I finally got to meet some of the other tenants–from the other building– yesterday evening.  It turns out they all know each other, like an actual community, and they decided to host a little family-friendly block party in a corner of the parking lot, with BBQ, music, all kinds of homemade food, and drinks.

Interestingly, though both buildings got invitations, I was almost the only one there from mine.  Representing, I guess.  A totally different vibe from my building.  Also, as it happens, I was one of like two white people there, and the other guy was tight with all of them.

There were big cigar-like joints being passed.  I still can’t get over that it’s legal!  Once they realized I was into it, they even gave me some weed to take home!  There was a whole bin full of homemade “punch” made by dumping bottles of every kind of booze in it, renamed “Rikers Island Iced Tea”.  Between the punch and the smokes, I was feeling very at ease!

Everyone was very nice.  The people I talked to were also transplants from other states–finally, other people not born and bred in MO!  There was a tiny dog there, a pug, usually not my favorite breed, but hey, an animal!  He and I got to be on very friendly terms, once I kept feeding him some of the delicious food, which just kept appearing in big aluminum pans.  A couple of guys presided over the grills.  A card game got started.

Several people hosted and provided all the food.  It was hot and humid out, so I got my big oscillating fan and they rigged it up.  I just sat and got stoned and enjoyed the whole euphoric vibe for a couple of hours.  It was interesting, being the minority there, but no one made me feel unincluded.  I made sure it was OK before I took these few photos.

Eventually I wandered “home” and had a good sleep!  No after-effects.  It was a completely different kind of “wonderland” from the Museum, but the same exact euphoria of reaching out of my usual boundaries and experiencing another dimension of reality and community.