.
They met up and had drinks. I didn't get across the bridge for 2 1/2 hours, and headed straight for the bell tower in Red Square. I could hear the bells, but couldn't get in the building. I call Lian, but obviously, she's busy ringing bells. A woman approches me and I jump up all exited, thinking Lian sent someone to let me in. She says, "Would you mind if I discussed our Lady the Lord with you". Sigh. I leave, dejected, and head to rehearsal, knowing I missed seeing her, the bells, everything.
After rehearsal, I get a text from here. She and the other bell ringers are out having drinks, and do I want to meet up? I say yes! By the time I got the text they had been there a while, so she responded that they were heading back to the tower to ring more. I ask if Nick and I can come. She says YES. Hooray!
We drive down there and boogie to the tower, sitting in the deserted Red Square at midnight. I call her and leave a msg that we are there. After a minute, we see a figure walking toward us. It's not Lian. I fear another theology drive-by. But no - it's a decidedly British woman coming to collect us and let us in. Success.
The next hour was spent climbing up the guts of the tower, learning the history of the bells, the art, the ringers, etc. So fascinating. We even got to see three of them practice a quarter peal with handbells - non stop bell ringing coordinated in complex patterns for 45 minutes.
Lian, Nick and I then had drinks at the Big Time, learning about each other as adults, each fascinated by the other's lives. Awesome.
Despite terribly rocky beginnings, the night ended chimingly.
I leave my house at 4:30. By 5:00, it was clear that there was no way I'd get to her on time. She had to be at the bell tower by 7:00. I call her, embarrased and apologetic and furious at the I90 traffic, which had managed to reached never before seen levels of insanity.
By 5:30, I was still on Mercer Island. There was a bad accident, and they shut down the bridge. I was enraged. So out of this rage came my hair brained idea to text Nick Edwards, and see if A, by chance he was near the theater and B, was interested and willing to go have a beer with a complete stranger on my behalf, so Lian would at least not be sitting there alone.
He was, and he did. Amazing.
They met up and had drinks. I didn't get across the bridge for 2 1/2 hours, and headed straight for the bell tower in Red Square. I could hear the bells, but couldn't get in the building. I call Lian, but obviously, she's busy ringing bells. A woman approches me and I jump up all exited, thinking Lian sent someone to let me in. She says, "Would you mind if I discussed our Lady the Lord with you". Sigh. I leave, dejected, and head to rehearsal, knowing I missed seeing her, the bells, everything.
After rehearsal, I get a text from here. She and the other bell ringers are out having drinks, and do I want to meet up? I say yes! By the time I got the text they had been there a while, so she responded that they were heading back to the tower to ring more. I ask if Nick and I can come. She says YES. Hooray!
We drive down there and boogie to the tower, sitting in the deserted Red Square at midnight. I call her and leave a msg that we are there. After a minute, we see a figure walking toward us. It's not Lian. I fear another theology drive-by. But no - it's a decidedly British woman coming to collect us and let us in. Success.
The next hour was spent climbing up the guts of the tower, learning the history of the bells, the art, the ringers, etc. So fascinating. We even got to see three of them practice a quarter peal with handbells - non stop bell ringing coordinated in complex patterns for 45 minutes.
Lian, Nick and I then had drinks at the Big Time, learning about each other as adults, each fascinated by the other's lives. Awesome.
Despite terribly rocky beginnings, the night ended chimingly.