Exhaustion

Twelve Hour Day

Not Coming Home

Morning in Rome. It was hot before it started. We had little time to do much but eat breakfast in the hotel. No time for a visit to the rooftop terrace. just enough to have three cappuccinos, call Tara, read some of the news, and check out. I was still amazed that I paid so little for such a fancy hotel. The man at the desk still looked at me askance. I did not look any better or worse than the other guests, but perhaps he knew what I paid for the room ( I got an amazing deal) and did not approve. 

The walk to Termini seemed shorter than yesterday. I knew now how to buy our tickets using the machines, and decided that Maya was in fact between 6 and 12; on our way from Fiumicino on the 21st, I paid full fare for her. The station was busy with travelers, and I was relieved that this time our train was right in front of me. Usually, one has to walk all the way to the right and ten minutes further, and I have missed trains to the airport that way. It was also incredibly hot at 9:52 in the morning. The conductor did not question Maya not paying full fare (whew!) and we were at the airport in good time. I think that airport trains are constantly on time. Once at the airport, we had to catch a bus to a new terminal (or at least I don't remember being at this terminal before), but all went smoothly.

While waiting for our plane to board, I became restless and anxious. I guess that is what happens when vacation ends and reality starts to percolate into the haze of relaxation. I have actually been feeling guilty these last few days. Talking to Eric has been painful. He is suffering while I am enjoying Italy. Whatever my justification for a vacation may have been, now I struggle with the reasons I left Eric these past three weeks to deal with the stress of finishing up the house. I felt so overwhelmed the six weeks that he was in Wood's Hole, going through piles of paper and clothes and so much junk I did not know what to do with. I was so proud of myself when I showed him my progress when he came home. It seemed fine to leave him to work while I played, but now it does not feel right at all. We should have struggled through this together, not apart, not the six weeks that I was alone, and not the three weeks that he was alone. We have been apart ten weeks, and that is too long for a couple. 

....the flight was easy, but long. I watched crummy movies and read a bit, ate every two three hours, and survived the nine hour flight. Landing at JFK was long and arduous, changing runways halfway through our descent, landing roughly on a short runway, waiting an hour for a gate, taxiing forever. The good news is that I sailed through customs easily, our bags arrived, we had time for dinner and recharging our devices, and we boarded our tiny commuter plane on time. I listened to messages, and tried to prepare for my twelve hour days ahead.

Eric had taken the train from Newark to meet us and bring us home. He had made some progress on the house but was nowhere near ready....of course I was prepared for that. I decided not to stress and to prepare for not being ready to rent on Monday, and leaving the house unfinished. I could not blame Eric, who left everything to the last minute, and me, who ran away from the final preparations to go. Oh well, we are both responsible for this.

Rome All in a Day

I heard all sorts of suspicious noises during the night. I wonder how Deborah will survive for the next few weeks alone. If I was here by myself, I would shut all the windows and blinds and set up booby traps so that I would be alerted if someone was creeping through the house. I guess at my age I need only worry about theft, and if someone wanted my belongings, I would be fine with giving everything away, but it would be creepy being here alone, and I would not sleep well. 

I woke up often during the night, alert to unusual sounds. I left the balcony door open and felt the breeze throughout the curtains. I stayed up late, and once asleep checked my phone several times. at 1, and 2 and 3…I must have ignored the phone till 5, then awoke before the alarm went. I was all packed and ready to go, and awakened Maya. We crept through the house in the dark and packed everything tightly into the car. Our suitcases did not fit in the trunk, so Maya and I were squished in the back seat with bags up to the roof of the car. We drove out of the gates by 6, and already dawn arrived. I must have dozed on the way to Orte. Deborah and I found the long term parking after dropping Werner and Maya off with the bags. It turned out that we had a very short walk to the station. Orte is a bedroom community for people who work in Rome, so the coffee shop was full and the binary packed with people. The sun was shining brightly by the time the train headed to Rome.

We left the Appenines and presumably Umbria through one tunnel. Werner got off at Tiburtina to catch a faster train to Fiumicino. Deborah and Maya and I rolled into Rome Termini. My hotel was a short distance away on Via Cavour. It was too nice, much too fancy for us, and when we registered at 8 AM, the man at the desk took a long time to agree that we did in fact have a reservation. Whew. OUr room was large and cool and had internet. Yahoo. There was a roof garden restaurant that Maya and I wanted to visit, but we never did.

We left our bags and walked with Deborah down Via Cavour, as the shops and bars and restaurants were just waking up. The Colosseum was to our left as we turned right, admiring Trajan's forum and the Wedding Cake. Deborah's hotel was past Piazza Navona, so we took our time walking down Via del Corso through Piazza della Minerva to the Pantheon. After morning cappuccino at Tassa di Oro, we could not  help but visit the Pantheon, an entirely different experience without throngs of tourists. The streets were still waking up when we found Piazza Navona and turned down Via Vittorio Emanuele. At number 251, there was no sign of the hotel Deborah had chosen. We walked around the building back to the front and asked the mailman where the 'Rome Inn Suites' were, and they were inside a heavy door into a courtyard. I wonder if the place was legal. The lady who met us at the door smoked one cigarette after another as she showed us Deborah's room and took Deborah's order for breakfast in bed.

We were out walking to the Chiesa Nova by 9 to look at baroque magnificence, and on to Camp di Fiori to check the market. Maya and I tasted pastries for a second breakfast (we were starving at Termini and had cornet already). We wandered through the narrow mideaval streets around between the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona and Camp di Fiori, and decided to walk to Trastevere. We landed at Santa Maria in Trastevere first, where I visited the crypt for the first time, where an ancient Roman apartment building was suggested, and silos for grain storage from Roman times remained. We had a harder time finding Santa Cecilia, which I forgot was hidden behind a Renaissance courtyard.  It was even harder to find good restaurant. WE checked menu after menu of unremarkable food, finally chose one right across from the soup kitchen and had unremarkable food. The pizza was ok, Deborah and I loved having salad, but mine had no dressing on it….at least it was vegetables, and Maya helped me finish mine. 

On our way to St. Peter's, we stopped at Palazzo Corsini to look at the collection, while imagining what it was like to live in the palace. St Peter's was huge and imposing and overpowering and wonderful. While we walked to Castel Sant'Angelo, we ran into a movie crew filming with all sorts of actors and extras. We were told to get out of the way of the filming, and walked across the bridge of angels.

It was late, our feet were hurting, but we had to throw our coins into the fountain before we left, so ached our way to Fontana di Trevi. After gelato and a little souvenir shopping, we were ready to push through the crowds at the fountain and say goodbye and leave part of ourselves behind. Maya dipped the murano glass necklaces she bought for her friends in the water to be sure they would come to Rome again.

Our walk back as the sun came down was leisurely and thoughtful. Maya had all sorts of ideas to share with me. We left Deborah on her street and found our way back using all sorts of short cuts, so it did not feel too tiring. How wonderful to be in our luxurious hotel, showered, feet up, internet working, MAya practicing her violin, talking to Eric to check on his progress, anticipating our return home. We weren't hungry at all for dinner, and never left our hotel room, not even to check the rooftop terrace. It felt so good to feel Rome all day, to feel it in our bones, on our feet, to remember the sights and the sounds and the weight of history. Deborah asked me why I liked Rome so much. I told her I love that it is so old, that so much history is visible, that Roman, early Christian, Mideaval, Renaissance, Baroque periods are all mixed up all over the city, that life is out on the streets, that it is provincial and sophisticated at the same time, that there is order and disorder everywhere, that the food is delicious (today was not a good example of that) and that gelato is everywhere….I went on and on and did not answer her in a very cohesive way. But it was clear that I love to visit Rome, and have all sorts of good reasons for that.

Spoleto, Amelia

Aug 27

Maya was happy today to stay in the house all day. We did not even join Deborah and Werner when they drove to the Coop to buy food. We were tired from the night before, and I did not want to wake Maya when the sun crept through the two inch gap in the curtains. I left the balcony door open through the night, and can hear the birds and cicadas when they awaken. The light from the sun is intense, but if I turn my back to the sun, I feel the heat on my lower spine, and it feels so very therapeutic. I waited for Maya to wake up past 9, and then we crept downstairs to make crepes for breakfast. When Debra and Werner came to join us, we ate outside the front door, with the three cats waiting for their breakfast. The morning was cooler than it had been. The meal was leisurely and we did not move until almost noon.

Maya and I had talked about picking blackberries to make a tart. We walked out of the garden to the road toward Ameila and found many of the blackberries dried up and raisin-like. The best blackberries we out of reach. I tried to pick as many as I could, but did get scratched up and bitten and bleeding before I stopped, which of course was only when we had enough for a decent sized pie. 

While Maya practiced violin, I washed clothes and packed. Thankfully we had bought nothing and the suitcases were not overflowing. The pool was beckoning, so all of us spent time in the sunshine enjoying the water. Maya had her face buried in a book for hours, so I read too, and washed more clothes. Debra drove the car for the first time to Amelia while Maya and I lounged by the pool.

Debra and Werner came home with a chicken to grill on the barbecue. Werner was very excited and prepared the BBQ with lavender branches and other sweet smelling herbs. Maya and I  made the pastry  with lots of butter, and tried the oven for the first time. It never did get too hot, and the pastry cooked, but the blackberries really did not. After grilled eggplant and zucchini and sausage, we had salad for a second course while waiting for the chicken to cook. We ate by the pool in the dark with half a moon and the milky way making things visible, drinking our delicious wine (which Gino makes for us and gives us an unlimited supply). It was almost midnight when we finished our blackberry pie, made delicious by vanilla gelato (how in the world do they make it so creamy?). What a wonderful way to end our idyllic visit to Umbria and Casa Lara. Maya and I will miss this place, and Debra and Werner, our wonderful hosts. We have had a marvelous time.

Aug 26

I realized today that we would never get to Asissi this trip, which was fine, because I had visited several times, and although Maya does not remember, she was there too once. The day was a little cooler, and for a while it seemed that the sky was getting dark and a storm was brewing. Rain had been forecast, but we got only a few drops, before the sound decided to shine again. 

When it became clear that we would not be leaving the house for an adventure, I proposed that we take a walk to Ameila. Debra and Werner thought I was batty, and I am sure they never expected us to get there, but we all surprised ourselves. I was desperate for some sort of activity, after we lazed about in the morning. We woke up late and were busy in the house for the morning. We were caught in the pool when the storm threatened, but when summer returned for the afternoon, albeit cooler and calmer than the day before, it felt perfect for a walk. 

The first part of the road is uphill, made interesting by a deep ravine on the left  (apparently a raging stream int he winter) and olive trees and fruit trees on the right.    There is a turn to the right along dried up blackberry bushes (it has not rained in a year!) and then another turn to the right past Gino's house (he harvests the olives and vines, and makes love oil and red wine which he provides in unlimited quantities to Casa Lara). The next part of the road is steeply downhill, which I had not realized when driving in the car. Amelia is a long distance away on a hill to the left, so by this part of the walk, I was quite sure we would never make it. Werner was very enthusiastic about the walk, and he and I surged ahead, while Maya and Deborah, who were not as thrilled, found all sorts of topics to discuss. We passed 'Agriturismo Tara', where we took several photos to show Tara, and took a break at the main road, where we learned that there was a 'Maneggio' past Casa Lara. Deborah likes to ride, as do Maya and I, so we all decided that would be another adventure for us.

It was Sunday, so it appeared that a party was brewing at an outdoor restaurant along the way. When we returned a few hours later, more and more cars had parked nearby, and later in the evening, there were even parking attendants, and many more cars and much more activity, I think much of Amelia had decided to join the outdoor festivities. We walked further, a little worried about the safety of our adventure, since the cars were taking the turns at record speed, and the road did not have much of a shoulder. I was relieved that it was Sunday, and less busy than usual. When we got to a turn to a smaller road and a different approach to Amelia, we chose the quieter road. A little further, we found the road closed, and several signs warning us not to go further. We climbed over the fence guarding the approach to the backside of Amelia. I was worried that the road would suddenly disappear and we would fall into an abyss, but we were entirely safe. Later I learned that Amelia, in the hope of attracting more visitors, was building an elevator  which would bring people up from a bottom parking lot to the town. We climbed up the very steep incline instead, and Maya and Werner actually raced to the top. We entered through the Porta Posterna, where soldiers used to collect payment from travelers entering the town. The Dome was nearby, but we descended through the narrow mideaval streets to the hospital and the Cisterne Romana that we had visited. We found gelato to revive our muscles along the way. The town was deserted on a Sunday. I imagine everyone had gone to the party we encountered on the way to Amelia. 

Our plan was to visit the museum, where a bronze statue of Germanicus was housed. The museum was full of Roman remains, with lots and lots of explanations. , which would have been fascinating to read in their entirely, but we were limited by our arrangement to meet Werner outside the city walls by 6. He ran home to get the car while we cooled off in the museum.  We had a dinner date with Bella, the woman who had invited us to her house that first night we were in Casa Lara, so we had to get home and bathe and change (we were in great need of a shower after our hike).

Our plan was to drive to Orte for dinner and a concert. A music school was having their final concert in the main square. I had only seen the lower and more modern part of the town when we arrived on the train. The older part was high up on a tufa mountain. Werner was rather amazing in his ability to maneuver the car up the narrow streets to a parking lot near the Duomo. The main Piazza della Liberta was already buzzing with performers and onlookers two hours before the performance was to begin. We chose to eat at Taverna Roberteschi, where we had Antipasto Roberteschi and Ravioli (actually big tortellini) Roberteschi. The pasta was marvelous, but I was tired of pasta by then. Maya had a delicious Linguine alla Siciliana (like puttanesca, with olives and capers and tomatoes) and Werner had his third pasta with Tartufo (in three days!). We wandered over to the main square in time for the performance. At first I was worried when I saw little children with tiny violins struggle through a song drowned out by electric guitars and a kid playing a drum set furiously, but once the mixed group of children and teachers and adults started the program, we were all impressed. The program was a mix of classical and modern and broadway and opera, and was amazingly good. We stayed till the very end, and reluctantly drove out of Orte at midnight. Such a late night!

Umbria

Roma

Montmartre

Paris is Sweltering

Versailles

Paris on Way to Ecuador

Party Time

Languedoc

London and France

Olympic Park

London in Sunshine

Another gorgeous sunny day. We slept in and met Tara at the nearby Starbucks for coffee and a croissant, then took the tube to the Tower, and meandered across the Tower Bridge and down the Thames to the Globe. We all got tickets to the 'Taming of the Shrew', and kept walking and walking and walking....past the Tate Modern, to the Waterloo Bridge, to Piccadily and Trafalgar Square, looking for the Cafe Tara and once had tea at (near Fortnum and Mason) for tea and sandwiches without crusts and scones and cake. We stuffed ourselves with tea and nostalgia.

London was full of visitors, with all the sights packed with tourists and Olympic fever everywhere.  We visited the 'Swiss house' for chocolate and accordian music, and wanted to try Brasil house but ran out of time. WE gave ourselves a short break for violin and computer time and then back we were for the play at the Globe. Tara''s boyfriend Alan joined us, and was quite a delight. The play was disturbing; was it for real or was it all irony? It was too disturbing to see as truth, so jokes and laughter worked better for the crowd. I was not so sure, and found myself uncomfortable and uncertain.

It is fun to be in London with Tara and Maya and now Alan. Our plans are to visit the Olympic park tomorrow.... 

How Did I Get Here?

eThe last three days have been a blur. Maya and I arrived home late Monday night. Eric drove from DC to welcome us at the airport. Coming home and being faced with the list of tasks to accomplish was demoralizing but after a few hours sleep, I woke up by 5:30 Tuesday in time for a yoga class, and then focussed on finishing with all the piles left early Saturday morning. The painters arrived to start on the their job, I packed and repacked everything for Europe and Ecuador for both Maya and myself. Eric removed many of the packed boxes to the storage unit.

After Maya's last music lesson, a group of her friends came over for cupcakes and goodbyes. The gaggle of girls screamed giddily for the entire time they were there. I tried to maintain my composure while talking with the parents; I found myself more and more anxious as the reality of our move took on depth and verisimilitude. Emily and Nathan showed up later, and took Maya away for a few hours while I worked on more piles. I wanted to stay up all night and do paperwork but I did not have the energy, and woke up too late Wednesday to take a yoga class. The rug cleaners came at 9, the painters came with a huge crowd and finished their work on the house by 3. I spent much of the day in the office finishing up paperwork and panicking some more.

Once Eric dropped us off at the airport and we passed security, I found myself calming down. Once away from the house and the office, I had no more responsibility, other than for Maya and myself. I watched a Cannes Film Festival winner as I waited for our flight, finished 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' in NYC, caught our plane to London, and slept as much as I could on the short flight.

And suddenly I was in London. Tara met us at the airport to guide us on the tube to our nicer than expected hotel in Kensington. The weather was warm and sunny and our room was ready shortly after we arrived. Tara's apartment was a 15 minute walk away; a basement room with a skylight and a huge kitchen/sitting room for the nine or so tenants. She cooked us ravioli and made a salad and sent us off to the Globe Theatre. I bought groundling tickets for five pounds each, not knowing that it was Richard III that was playing. Maya stood with me for the three plus hours, and Richard was unusually entertaining and funny, so the horrid parts of the story were tolerable. We had strawberries and cream for a snack and wanted to go for tea afterward, but it was too late. We crossed the Millenium Bridge to look at St Paul's and then took the tube to Hyde Park to join the crowds watching the Olympics on the big screen. Tara met us with her boyfriend Alan, and we stayed for a few races. We had a dinner date with Tara's host family from Figi in Italy. Massimo is a carabinieri and does security for the Olympics and has been in Vancouver, Beijing and now London. His wife and three daughters joined us and we had pasta with mushrooms and were reminded of the wonderful quality of life of Italy.

I am not sure how I am still awake., but I feel great. I will have to try to sleep soon, but meanwhile I am enjoying the peace and quiet of my room looking over the inner garden courtyard. The evening is balmy, I am exhausted, but comfortable and happy to be here and have left my list of tasks behind. 

Midwest Exposure

Lake Michigan and Interlochen are lovely, but I am reassured that Eric and I made the right choice to move to New York City. I am not a midwesterner, and I am a foreigner here. I will visit when I bring Maya to camp and when I pick her up. I am not particularly interested in exploring it further, except that there is a personal connection between Michigan and Maya. Eric was born somewhere in Michigan, where his parents met at university, his mother and her parents are from Michigan, and Muskegan, which is only 50 miles from Traverse City, floats through my memory as a place of significance for Eric, and of course by extension, to Maya. She had an incredible experience at camp and is raving constantly about the three weeks. I have assured her that we will do our best to send her to the camp next year. I will plan better too, since I am now familiar with the ins and outs.

Firstly, I must book my hotel at Interlochen months ahead. The hotel I stayed at was a half hour away, and although right near the water, and a prime location if water sports was my purpose, I wanted to be close to Maya, and the long drive away and back was unnecessary. I will need more time to get her situated when she starts camp, and I need far less time on the back end.  I floated through Interlochen for two days without much purpose. Of course, I listened to unbelievably amazing music constantly. Today I heard the group of high school students singing the songs that I heard yesterday, and they sounded better and better, and gave me more chills.

Our evening last night was spectacular, the highlight of the six weeks. Three symphonies and three bands crowded the stage for Lizst's 'Les Preludes', with ballet dancers in the aisles, at the front of the stage and on the roof of the 'bowl'. And this was after the finale of Beethoven's Ninth, with a huge chorus and a bass-baritone, a tenor, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano. I was truly impressed. The place was packed with not only parents and every camper of every age group, but many local appreciators of classical music drove from their vacation homes and residences to cover every patch of lawn and occupy every seat. The concert was recorded and beamed out in real time for listeners from afar. It was quite a production.

It was clear that the families who participate in Interlochen are well off. The cost of the camp is steep, but not much more than other similar camps. When Maya asked to do six weeks next year, I sighed and said yes, but I will probably direct her to other choices, and make it three weeks again.

Maya and I had a chance to wander along the lakeshore, and to walk around the downtown area. We stopped in the olive oil store for samples, and in a spice shop to smell the wares. Lunch was excellent, such an improvement from the camp fare, although I am not sure that Maya cared.

I tried to get on an earlier flight. I will remember next year, that I don' t need to stay so long when I pick Maya up. She was the last person to leave her cabin and was scrubbing toilets when I arrived. I was IMPRESSED. I will make sure to keep her scrubbing everything and anything in the house. She ordinarily does no housework or chores, somehow I had not been insisting on contributing to the household, but perhaps I ought to. We had a leisurely afternoon and a long wait at the 'Cherry Tree Airport' (they grow cherries in the area) for our oversold flight to Minneapolis and then to Baltimore. Home, with a long list of things to do in the next 24 hours.

Music Extravaganza

I have been wandering around the Interlochen campus all day, and listening to music of every sort. The Interlochen philharmonic was playing next to my hotel room. Maya's friend was in the Intermediate chorus so we ran into each other in 'The Chapel', to hear the young mostly girl group harmonize together. The singer/songwriter high school performance gave me chills. These students are expected to write a song every two days and perform it, and play their best piece to the mostly parent audience. Some of the songs were so impressive and moving, some of the voices truly remarkable. Maya has been a delight, but clearly prefers to spend time with her cabin mates. I lured her off campus for lunch, and we ate just a mile away, at 'Bud's', which had much better food than the cafeteria, although I do not think Maya noticed that. She is entirely content with the food she is offered. She was then my navigator in my efforts to find my hotel, which was further away than I imagined, right in Traverse City. One has no idea when booking a hotel online where one will end up. The hotel is serviceable, right on Lake Michigan, and I hope I will find it tonight after the concert. I am so accustomed to GPS in the car, I am at a loss otherwise, although my iphone does the work, I feel nervous reading my iphone while driving.

Traverse City is much bigger than I imagined, and full of visitors. Perhaps there is a convention in the town, but it is also a vacation spot, and many of the hotels are right on the lake and water sports are the main attraction. There is a film festival in town, but will end tonight, and I will not have the opportunity to check it out. We drove through the downtown area, which was quaint and touristy, and perhaps tomorrow Maya and I will have the chance to check it out before we catch our flight.

Interlochen is a remarkable place. Maya insists that she wants to return next year. We are flooded with art of every sort, and talented young people reveling in it. The parents are here in full force this weekend, and the venues are full of admiring relatives. It is unfortunate that Eric is not here to experience it. I had no idea that this would work for Maya when I arranged for her to participate. It felt right to me, but not until I heard her first phone call when she reported that it was 'awesome', did I feel reassured, and now that I am here, I wish I had had the opportunity to be here as a child. It is truly  awesome! 

Music, Dance, Opera, Art

Everything happened as it was meant to. I called Delta to change my flight, and was told that I could book standby if I called at 3:05 in the morning, which was exactly three hours before the flight that I wished to take. I called at 3, and it was too early, so the representative and I waited on the phone for five minutes, before we started the process. I was put on hold to talk to 'a manager' and the phone died. When I called again and pressed one button after another to get to a human, I was told the reservation was already in the system and that I had to get to airport and pay the $50 change fee. So, having not slept, I threw my things together and made my bed, shut off the cats from the bedrooms, and left the house. Driving at 3 am is uncomplicated, except that there were many police about. A car was crashed upside down on North Avenue under an underpass, and ambulances and poise were attending to the damage. I hoped that I was driving smoothly and would not be pulled over. 

The airport was surprisingly full of people. I got my boarding passes and no one asked for the $50 so I did not volunteer it. Security was busy, but when I got to the front of the line and objected to the new radiation machine, instead of subjecting me to a body search, the TSA employee just shrugged his shoulders and claimed not to be in the mood to argue, so I escaped a little extra radiation for the day. My plane was delayed because apparently it was too warm for human taste. I had to give up my carry on but n lithium batteries were allowed in the hold, so I carried my iphone and ipad and computer with me. Having not slept all night, I was out until Detroit. Once landing, I received a message from Delta telling me that I was no longer able to take the 8:47 flight and would be moved to a later flight, but when I presented my 'seat request' to the representative at my gate, I was sent away 'until I am ready'. I did get a seat and arrived at Traverse City on the plane that I was to take, but it was too late to get to Maya's concert at 11:00 AM. I pushed through anyway, not asking many questions at the rental car counter, hardly checking what I signed, driving blindly and quickly to Interlochen, which felt so very far away. I found Grunow Hall, but the concert was over and the performers were taking photos. Maya was thrilled to see me, busy with photos and congratulations. The next thing I knew, she was getting her quartet together to perform a second time, my own private concert!

It was wonderful to see Maya, so happy, so full of joy and curiously mature compared to three weeks ago. She held my hand so tightly, and showed me her cabin and her cafeteria. I paid $9 for rather horrible food, which she has been eating with gusto for the three weeks here (and has grown since the last time I saw her!). She had a practice to go to, so I left her to try to find lodging for the night. When I looked online, there was nothing available. I was incredibly lucky to find a room at the 'Stone Hall', which works as a hotel for parents and students. Unfortunately it was too late to cancel my hotel for Sunday night. It would be easier to stay in the same place for ht two nights I felt very lucky. I had been planning to sleep in my car, and therefore expecting a second night of sleeplessness.

I was ready for Maya's orchestra concert, but fell asleep for the parts that she did not participate in. I was impressed that in three weeks, these children had put together a rather amazing  performance. I sent Maya off to dinner with her friends. We were to meet for a dance performance, but weather forced a change in venue, which could not accommodate too many audience members, so I found myself wandering around the extensive campus, listening to orchestras, operas, singers, individuals practicing their piano, horns, violins etc. Music was everywhere! My senses were stimulated, my ears indulged, my soul recharged. What a wonderful place to be.

Super Saturday

Today was my last day at the office, for a month at least. It was a denouement, an easing into the next phase of my life. I had a cancelation, moved a patient around, arrived late after getting compulsive about cleaning and organizing at the house, said goodbye and good luck to a few people. I left my office piled with charts and in great disorder, not like me before I leave for a few weeks, perhaps not wanting to acknowledge that I am leaving.

I had my favorite 'Light and Fluffy with yoghurt, hold the sugar' smoothie for lunch, saw Stephanie for my last pilates session for the next few months, did some paperwork and then finished the day with a Bikram Yoga class. 

i was overwhelmed with choices when I got home. Where to start? What to finish? This was my last day to pack, and I had to complete what I started. There was too much to do. I showered, I ate dinner (or whatever I could find int eh fridge, having bought nothing for the past few weeks!). I started watering the lawn (my new sod is failing without water), and visited Emily to leave some work clothes in the guest room closet for when I return to work next month. I then tackled the computer room by moving everything on the desk to my room. Finally I had no choice but to work. I turned the Olympics on for background noise (actually it was distracting more often than not. How did I know that I was interested in biking and archery and volleyball and diving and swimming etc) and systematically poured through papers and clothes and an inordinate number of 'things'' that I had no idea what to do with. I wanted to get rid of far more than I did, but I got through everything by about 2 in the morning. I heard the same Olympics coverage three or four times during the process. I repacked for Europe and for Ecuador.I waited to call Delta to change my morning flight, and in the end there was no time to sleep or rest or think. I did what I had to do. 

End in Sight

Doubt