Nostrum.

Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies. Ask me a question who knows what you'll get. Are you feeling lucky? Swing away.

My plans keep shifting and days I thought were set in stone have eroded away imperceptibly under the Potomac's persistent onslaught. It starts at Great Falls, higher up and farther away actually, but in my mind it starts at the first tumble over crag's edge, bouncing rock to rock until it's swept through the budding canyon walls chugging faster and faster my way. Chain Bridge, Key Bridge, Roosevelt Bridge (of which there are many in my past), Memorial Bridge, the river is wide and fast and the current is strong. We have bridges, not dams; best we can do is make the crossing and hope for the best, only we're navigating by lampposts now that the stars have faded away in obsolescence. For better and worse it is what it is. Except for when it's something else entirely.

I met his wife finally and though she was not at all what I had expected the meeting itself was awkward and tense and exactly what I had feared. She knows, I think. Or rather suspects, because it's not at all what it seems, at least not from where I'm standing. But perception is nine-tenths of the law, and since I'm damned no matter what it's best to, I don't know, commit him to his commitments. Keep calm and carry on.

Which I'm sad to see is exactly what you've done.