We followed the heat radiating off of Manhattan. We just arrived – funneled onto the streets where 9 million words jolted through us, one for every New York soul! We fancied ourselves coffee in front of a big window, and found just that on 29th and 7th. Nameless America passes right by, a fashion show, a guessing game, a zoo.

This journey has reached its denouement. This point in eternity will be chiseled into the alabaster stone of my soul! What it is to be young.

Last night we made a dozen fleeting friends on a porch in West Philadelphia. We drank in the night and made a cacophony with a ukulele, a digeridoo, a giant drum, a piano, a trombone, a trumpet, and the roaring laughter of midnight vulgarity. For childish reasons, I hopped on a bike and joined an excursion to the liquor store. The breeze was intoxicating.

Today we took the Megabus from Philly to NYC and here I am, in love with every waking moment. No expectations, just freedom. I have this moment, which has already passed, and only vague dreams of tonights and tomorrows. All I knew last week was that I would drive north through the mountains. I didn’t have any particular destination in mind – all I had was the knowledge that the fates would greet me in every town.

The Butterfly Effect – a sensitive dependence on initial conditions. It started with a peculiar travel suggestion and a complete stranger from 2,000 miles away and it’s evolved into the total satiation of my wanderlust beneath the majesty of the New York skyline.