I had scheduled vacation for September anyway, so I decided to make the trip. I found out that airline prices are staggering, so decided to go by bus. I could enjoy watching the different states go by as well as save money. My trip was taking me through Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Frankfort and Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; and finally, Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan. This was going to be fun!

(Melba and Marsha In Bloomfield Hills)

September 26, 1993 - Sunday:

Passengers are only allowed to carry two bags on the bus, so I had to let them take my biggest bag, the one with the clothes in it. It was dark by the time we got to Louisville, but I did get to see the downtown city lights. By the time we got to Ohio, it was raining cats and dogs and I slept all the rest of the way to Michigan.

September 27, 1993 - Monday:

Early Monday morning I arrived in Pontiac, Michigan, and there waiting for me on the bus dock were Marsha and Tom. I had worn a baggy blue pajama-like pants outfit for the bus trip for comfort. I'm sure I looked wrinkled enough getting off the bus.

Then it happened. No luggage. So here I was in Pontiac in 24-hour wrinkled clothes with nothing to change into and a Yoko lecture coming up in just a couple of hours. Swell. Have you ever heard the saying about a certain bus company, "Leave the driving to us" ? Well, you may want to ride that hound, but your baggage may never be found. I was going to have to wait until the next day to get my clothes. Thank goodness all my makeup and toiletries were in a bag I'd carried on the bus.

The three of us ate breakfast at the local Denny's, then prepared to go to the student lecture at Cranbrook.

Then she got under the table. As she moved each time, she would say "hello". She went to a set of flags in the corner of the stage and stood there like Superman and said in a deep, authoritative voice, "HELLO!" Each time, everyone would laugh. Yoko finally got back to the table and sat down in a chair. She said that each of us has our comfort level and we are always looking for it.

WHISPER PIECE

(Photo: Yoko Launches "Whisper Piece" at Cranbrook Lecture)

Then she pointed to a young woman who was sitting just in front of us and motioned for her to come onto the stage. Yoko then began a Whisper Piece. She whispered something into the woman's ear and then the woman came back to her seat and began to pass the message along. I was the third person to receive the message and what I heard was "I love you very much."

As Yoko talked about her art and career and took questions from the students, I watched the Whisper Piece make its way around the room. I thought it surely would break down somewhere, but was amazed by how the crowd cooperated. The audience was made up of all sorts, from little old ladies in jewelry, to way-out looking young people.

One of the questions asked was why didn't Yoko take her glasses off because it was hard to see her eyes. This woman needed to see eyes to tell if a person is sincere or not. The woman said this in a not-very-nice tone of voice, but Yoko simply replied, "Why didn't you ask me to take off something else, like my pants?"

After several questions and laughter, and the end of the Whisper Piece ("I love you very much" had turned into "The umbrella unfolds") she called the meeting to a close, thanked everyone and left to a round of applause.

After the lecture, the local press and TV stations were interviewing Yoko and Marsha had an appointment to interview her for Instant Karma! - so while Yoko took a breather, Jon Hendricks, the curator of Yoko's art, gave us a private showing of the work, including her newest pieces, Blood Objects. I was sort of worried what my reaction to the blood pieces would be, fearing they would bother me. But as soon as I laid eyes on the work shirt that had bullet holes and blood on it, I understood. I was at ease. It was the same feeling I had the first time I saw the cover of "Season of Glass" - a relaxed feeling.

When Yoko was ready for the IK! interview, we all sat down. Yoko said I looked more sophisticated than when she'd last seen me in 1986 in New York City. Little did she know I was wearing what by then was a 36-hour-old baggy, wrinkled pantsuit. I have a fear of being in the way at times like these, so I sat where a large flower centerpiece on the table was separating me and Yoko. I was afraid I would distract her, so every so often, while she was talking, I'd lean over and get a glimpse of her.

After the interview, we took pictures, then said our goodbyes. Yoko asked if we would be at the reception the following evening and Marsha said, "Of course!" Yoko wondered if we had any plans for the following day before the evening reception and we all looked at each other and said, "No, we're free." Yoko said if it was at all possible, maybe we could all get together for lunch or tea. Marsha gave her a slip of paper with the name and phone number of our hotel and we left.

September 28, 1993 - Tuesday:

The next day we drove to the bus station in Pontiac to get my luggage. When we got back to our rooms, there was a message on Tom and Marsha's phone - Roy Slade, the President of Cranbrook, had left word that Yoko wanted to meet the three of us for lunch at 12 Noon. Just two hours away!

I got the jitters thinking about it. What if I knocked a glass of water into Yoko's lap, or what if I dropped a napkin and picking it up, I banged my head on the table? My stomach didn't feel like I could take this. Mr. Slade had given us the name of the restaurant, which sounded exotic. Tom checked with our hotel's clerk to see if he knew what type of restaurant it was and the guy thought it was Arabian. I wondered if we would be eating dead monkey heads.

We arrived at the restaurant before Yoko, so we had to tell the people at the door that we were in a party with Yoko Ono. I thought they might laugh at us, but they immediately treated us like royalty and took us to our seats. The owner told us what would be the specials of the day - and I was thinking, Thank Goodness, no monkey heads!

(Yoko and Melba Do Lunch)

Just as we'd gotten our drinks, Yoko, Sam Havadtoy and Jon Hendricks walked into the restaurant. Everyone said their hellos and Jon complimented my outfit, a different one from the blue pantsuit I'd been wearing for almost three days!

We all chit-chatted about different subjects, ranging from Wal-Mart to President Clinton who Sam enjoyed poking fun at for my benefit (since I'm from Arkansas like Mr. Clinton). When the waiters brought out the food, we all shared the appetizers. I felt sort of strange asking Yoko or Sam to pass the salt. Yoko ordered a sampling of all the desserts for us to try. They were all very good. Jon Hendricks ordered Turkish coffee for us which was also very tasty. By the way, the restaurant turned out to be Lebanese.

The opening of Yoko's art show was a success. It was very crowded with all different types of people milling around waiting to meet Yoko. At the exhibit, there was a helmet filled with puzzle pieces showing the sky and clouds. We were invited to take 'A Piece of the Sky'. I liked that.

Four years ago when Yoko showed her art at Cranbrook, there were very liberal policies about taking pictures. Marsha, her brother Larry and his friend, Laura, along with Brian Hendel took lots of photos during the events. So this time, we came prepared with our cameras, but this time, some people were being stopped at the door and asked to leave their cameras outside.

I had kept mine in my large purse, so it wasn't noticed. Marsha was not bothered about hers because the people running the exhibit knew she was with Instant Karma! Others also came in with 35mm cameras and video recorders. The reason we were given for not letting people snap away was that there was a fear that people would trip over the art when the flashes went off. I took a few pictures when no one was around of a few of the pieces in the larger exhibit room, but each time I tried to take a photo of Bastet, a fuzzy-haired Cranbrook security man would jump out of the shadows and ask me to put my camera away.

Again and again I tried to take the photo, and each time I would think no one was watching and would pull my camera out of my purse, out would hop the fuzzy-haired man. Finally, near the end of the reception, when hardly anyone was left out in the main exhibit area (Yoko had already left), Marsha said, "No one is anywhere near you, the security guard is nowhere in sight. TAKE THE PICTURE FOR PETE'S SAKE!" All was quiet. The cats of Bastet were silently watching me as I slowly, inch by inch, pulled my camera out of my purse, raised it to my eyes, when BAM! Out of nowhere popped the fuzzy-haired security man asking me to put my camera away. Marsha said she thought he was just playing around with me. I told Marsha I could let him find out on the spot what a Blood Object looked like! I never did get the photo.

September 29, 1993 - Wednesday

Today, we all had to leave Bloomfield Hills. Marsha and Tom had to leave very early, so to save cab fare, I caught a ride with them to the bus station. When we got there, it was much too early and the bus station was locked and dark, so they drove me back to the hotel so I could sit and wait until closer to time to leave. As we drove up to the hotel, there was their luggage sitting on the steps! In our rush to leave in time for them to get home when they had to, they'd forgotten to load their own luggage into the car before we left! If the bus station had been open, Tom and Marsha would have dropped me off and driven all the way home (6 hours) before realizing they didn't have their luggage.

On the way home, I stuffed everything into two bags instead of three and dragged them everywhere I went. I was not about to let any bags out of my sight. I looked like a bag lady from Pontiac to Little Rock.

My trip was fun, but I was glad to finally see the Little Rock skyline. I was tired. I was home.