Up late. Packing, sitting, looking at my sides, glancing at my carryon to be sure my passport is still sitting atop it. It’s the ritual, it’s the pattern, it’s what I do when I go on the road. I stay up late, saving up weariness for the flight. I check and recheck my necessaries. “Do I have what I really need?”. I push aside thoughts of air disasters,  and keep a positive outlook. I look up museums and metro maps in the city I’ll be in. Toronto is a very cultured town. It has a metro system and the museums seem to be top notch. No doubt there are some good restaurants. And Beer? Hell it’s Canada.

Of course I wonder how I’ll be received. I’ve been a hired gun all my career. A day here, a week there, folks are usually friendly and welcoming. I remember Blair Brown making an effort to chat me up and put me at ease when I was guesting on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, it was my first network job and her kindness helped me so much. Mark Harmon on Navy NCIS welcomes guest stars as though he is welcoming guests to his house. That man is a class act.

I’m an old bunny now and much less needy. But even so I’m still the “new kid in class” whenever I’m guesting on a show.

Oh Canada! Here I come.