It is hard to remember that there were times in my life I looked forward to leaving home for long periods. Now, I do everything possible to stay at home. I need only to look in the mirror to know I have changed places with my deceased mother. This shift is simply evidence of how one changes as life is lived. Some people want to see every continent; they live to travel. All but travel is simply existing for them. That gene missed me as I recognize my parents didn't have it to pass on to me.
Preparation for a trip sucks away much of the joy of anticipation. " How will I have to dress for a different climate?" Thankfully, the Internet provides long term predictions (at least five or so days) on the weather anywhere in the world. My answer was to be prepared for rain a couple of days and temperatures 10 degrees colder than home. No doubt the weather pattern where I am going will change as soon as I leave my computer behind.
Most past trips have been two to three weeks, requiring larger suitcases than what I need for four days. Furthermore, most short trips have been by car so I was free to dump anything into the car, when in doubt, . Since you have to carry and pay for what you take, it requires judicious planning.. Extra caution is needed not to forget essentials. I have dreaded visions of my luggage being lost (as it once was) and having no change of underwear and no way of buying any! Even worse is no toothbrush and deodorant. Ah, is that carrying the concept of clean air too far?:
No access to a computer is anxiety producing. I will be staying with relatives who have not yet arrived into the 21st C: I will be armed with lots of notebooks. I know there will be much I will want to look up on return. My cousins are not particularly interested in US politics and have little awareness of things which interest me. I will not bore them with my silence because they entertain themselves easily with recipes, health, and gossip, especially about people I don't know. I understand their language but speak only a kitchen version of it so I am constantly a source of amusement to them as I butcher their native tongue.
If Air Canada does not fail, I will be so happy to be back home; I will wonder why I let myself be talked into going away; my explanation to myself will be that I love my relatives and we are of an age that we may never meet again; I will continue to rant while taking every advantage possible to hang on to connectedness to my origins even though I have to fly there actually rather than virtually. Home is indeed where your heart is, even though you sometimes have to travel to connect the parts.
Preparation for a trip sucks away much of the joy of anticipation. " How will I have to dress for a different climate?" Thankfully, the Internet provides long term predictions (at least five or so days) on the weather anywhere in the world. My answer was to be prepared for rain a couple of days and temperatures 10 degrees colder than home. No doubt the weather pattern where I am going will change as soon as I leave my computer behind.
Most past trips have been two to three weeks, requiring larger suitcases than what I need for four days. Furthermore, most short trips have been by car so I was free to dump anything into the car, when in doubt, . Since you have to carry and pay for what you take, it requires judicious planning.. Extra caution is needed not to forget essentials. I have dreaded visions of my luggage being lost (as it once was) and having no change of underwear and no way of buying any! Even worse is no toothbrush and deodorant. Ah, is that carrying the concept of clean air too far?:
No access to a computer is anxiety producing. I will be staying with relatives who have not yet arrived into the 21st C: I will be armed with lots of notebooks. I know there will be much I will want to look up on return. My cousins are not particularly interested in US politics and have little awareness of things which interest me. I will not bore them with my silence because they entertain themselves easily with recipes, health, and gossip, especially about people I don't know. I understand their language but speak only a kitchen version of it so I am constantly a source of amusement to them as I butcher their native tongue.
If Air Canada does not fail, I will be so happy to be back home; I will wonder why I let myself be talked into going away; my explanation to myself will be that I love my relatives and we are of an age that we may never meet again; I will continue to rant while taking every advantage possible to hang on to connectedness to my origins even though I have to fly there actually rather than virtually. Home is indeed where your heart is, even though you sometimes have to travel to connect the parts.
2 comments:
Eve, it was a total pleasure to meet you this weekend! There are enough of us here who are fascinated by U.S. politics and I hope you get to visit again!
In the mean time, here is the link to my program:
http://theagenda.tvo.org/
You can also find all of our programs on our YouTube page (they're also posted here more quickly):
http://www.youtube.com/user/AgendaStevePaikin
And...the links to the Middle-Class debate I mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AgendaStevePaikin#p/u/2/e7ZZG4c4NZ4
http://www.youtube.com/user/AgendaStevePaikin#p/u/1/bZs2De_lgd0
And join our discussion online when you can...I love your blog!
Your blog?
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