My New Year's Resolution 2010
This is my year of travel. I work long hours and whenever I can in order to have enough money to visit friends and travel the globe. So, when last year, I promised myself that I would try to visit all my friends who live outside the Chicago/WI area at least once in 2010, I have been making every effort to achieve this resolution. (Every year I have a list of at least 10 things I want to accomplish during the year. I have a 75 percent success rate!) These are three friends from high school—Lisa, Kara, and Rebecca—and two friends from college—Morgan and Ariel—who live in Sacramento, Denver, Austin, DC, and Bridgeport, CN, respectively. Fortunately, I was able to make it all happen, so this is our story.
Washington, D.C. (Late July)
I planned the end of my around-the-world trip to include a visit with my littler sister, Whitney, and a visit with my friend, Morgan, who lives and works in D.C. I flew into NYC and spent four days with my sisters and Mom in upstate NY in the Fingerlakes region; then I took a bus down to D.C. to pass a couple of days with my friend as she transitioned from one apartment to another. We met at a lovely Greek restaurant downtown D.C. and wasted away the afternoon chatting and catching up. She and I were freshman year roommates and it always amazes us to see how much has changed since that first year when we met.
Even though she was not able to take off work to spend time with me, we accomplished packing up some of her stuff and went out on the town to U-Street, my favorite area of D.C. for its Ethiopian food specifically. The whole visit was short but wonderful because I got to see her new place and help her out a little as she made a new transition. In my opinion, the amount of time you spend with a person does not matter as much as the quality, so I was really happy that we were able to make the visit work.
Denver, CO (mid-August)
Since 2002, three of my friends and I have been gathering together for high tea annually, but this year has seemed more difficult than others to make it all happen. I hoped that maybe we would be able to road trip it out to see Kara and have the party there, but Beth had to move from one apartment to another, so it was Danielle and I that made the long journey out west. Instead of tea, we went camping, ate some good food and watched a bunch of movies: nice relaxing few days together. Danielle and I left early in the morning around 1 am after she and I had finished work and I had gotten all my stuff together (I was still in such a transitional state and a little discombobulated with my two jobs and getting things arranged at home). The drive was quite painless because we took turns driving and slept in the comfortable front seat when we were not driving. We brought food and blankets and everything we needed to make the drive convenient and swift. I was pleased with myself that I only went to the bathroom when we stopped for gas. Danielle had informed me that I would not be able to stop for the bathroom outside of those necessary gas stops. We made it in less than 15 hours.
Kara and her husband live in a lovely apartment in Denver where she goes to grad school and he works as a CAN, biding his time until he starts his nursing program. It was so great to see them and get a little taste of their life in Denver. That is what I love about going to visit my friends in their homes: I see what their reality is and it helps me to appreciate them in a different way. Then when they mention something about their areas, their homes, jobs, etc. I am able to orient myself and understand. Kara’s husband was in the process of changing his job, but he was able to get one day off when we went camping about an hour and a half from Denver. The hiking and camping outside of Denver is exquisite, but you definitely need to have a car to access the beauty. With perfect weather, we set up our campsite and took a lovely hike to the lakes in the area. Nature is the most ideal place for a friendship reunion. Something about being out in the elements helps me to appreciate all aspects of life.
All three of my companions are camping pros whereas I love to camp but have limited experience. I have to say that I made quite a few blunders and just sat dumbly on the sidelines waiting for instructions on how to set up the tents and where to put all the equipment. I guess practice makes perfect, so hopefully next time we go camping I won’t be such a dunce. It was so much fun to make food on the camp stove and to relax into the evening with a fire and some wine. Friendship must be savored and enjoyed and that is exactly what we did around the fire that Alex and Danielle kept going for a few hours. I cannot say I slept great, but I think I was so sleep deprived, as usual, that I slept through the night.
Our time in the serenity of the campground was shortened because we needed to get back to give Alex time to prepare for an interview. So we returned and hung out, slept, went on a walk and made some homemade pizza while continuing our catching up on one another’s lives. Even in this day and age of immediate communication through facebook, e-mail, cell phones, face-to-face encounters remain the best way to connect with another individual. It was a fabulous way for this tea party threesome to share some time together. We all have such dissimilar lives that to pause in time and reflect and enjoy one another was truly a treat in my August.
On the way back from Denver, we decided to take the scenic way home, so I could see Mt. Rushmore, which I had never seen before. Danielle and I drove up through the barren wasteland of Wyoming and over the desolate South Dakota, stopping for a few hours at Custer State Park, which is home to the begging burrows, hundreds of bison, and some picturesque vistas of the West. Mt. Rushmore looked just like the postcards, so there was nothing surprising about the rock edifice, but the experience of being there was quite worthwhile and we got some really good pictures.
After Mt. Rushmore, there is absolutely nothing of significance in the whole expanse of South Dakota. Maybe one could count the entertaining signs advertising Wall Drug, but that is pretty limited in bringing excitement to the 10 hours you have to drive through those wilds. We arrived around 6 am in WI and without sleeping I went directly to my cousin’s wedding in northern WI. Fitting as many encounters into the smallest period of time is my modus operandi these days ☺ What a great trip, what lovely company!
Austin, TX (Halloween)
Back in December 2009, Rebecca and I had met for breakfast in Fort Atkinson at a local breakfast hangout called Soup’s On. It is greasy and cheap and the place to meet for breakfast. I had told Becky that I wanted to come down to visit her to see her and visit a place I had never seen, so this Halloween, I was able to make good on my promise. She is working for Dell and her husband is a firefighter in a nearby district. I flew in on Thursday and crashed for a few hours before we both got dressed up in our costumes for a work Halloween party. Becky took the cake with her costume and in fact, she did win the best costume award at the party! I was a fifties girl (I had a blue dress from the 50s that I wanted to wear, so I bought some gloves, earrings, and veiled hat from a vintage shop to complete the costume) and she was a nuvi from the movie Avatar.
I was glad that Becky included me in her work party setting. It was a lot of fun to meet some of the people with whom she works on a regular basis.
Since Becky had to work on Friday, I would have generally spent the day alone, writing and reading, but her husband, Jon, was around to entertain me, which was great fun. When they moved out to Austin, they learned that kayaking is a popular sport because of the proximity of the river. They call the Colorado River “Town Lake” as it flows through Austin, and the city/state has in fact dammed parts of the river to make lakes. I learned that there is only one natural lake in all of Texas and that the other lakes are manmade through the damming process. Anyway, we took out their kayaks and went on a lazy two-hour kayaking tour of the Town Lake, stopping at a bridge crossing a fresh water stream to do some bridge jumping. I have always wanted to jump off a bridge. I just thought it would be adventurous and adrenaline rushing.
Before the encounter with this Austin bridge, the desire was more theoretical than practical. So, Jon suggested we jump and since he has had a lot of experience with cliff jumping, I thought, “Today is the day!” Sure enough, he jumped then with a little more coaxing (my body actually froze) I jumped, and I landed right on my left side. Smack! It hurt so badly that my left side was tingling out of control and I had to swim around for a couple of minutes to calm the frayed nerves. It was worth it, though, and I planned to do it again so he could take a picture for me, but the cops on bikes thwarted my plans. In fact, it was illegal for us to be jumping off the bridge, but with all laws, they are only illegal if you get caught. I decided to be prudent and return the way I came. Oh, well, I was in for a much greater adrenaline rush on Sunday.
Apparently, Austin attracts a significant crowd for the Halloween weekend, so we gladly participated in the folly of mass costuming and raucous behavior (okay, we were pretty benign and did nothing more than people watch and take photos all night).
This was the biggest gathering of crazies that I have seen in a while, and it was such an amusing experience to watch all the characters go by as they laughed and hollered and danced. Walking the circuit of 6th Street, which was transformed by blockades and masses of people, we people-watched for almost three hours. Becky was the star of the night; as people passed, they said, “Look, she’s an avatar.” Or, they would holler out, “Hey, Avatar, can I get a picture with you?” To which Becky always replied yes. I loved seeing who would request a photo and how many she would get by the end of the night. I think it totaled close to 30 by the time we left, maybe more.
It was late when we got back, so we slept in a little; then we were off to Pace Bend Park where we did some cliff jumping. I am not a fearful person. In fact, I try to mitigate fear in my life by not thinking about the consequences and by trusting that God will protect me, which he has done thus far, so I have no reason to doubt. Well, self-preservation is something entirely different, and when I was looking over the 60-foot cliff and telling myself that it was time to jump, my body was immobilized. It took about 10 minutes to get the gumption to leap.
After I threw my body off the cliff, I ceased to think until I hit the water, flat on my thighs. I literally sat down in the water. What a rush! I jumped from the high jump once again and from the smaller jumps many times between. The most difficult thing was trying to pull myself up out of the water, and thank the Lord I had two strong guys with me (Jon and his brother) to help pull me up with the rope so I could get my foot into one of the rocks and push myself up the rest of the way. It reminded me why I need to work on my upper body. Survival! With the costumes, conversation, and adventure, the visit to Austin with my friends Becky and Jon, was quite memorable to say the least.
San Francisco, CA (First two days of November)
From Austin, I flew to San Francisco where my “cousin” lives. (Read carefully: she is the daughter of a Thai exchange student who stayed with my stepdad’s family in the 60’s and with whom I reconnected in mid-May when I traveled to Thailand and saw her and her mom for an evening before she left for China and I left for Vietnam.) Tasha welcomed me for a couple of days in between my time with Becky and Lisa, who was the final stop on my 10-day itinerary. She is currently a grad student at Stanford, so she did not have much time to spend with me aside from a couple lovely dinners, one at a delicious Peruvian restaurant and one that I made from the leftover vegetables and pasta in her refrigerator. While she was busy at work and school, I took the opportunity to re-explore the great city of San Francisco, which I absolutely love.
I walked from her apartment in Potrero Hill through Haight-Ashbury and up to the Golden Gate Bridge, which I traversed at sunset. I love that bridge as it rises majestically out of the water and stretches so gracefully over the bay. I took my time meandering up to it incredible expanse, reveling in the views of its architectural wonder. What I love about San Francisco is the artful display of humanity in one of its most diverse formats. The city is organized in neighborhoods and each one is distinct and flavorful. This was my second visit to the city (I was there with my mom and sisters in 2003) and I know that it will not be my last.
Sacramento, CA (first weekend in November)
From San Francisco to Sacramento, it is only an $18 ride on the Greyhound. I love being able to take public transportation from one place to the next. Upon leaving Tasha’s I trudged up and down the hills that surround her neighborhood, only to realize once I had traversed all the hills and had finally achieved flat ground that I had left my water bottle sitting in her kitchen. I had no excuse but to return to claim what I had left behind. It was terrible—up and down those awful hills, pulling my suitcase behind me and pushing my messenger bag out of the way. I had to laugh at myself and enjoy the fact that I was burning calories and getting the full flavor of San Francisco’s terrain.
Lisa picked me up from the bus station, which was literally two blocks from her apartment complex. She lives in a great apartment building close to the capital building. She works at Intel and went to her job on both Thursday and Friday while I read and went bike riding along the beautiful Sacramento River. Because it stays warmer longer in northern California than in WI, the trees were just starting to turn colors, so it reminded me of a WI fall, which is really the only season when I absolutely love WI. We made dinner on Thursday night and relaxed in her apartment as we caught up on what each had been doing in the past few months. It had been 10 months since we had last seen one another and a lot had happened in the meantime.
Northern California is absolutely beautiful and during my time with Lisa, I was able to partake of many aspects of that beauty. On Saturday, we made our way north to Amadour County, a smaller and less exclusive but equally stunning version of Napa and Sonoma County.
Each of the three vineyards we visited was equipped with picnic tables and footpaths on which one could explore the premises. With no clouds in the sky and with the shining sun basking us in its light, we fully enjoyed our foray into wine country. To complete our day, we took a long walk on one of the bike paths that traverses the natural allure of Folsom before making dinner with her boyfriend. It was truly a perfect day in California.
Reiterating what I have said before, I love to spend time with friends, but what I have learned is that visiting friends in their homes is much different that getting together with friends for an evening. It is impossible to “do” all the time, so you have to learn how to “be” with one another and go through the normal, daily routine. So, Sunday, we just hung out with one another. I helped her to clean; we watched a movie; I read and she did some things on-line. It was comfortable and nice, existing in peace with one another: a sign of a good friendship.
Trumbull, CT (mid-December)
When I crafted my New Year’s resolution list, I put all my friends that lived outside of my familial bubble, but I seriously doubted by capacity for achieving this resolution. It was with great delight, therefore, that I was able to visit my friend Ariel, who was the one remaining on the list. She and her husband, Michael, moved out to Connecticut last July because he got a job as the youth pastor for a local church. Subsequently, she started working as a nurse at Yale’s hospital in New Haven, so they are invested deeply into their new surroundings. She and I were housemates my sophomore year and we connected well although we never seemed to have enough time for one another. Funny how you can admire someone from afar and yet have a deep bond that transcends the years. We literally picked up where we left off a year and a half ago and really encouraged one another during my two-day visit.
Ariel had worked the night before, so after she slept for a few hours, she was ready to go. It was refreshing to be with someone who understood my work schedule, and Michael works whenever he chooses and normally takes Fridays off, so we really got to enjoy one another’s company. Having never been to Connecticut before this social call, Ariel and Michael took me on a little tour on Friday, showing me the Atlantic Ocean and some of the cute New England towns that litter the area. Our final stop was the town of New Haven in which Yale University makes its home. The architecture was stunning; especially in all its Christmas glory. We finished off the day with our left over pizza from lunch and continued to talk until the moment I had to leave for the train station to catch my train back to New York where I spent the weekend with two friends from college who met me there for a fun weekend away.
What a year! What a joy to be able to fit all my travels into one year. In reality, a year is only 365 days, which when viewed from the perspective of a lifetime is not that significant, but it is amazing what one can accomplish in that time. I feel like I have lived a whole lifetime in one year because of what I have seen, whom I have talked to, and what I have learned. I looked forward to the newfound dynamism of 2011. I look forward to discovering the path I will forge in this New Year.
Washington, D.C. (Late July)
I planned the end of my around-the-world trip to include a visit with my littler sister, Whitney, and a visit with my friend, Morgan, who lives and works in D.C. I flew into NYC and spent four days with my sisters and Mom in upstate NY in the Fingerlakes region; then I took a bus down to D.C. to pass a couple of days with my friend as she transitioned from one apartment to another. We met at a lovely Greek restaurant downtown D.C. and wasted away the afternoon chatting and catching up. She and I were freshman year roommates and it always amazes us to see how much has changed since that first year when we met.Even though she was not able to take off work to spend time with me, we accomplished packing up some of her stuff and went out on the town to U-Street, my favorite area of D.C. for its Ethiopian food specifically. The whole visit was short but wonderful because I got to see her new place and help her out a little as she made a new transition. In my opinion, the amount of time you spend with a person does not matter as much as the quality, so I was really happy that we were able to make the visit work.
Denver, CO (mid-August)
Since 2002, three of my friends and I have been gathering together for high tea annually, but this year has seemed more difficult than others to make it all happen. I hoped that maybe we would be able to road trip it out to see Kara and have the party there, but Beth had to move from one apartment to another, so it was Danielle and I that made the long journey out west. Instead of tea, we went camping, ate some good food and watched a bunch of movies: nice relaxing few days together. Danielle and I left early in the morning around 1 am after she and I had finished work and I had gotten all my stuff together (I was still in such a transitional state and a little discombobulated with my two jobs and getting things arranged at home). The drive was quite painless because we took turns driving and slept in the comfortable front seat when we were not driving. We brought food and blankets and everything we needed to make the drive convenient and swift. I was pleased with myself that I only went to the bathroom when we stopped for gas. Danielle had informed me that I would not be able to stop for the bathroom outside of those necessary gas stops. We made it in less than 15 hours.
Kara and her husband live in a lovely apartment in Denver where she goes to grad school and he works as a CAN, biding his time until he starts his nursing program. It was so great to see them and get a little taste of their life in Denver. That is what I love about going to visit my friends in their homes: I see what their reality is and it helps me to appreciate them in a different way. Then when they mention something about their areas, their homes, jobs, etc. I am able to orient myself and understand. Kara’s husband was in the process of changing his job, but he was able to get one day off when we went camping about an hour and a half from Denver. The hiking and camping outside of Denver is exquisite, but you definitely need to have a car to access the beauty. With perfect weather, we set up our campsite and took a lovely hike to the lakes in the area. Nature is the most ideal place for a friendship reunion. Something about being out in the elements helps me to appreciate all aspects of life.
All three of my companions are camping pros whereas I love to camp but have limited experience. I have to say that I made quite a few blunders and just sat dumbly on the sidelines waiting for instructions on how to set up the tents and where to put all the equipment. I guess practice makes perfect, so hopefully next time we go camping I won’t be such a dunce. It was so much fun to make food on the camp stove and to relax into the evening with a fire and some wine. Friendship must be savored and enjoyed and that is exactly what we did around the fire that Alex and Danielle kept going for a few hours. I cannot say I slept great, but I think I was so sleep deprived, as usual, that I slept through the night.
Our time in the serenity of the campground was shortened because we needed to get back to give Alex time to prepare for an interview. So we returned and hung out, slept, went on a walk and made some homemade pizza while continuing our catching up on one another’s lives. Even in this day and age of immediate communication through facebook, e-mail, cell phones, face-to-face encounters remain the best way to connect with another individual. It was a fabulous way for this tea party threesome to share some time together. We all have such dissimilar lives that to pause in time and reflect and enjoy one another was truly a treat in my August.
On the way back from Denver, we decided to take the scenic way home, so I could see Mt. Rushmore, which I had never seen before. Danielle and I drove up through the barren wasteland of Wyoming and over the desolate South Dakota, stopping for a few hours at Custer State Park, which is home to the begging burrows, hundreds of bison, and some picturesque vistas of the West. Mt. Rushmore looked just like the postcards, so there was nothing surprising about the rock edifice, but the experience of being there was quite worthwhile and we got some really good pictures.
After Mt. Rushmore, there is absolutely nothing of significance in the whole expanse of South Dakota. Maybe one could count the entertaining signs advertising Wall Drug, but that is pretty limited in bringing excitement to the 10 hours you have to drive through those wilds. We arrived around 6 am in WI and without sleeping I went directly to my cousin’s wedding in northern WI. Fitting as many encounters into the smallest period of time is my modus operandi these days ☺ What a great trip, what lovely company!
Austin, TX (Halloween)
Back in December 2009, Rebecca and I had met for breakfast in Fort Atkinson at a local breakfast hangout called Soup’s On. It is greasy and cheap and the place to meet for breakfast. I had told Becky that I wanted to come down to visit her to see her and visit a place I had never seen, so this Halloween, I was able to make good on my promise. She is working for Dell and her husband is a firefighter in a nearby district. I flew in on Thursday and crashed for a few hours before we both got dressed up in our costumes for a work Halloween party. Becky took the cake with her costume and in fact, she did win the best costume award at the party! I was a fifties girl (I had a blue dress from the 50s that I wanted to wear, so I bought some gloves, earrings, and veiled hat from a vintage shop to complete the costume) and she was a nuvi from the movie Avatar.
I was glad that Becky included me in her work party setting. It was a lot of fun to meet some of the people with whom she works on a regular basis.Since Becky had to work on Friday, I would have generally spent the day alone, writing and reading, but her husband, Jon, was around to entertain me, which was great fun. When they moved out to Austin, they learned that kayaking is a popular sport because of the proximity of the river. They call the Colorado River “Town Lake” as it flows through Austin, and the city/state has in fact dammed parts of the river to make lakes. I learned that there is only one natural lake in all of Texas and that the other lakes are manmade through the damming process. Anyway, we took out their kayaks and went on a lazy two-hour kayaking tour of the Town Lake, stopping at a bridge crossing a fresh water stream to do some bridge jumping. I have always wanted to jump off a bridge. I just thought it would be adventurous and adrenaline rushing.
Before the encounter with this Austin bridge, the desire was more theoretical than practical. So, Jon suggested we jump and since he has had a lot of experience with cliff jumping, I thought, “Today is the day!” Sure enough, he jumped then with a little more coaxing (my body actually froze) I jumped, and I landed right on my left side. Smack! It hurt so badly that my left side was tingling out of control and I had to swim around for a couple of minutes to calm the frayed nerves. It was worth it, though, and I planned to do it again so he could take a picture for me, but the cops on bikes thwarted my plans. In fact, it was illegal for us to be jumping off the bridge, but with all laws, they are only illegal if you get caught. I decided to be prudent and return the way I came. Oh, well, I was in for a much greater adrenaline rush on Sunday.
Apparently, Austin attracts a significant crowd for the Halloween weekend, so we gladly participated in the folly of mass costuming and raucous behavior (okay, we were pretty benign and did nothing more than people watch and take photos all night).
This was the biggest gathering of crazies that I have seen in a while, and it was such an amusing experience to watch all the characters go by as they laughed and hollered and danced. Walking the circuit of 6th Street, which was transformed by blockades and masses of people, we people-watched for almost three hours. Becky was the star of the night; as people passed, they said, “Look, she’s an avatar.” Or, they would holler out, “Hey, Avatar, can I get a picture with you?” To which Becky always replied yes. I loved seeing who would request a photo and how many she would get by the end of the night. I think it totaled close to 30 by the time we left, maybe more.
It was late when we got back, so we slept in a little; then we were off to Pace Bend Park where we did some cliff jumping. I am not a fearful person. In fact, I try to mitigate fear in my life by not thinking about the consequences and by trusting that God will protect me, which he has done thus far, so I have no reason to doubt. Well, self-preservation is something entirely different, and when I was looking over the 60-foot cliff and telling myself that it was time to jump, my body was immobilized. It took about 10 minutes to get the gumption to leap.
After I threw my body off the cliff, I ceased to think until I hit the water, flat on my thighs. I literally sat down in the water. What a rush! I jumped from the high jump once again and from the smaller jumps many times between. The most difficult thing was trying to pull myself up out of the water, and thank the Lord I had two strong guys with me (Jon and his brother) to help pull me up with the rope so I could get my foot into one of the rocks and push myself up the rest of the way. It reminded me why I need to work on my upper body. Survival! With the costumes, conversation, and adventure, the visit to Austin with my friends Becky and Jon, was quite memorable to say the least.San Francisco, CA (First two days of November)
From Austin, I flew to San Francisco where my “cousin” lives. (Read carefully: she is the daughter of a Thai exchange student who stayed with my stepdad’s family in the 60’s and with whom I reconnected in mid-May when I traveled to Thailand and saw her and her mom for an evening before she left for China and I left for Vietnam.) Tasha welcomed me for a couple of days in between my time with Becky and Lisa, who was the final stop on my 10-day itinerary. She is currently a grad student at Stanford, so she did not have much time to spend with me aside from a couple lovely dinners, one at a delicious Peruvian restaurant and one that I made from the leftover vegetables and pasta in her refrigerator. While she was busy at work and school, I took the opportunity to re-explore the great city of San Francisco, which I absolutely love.
I walked from her apartment in Potrero Hill through Haight-Ashbury and up to the Golden Gate Bridge, which I traversed at sunset. I love that bridge as it rises majestically out of the water and stretches so gracefully over the bay. I took my time meandering up to it incredible expanse, reveling in the views of its architectural wonder. What I love about San Francisco is the artful display of humanity in one of its most diverse formats. The city is organized in neighborhoods and each one is distinct and flavorful. This was my second visit to the city (I was there with my mom and sisters in 2003) and I know that it will not be my last. Sacramento, CA (first weekend in November)
From San Francisco to Sacramento, it is only an $18 ride on the Greyhound. I love being able to take public transportation from one place to the next. Upon leaving Tasha’s I trudged up and down the hills that surround her neighborhood, only to realize once I had traversed all the hills and had finally achieved flat ground that I had left my water bottle sitting in her kitchen. I had no excuse but to return to claim what I had left behind. It was terrible—up and down those awful hills, pulling my suitcase behind me and pushing my messenger bag out of the way. I had to laugh at myself and enjoy the fact that I was burning calories and getting the full flavor of San Francisco’s terrain.
Lisa picked me up from the bus station, which was literally two blocks from her apartment complex. She lives in a great apartment building close to the capital building. She works at Intel and went to her job on both Thursday and Friday while I read and went bike riding along the beautiful Sacramento River. Because it stays warmer longer in northern California than in WI, the trees were just starting to turn colors, so it reminded me of a WI fall, which is really the only season when I absolutely love WI. We made dinner on Thursday night and relaxed in her apartment as we caught up on what each had been doing in the past few months. It had been 10 months since we had last seen one another and a lot had happened in the meantime.Northern California is absolutely beautiful and during my time with Lisa, I was able to partake of many aspects of that beauty. On Saturday, we made our way north to Amadour County, a smaller and less exclusive but equally stunning version of Napa and Sonoma County.
Each of the three vineyards we visited was equipped with picnic tables and footpaths on which one could explore the premises. With no clouds in the sky and with the shining sun basking us in its light, we fully enjoyed our foray into wine country. To complete our day, we took a long walk on one of the bike paths that traverses the natural allure of Folsom before making dinner with her boyfriend. It was truly a perfect day in California.Reiterating what I have said before, I love to spend time with friends, but what I have learned is that visiting friends in their homes is much different that getting together with friends for an evening. It is impossible to “do” all the time, so you have to learn how to “be” with one another and go through the normal, daily routine. So, Sunday, we just hung out with one another. I helped her to clean; we watched a movie; I read and she did some things on-line. It was comfortable and nice, existing in peace with one another: a sign of a good friendship.
Trumbull, CT (mid-December)
When I crafted my New Year’s resolution list, I put all my friends that lived outside of my familial bubble, but I seriously doubted by capacity for achieving this resolution. It was with great delight, therefore, that I was able to visit my friend Ariel, who was the one remaining on the list. She and her husband, Michael, moved out to Connecticut last July because he got a job as the youth pastor for a local church. Subsequently, she started working as a nurse at Yale’s hospital in New Haven, so they are invested deeply into their new surroundings. She and I were housemates my sophomore year and we connected well although we never seemed to have enough time for one another. Funny how you can admire someone from afar and yet have a deep bond that transcends the years. We literally picked up where we left off a year and a half ago and really encouraged one another during my two-day visit.
Ariel had worked the night before, so after she slept for a few hours, she was ready to go. It was refreshing to be with someone who understood my work schedule, and Michael works whenever he chooses and normally takes Fridays off, so we really got to enjoy one another’s company. Having never been to Connecticut before this social call, Ariel and Michael took me on a little tour on Friday, showing me the Atlantic Ocean and some of the cute New England towns that litter the area. Our final stop was the town of New Haven in which Yale University makes its home. The architecture was stunning; especially in all its Christmas glory. We finished off the day with our left over pizza from lunch and continued to talk until the moment I had to leave for the train station to catch my train back to New York where I spent the weekend with two friends from college who met me there for a fun weekend away.
What a year! What a joy to be able to fit all my travels into one year. In reality, a year is only 365 days, which when viewed from the perspective of a lifetime is not that significant, but it is amazing what one can accomplish in that time. I feel like I have lived a whole lifetime in one year because of what I have seen, whom I have talked to, and what I have learned. I looked forward to the newfound dynamism of 2011. I look forward to discovering the path I will forge in this New Year.
Comments