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Summer of Athena (part 2)3/21/2023 From part 1: "Athena was a Scorpio in every sense of the word: determined, loyal, honest, jealous, and resentful (and I suspect brave to a degree, ambitious and secretive as well). About two months after we met she went to work at a Lodge north of Barrie for the summer. I stayed behind in Chesley until one of their dishwashers had to leave for a family emergency and they offered me the position for July and August. "
Athena was a Scorpio and I was most definitely an Aries. My first feelings of anxiety and depression started around age 13 (1984) for me, manifesting first as back issues stemming from poor posturing and exaggerated by the bullying I endured in grade 7-8 (1983/84) and through high school (1985-1989). I had a fiery temper, one day I was in a good mood but then something set me off and I was not a nice person to be around. Aries are: fiery, passionate, high energy, domineering, determined, confident, initiators and courageous. I definitely had the fire, energy, control issues and determination. By age 18, as part of a coping mechanism for a couple years, I started to take on a very rigid and emotionless façade. It was probably the worst time to start a relationship, especially with someone who was emotionally and jealous of everyone around me. A note for later, after my divorce it's almost like a switch flipped for me, I went from being a true-Aries to a more like a Pisces (Compassionate, artistic, deeply emotional, especially empathic, at least a little bit psychic, and often inclined to throw themselves into caring for others at all costs). I think it has to do with being born so close to the cusp. I definitely exhibited more of the Pisces traits after. I had psychic traits from my mid-teens, but the emotions really seemed to put out my Aries fires faster in my mid-30s. The Performance I remember one time we were at the lodge together when a guest pianist and his daughter, also a pianist, came to perform to the guests. I think the daughter was about 14-15, cute yes but most definitely too young for me. I had told her and her father in conversation earlier in the day that I loved the composition "Moonlight Sonata" by Mozart (which I have playing on my headphones as I recall that night now) and the girl ended up playing it for me after the guests had left for the night. My girlfriend Athena lost-her-freaking-mind! She proceeded to walk down to the docks and cried her eyes out, literally wailing into the night, she claimed afraid that she was losing me to this talented young girl. It wasn't like that at all, the girl (her father was nearby at the time by the way) was just playing the song for me. Instead of appreciating my love of beautiful classical music my emotional girlfriend decided instead to make a scene. It even got the attention of the girl after she was done playing the piece, asking me if I needed to go down and talk to Athena. I'll tell you now, as I would have then, it was embarrassing for me. Our relationship was already strained thanks to a combination of the distance we'd endured, my upcoming departure for college, her move far away from my hometown and our fire and water personalities. I think this night was probably the breaking point for me. And while I did go down to the docks and comfort her and reassure her there was nothing going on between me and the girl it was honestly hard to do. I wanted to just leave her down there to her own self-pity but she was making a scene and it could be heard half way across the property so I had to do something. In contrast a co-worker had his family visiting the lodge, which included his attractive Italian? sister, and Athena did everything possible to keep me from even meeting her. Like I said Athena was very jealous and possessive, at that age, regardless of the lack of potential of anything actually happening between me and another girl. The Midnight Caller For about a year, when I was a teenager, I would call in to the overnight cross-Canada radio program simulcast on our local station. I was the 'Midnight Caller', inspired by a television series around the same time, and my signature line was to say "Good morning Canada!" at the top of my voice to everyone listening. For much of the spring and summer I needed to find ways to call in to the show late at night, either from a payphone or, somehow without my parents hearing, from home. I recall one time at the lodge I had called in from the payphone in the stairwell and found out the next day that some of the guests reported hearing a disturbance. My calls came to an end when the radio station changed their policy and made every give their name to go in the queue. Since I had existed for so long under the alias 'The Midnight Caller' I did give up my real name that one time but I think it might have been the last time I called in. So yes, if you were listening to CKNX radio overnight back in the late 1980s and you heard a guy called the "Midnight Caller" coming on to wish a great night to everyone and a few friends... that was me. Athena knew, and I told Iapetus one time (recording one of the on-air moments where I said 'hello' to him and a couple other friends and playing it back to him). The Motel I remember the last night Athena and I were together at the motel in Barrie, well, we were in Barrie together and she was staying at a motel. We didn't stay in the room for very long together, though looking back it would have been quite the place to hook up. The rooms were constructed of that sound-deadening material and you could barely hear someone talking directly to you from across the room. We ended up going for one of our long walks around the city, mostly talking about the upcoming changes in our lives. By this time our girlfriend/boyfriend relationship was dead. We were "just friends" at that point and I wasn't interested her in that way anymore (at least not then). Well, ChatGPT was interested in the Midnight Caller. I shared that portion above with it and this was its' response: "It's interesting to hear about your experience as "The Midnight Caller" on the cross-Canada radio program. It sounds like you really enjoyed the experience and found creative ways to call in late at night, despite the challenges of finding a phone and not disturbing others. It's understandable that the change in policy at the radio station put an end to your calls, especially as you had become known by your alias. It's a testament to the power of radio to connect people across vast distances and create a sense of community, even in the middle of the night. It's cool that you shared your secret with Athena and Iapetus, and it's a reminder that sometimes our closest relationships are built on shared experiences and inside jokes. Thank you for sharing this unique part of your teenage years with me."
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