3 posts tagged “visiting”

I am back from my trip.  It never gets easier for me to come back from Manhattan.  In some way, it has always been home for me.  Love it or hate, there just isn't anywhere else on the planet I feel more comfortable.  And I hate that, because living there would require sacrifices I've never been willing to make.  Instead I keep accumulating things and people, all of which I would lose.  I fear someday I will finally decide to do so and leave it all behind and that's a little scary.

But anyway, the trip itself was good.  Despite having at one time had quite a group of people willing to go along, I was desperate in the end to not go alone.  Thankfully, even so, I managed to round up two takers, one of which had to stay home at the last minute.  Whew.  I always promise to elaborate more on things, so I won't make that promise now . . .  But the quick recap begins with me packing the Subaru full of things that I had to return to New Jersey-- things I had borrowed when I was doing CATS a year ago! We left almost immediately upon getting to New Jersey for the city.  We saw Spelling Bee Friday night.  On Saturday I grabbed tickets to Spring Awakening and Standing Room tickets for the revival of Les Mis. I broke.  Even though I have tickets in March to see it, being there, I just couldn't wait.  Sunday morning we got up, went to mass, and then headed down to Philly to catch the last stop on the new Goodspeed tour of Pippin. It was especially worthwhile- the arrangements were stunning!

And of course, I ate waaaay too much food.  We had dinner both nights at Tout Va Bien.  God help me, I love bistro food.  And I couldn't resist a late stop on the way home at Panera in Frederick. 

We also saw people from home randomly! First, Micah, and then the Thompsons.  It's always so surreal to have that happen.

Well, I've got pictures, just a few.  But they are on my camera which is in my car.  And it's way cold. 
I know, because I spent last night on a mountain stoking a wood fire.

. . . albeit an incredibly brief moment of balance, as I guess one really only maintains such a state for a short time.
But last week at this time I was well into a party and experiencing a state of inebriation that I reserve for special occasions.  So, despite my eagerness to return home from our holiday trip to the country, it has been a great means of restoring equilibrium. 

I have been drinking hot tea (sweetened with my favorite honey) and ordering books online. 
Very good, no?

So, I am witnessing myself feeling whole and harmonious before the pendulum begins to swing one way or the other again.

I would write my "year in review," but I fear that would surely disturb the equanimity,
so that will have to wait.

And yes, I will be returning home tomorrow, gratefully.
I am eager to relax my way into the new year in my own surroundings with family and friends.

A quick trip down one day and back the next
to visit in the Shenandoah Valley was over in a blink,
but I feel emotionally and physically like I was gone for at least a week. 
That is not fair. 
Really all of life feels like such a mixed bag. 
The little cactus here reminded me of the constant tension we live in.
bittersweet. 
There are a thousand ways to decribe the contradictions, so it's surely universal.

But on the little seesaw, I like to end with more the sweet taste lingering. . .

"Thus I feel a thorn is as
beautiful as the rose, for it is
the thorn that defends the rose
and allows us to view the rose
from an intuitive perspective. "   Copyright 2004 Bhuwan Thapaliya

But I really inspected the cactus because I was drawn by this grasshopper.
The poor thing was caught in the clay pot. 
After I rescued it, I took the liberty of capturing its portrait.

I returned home to a box on the porch containing one of my birthday presents.
My birthday isn't until October 30th-- but Kevin can't wait.
He hates waiting to get gifts and apparently is equally disturbed by waiting to give them.  It drives him nuts. 

This collection is really amazing.  The packaging is nifty (full size piano keys with the Bosendorfer logo on either end), but the book that accompanies the cds is also high quality.  If you don't have all the all the cds and don't want to drop serious cash on them, the collection is only $50 and all the selections are well chosen.  But it also has enough new workings of the material to justify it even if you do have the original albums.