A few weeks ago, Liberty, Premal, Tom and I headed to Glenwood Springs for their annual Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was a long drive (nearly four hours), but driving through an unusually lush Colorado was actually a real treat. Whenever I come home I can't help but be in awe of just how beautiful this state is. Because call time for the hot air balloons was at 6am, we drove up the night before and camped out at a pretty little campsite a few miles from where the balloons were supposed to launch. Despite Premal and Tom's best efforts (Liberty and I stayed in the car and ate cookie butter while they constructed the tent), we were not comfortable. But apart from a less than perfect night's sleep, we had a blast. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Everything was so vibrant and everyone was so knowledgeable and solicitous about answering our questions (can you believe the two matching balloons were homemade by one of the pilots?!!!). Needless to say, we are definitely coming back - and may even visit New Mexico's festival this fall!
Viewing entries tagged
West
I'm a creature of habit. As we drove Premal had me rank places I'd most like to live, and Baltimore was in my top three (following DC and Denver--obvi). He went over the locations I deemed "less than ideal:" San Francisco, New York, Portland, Chicago...?
*blink blink blink*
At that, he looked down and laughed out loud. "It's like this shirt," he said.
"I like that shirt."
"I know! Which is why I'm photographed wearing it in roughly 10% of our travel pictures!" (I'm the one who usually ends up packing...)
Meanwhile, I was busy contemplating the white sweater I had on.
I've worn 3-times a week since I bought it in November.
Which is to say, he has a point. But then again, so do I.
We recently added a "blackboard accent wall" to our kitchen. It broadcasts my to-do list to any soul who enters our home. The space isn't huge, and I had hoped its modest size would limit the number of tasks I would accumulate. Unfortunately, it's just helped me master my minute-chalk-script. Some chores (taxes) I
think
I've completed, but somehow I keep sticking them back on, unsatisfied by the results of my efforts. Others (gardening), taunt me with the idea of the satisfaction they are sure to bring--after I put in the requisite research and prep-work. Currently there are eight
starred
'priority' items on my board (down from 12 yesterday [Yay for me!]), with another 12 'lesser' duties. Times like these can only be described as drudgery.
So, it should come as no surprise that when Premal suggested that instead of his flying to San Diego solo for a short blip at a medical conference we road trip out together, I jumped at the notion. Working from home can be isolating, but the freedom to wander about as long as I get my projects done does a lot to lessen the monotony of life in general.
True to his form, Premal meticulously mapped out our route. And true to my form, I considered his plans more of a loose suggestion. We ended up spending a day en route hiking Zion National Park, and it turned out to be just the break we both needed. The sun was warm, the air was crisp, and we couldn't have been a merrier couple trekking through one of the most glorious corners of the earth.
Life is life. At times it is mundane, at others it's exhilarating. But really, it is always magical. Our jaunt in the desert woke me up to the wonders of our life at home. And that's the glory of it all. Every little thing we do is a miracle in and of itself, whether it be hiking a mountain, doing ones taxes (online!!!), or simply waking from a dream on a weekday morning. I am so grateful to have be roused--for now--from my apathy at the awesome world around me. And here's to hoping that next time I get mired in the lists of life and such and so-and-so, there'll be another impromptu road trip to wake me up.
Day 1. Arrive (did I tell soandso I was getting in? eh, just cab it to the city, I'll find her later.) Wander. (I was sure I took down her phone number before leaving... Shoot.) FIND INTERNET CAFE (Read most recent Modern Love column. Find the number--or more likely send a panicked email to said friend with an approximation of my location). Reunite with old friend. Nap. Eat.
Day 2. Find a cafe. Order a cappuccino and baguette. Read... Isn't there a good shopping street or something?
Day 3. (Repeat "Day 2" schedule)
Day 4. Ditto.
Day 5. OMG I LEAVE TOMORROW AND HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING! (Repeat "Day 2" schedule.)
Day 6. Depart.
Suffice it to say, planning is not my forte. Premal on the other hand thrives on programs. Everyday of a trip with him is a meticulously mapped-out adventure. Days start early, agenda in hand, and end not too late. We took a little trip to California over the new year, and put more than 700 miles on our little rental car over 5 days! We did basically everything you'd expect someone to do in NoCal. We hiked in Muir Woods, drank wine in Napa, meandered up Route 1, ate a sundae as big as my head at Ghirardelli Square and saw tons of friends and family along the way. It's great, but it can also be exhausting, and I'll admit to longing for my old aimless way of vacationing every once in a while.
What about you? Are you a planner or do you tend to be a bit flighty?
My solution for our next vacation? I'm going to plan a day of casual meandering. BOOM. Marital oneness achieved!
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
How often at night when the heavens are bright
I see the light of those flickering stars
Have I laid there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours
I can't think of a lovelier way to end the summer than a minitrip to Grand Lake. That's a lie. I can think of one lovelier way to end the summer: a minitrip to Grand Lake with the Pitcher-Davis family. No internet, unpaved roads, bad cell service. It was perfect. All you could do was read, talk, kayak, and yell at moos(e(es?(ii?))). . . sometimes I wish my whole life was like that. There are more lovely things to say about our little venture out west, but I'm too tired to write any of them out just now. All I can muster at the moment is gratitude for the opportunity to bask in the exuberant serenity which suffuses every niche in that beatific corner of earth.
It might be a wee understatement to say I haven't been quite myself recently. This move rocked me. I haven't known which way was up, and my body responded by mounting a revolt. My limbs were icicles, even though the weather's balmy. My brain was a mushball, no matter that I was feeding it a steady stream of fantastic writing. Meanwhile my tear ducts were in overdrive. And my heart, gosh, that little bugger has been a tempestuous prisoner if there ever was one. Ferociously slamming against the inside of my chest, and trying to crawl up my throat when I'm trying to sleep. But graciously, miraculously, a couple of days with Premal in my Dad's hometown have brought order to my carnal temple. For weeks I tried to exercise, shop, eat, talk, work, meditate and hibernate my stress away, all to no avail. But there's got to be something in that mountain air, because suddenly, finally, I feel like myself again. And it is so, so good to be back.
Altogether far too many pictures after the jump...
^^^travel tip: have awesome physicist relatives that let you crash with them on their brainy retreat^^^
^^^Premal taking the lyrics "climb every mountain" a bit literally^^^
^^^BEE!!^^^
