Decompressing

The view in the early evening.

Last weekend we finished up our whirlwind 5-weeks-of-entertaining-and-traveling spectacular. We were in Fargo, North Dakota for a wedding, and it was fantastic. I've got such a cool family; I can't believe I don't see them more often. It's frustrating to live so far from all your relatives. Why can't I just live in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota and Germany all at once? (And somewhere crazy and foreign too. I can't be tied down!) Maybe then visits wouldn't be "an occasion" - they'd just be a Saturday lunch or something equally low key. Maybe then I could actually be a regular part of people's lives, and not just a foreign body that sends the occasional note and shows up for weddings and funerals.

But enough of that. This past week has been my time to decompress, and it has been wonderful. Just as wonderful as all the previous weekends, I think. I've come home from work each night and plopped down on the couch, book in hand. I've been lounging with the windows open (and we have huge windows; I really should take pictures of the apartment sometime), just enjoying the sound of the wind in the trees. Occasionally glancing up at the slowly-darkening blue sky, catching the odd glimpse of a plane on its way somewhere else. Listening to my neighbors as they fire up their grills.

I get my energy from quiet and stillness. That's why I vacation in large, silent spaces. That's why being in big groups for too long makes me short of breath. My evenings on the couch this week then, have been a heavenly pause. There are so many things I want to do this summer! We're going to Martha's Vineyard for the 4th of July. We'll spend a couple weeks in Germany and Denmark come August. The World Cup just started. Manhattan and Brooklyn beckon (come... you haven't finished explooooooring usssss...). I want to spend more time in the Bronx. Can we fit in a hiking trip somewhere in New York State? Commotion, noise and movement promise to be constants. This past week of quiet has made me ready for them.