This Too Shall Pass

I'm in a momentary panic. At least I hope it's momentary.

I've been running around all day, getting ready for our trip to the Southwest, which starts tomorrow. Among the many details I had to attend to, I logged onto American Airlines to print our boarding passes. Guess what?????????? They can't print our passes because we don't have seat assignments, and when I tried to get seat assignments, there were no seats left!!!!! This is for a flight I booked July 22.

Deep breath. I did manage to get seats on the other three flights (two going, two coming home = 4 flights). I just haven't managed the initial flight.

Deep breath. I know it will work out. Serenity now. Deep breath. Relax. We will get seats on the airplane in the morning when we get to the airport. Deep breath. I'll be in a canyon before I know it. This momentary glitch will be the least important part of our trip.

Preparing for the Grand Tour

Once again, fortunately, I find myself getting ready for a trip!!! This time, Taylor and I are doing a grand tour of the canyon lands of the Southwest.

I've planned the trip myself. We're landing in Albuquerque NM and departing from the same. We'll be circling east to west and back again. Ten Canyons/National Parks in fifteen days. I'm wondering if I'm out of my mind, or if I'm in my mind. We're skipping all the towns that people assume we'll be going to: Sedona, Santa Fe, Taos and trying to stay off the beaten track. Looking at the map of where we're going, it will be a challenge to bail out if we get sick of beautiful scenery, bumpy roads and winding highways- the only way to get back to "start" will be to continue with the plan, or to backtrack.

Knitting friends will be wondering what the knitting project will be. At this point I don't know. Perhaps one of the UFOs that will be mindless and simple. I definitely need something for the airplane, but I don't think I'll want to miss what we're driving by and I don't see it on the jeep tour of Canyon de Chelly. For once, knitting isn't really fitting into the plan. What does this mean?

We're taking off this coming Friday morning - flight at 6 a.m. Hooray!

Mexico

I've been back from Mexico for two full weeks now and feel like I really should file a little report about my experiences. However.............the trip was so amazing I don't know what to write. Plus, I'm now getting back into my normal life and it's not as vivid as it was 14 days ago.

I loved every minute of the trip, from the moment I landed and was greated by Syvart, and his friend Oswaldo, with chocolate skulls in celebration of Dia de Muertes, to my last glimpse of Syvart leaning against a post in the subway while our train took Taylor and me away to the aiport.

Mexico City was more than I ever dreamed. It has sky scrapers; and it has plastic tarps on the sidewalk serving as make-shift stores. It has beautiful public parks and squares; and it has men squatting in the back of garbage trucks sorting through the garbage. It has men and women, dressed for success, marching down the street talking on their cell phones; it has young and old women dressed in village skirts and shawls asking for money. Beautiful restaurants with wonderful food are everywhere, and so are stalls selling food made right there - without the benefit of running water. The architecture can be amazing - both the old and the new; but there are also cement block hovels where people are living. I guess I should say the country is filled with contrasts.

I never felt afraid, and people smiled back when I smiled. Everyone seemed to greet us and smiled when we responded. I got pretty good at "Buenos dias," "Buenos tardes," and "Buenos naches."

It seems that we were busy every minute in Mexico City. We first went to the Reforma area to view the altars to the dead and the huge papier maches monsters that were ready to go on parade for Dia de Muertes. We went to the Zocolo several times, saw the huge cathedral there and the government buildings, and more altars built to honor the dead. We walked through Zona Rosa. We spent a day at the Museo de Antropoligia and took the bus to the pyramids at Teotihuacan. We actually managed to climb the Pyramid of the Sun. That was plenty of stairs, and we just looked at the Pyramid of the Moon. Taylor went to the church where Syvart practices the organ (I was inconvenienced by my intestines and stayed home). We went to the Ballet Folklorica. In addition to all of this, we had multiple amazing meals and spent time with Syvart and his friends. We even managed to fit in an election evening party with tequilla, sushi and various other snacks. Syvart, Sara and Azania joined us for this event in our room at the Red Tree House.

In addition to Mexico City, we spent 4 days in Queretaro and 1 day in Puebla. Both cities (population over 1 million) are more manageable than Mexico City. We walked everywhere, while in Mexico City we also took cabs and the subway. Both cities seem to be organized around a series of squares where people meet one another, take a break from the hectic traffic and celebrate the holidays. Something seems to be going on in the squares pretty much all of the time. On one side of the square is usually a huge church and the other 4 sides will have shops fronted by sidewalk cafes. These squares seem to be the hub of the neighborhoods. Such a wonderful concept, I wish I could find a town in the U.S. that still used this plan. I suppose we are all too busy driving around in our cars to sit around in a public park or sidewalk cafe.

So this is a brief overview of the best trip we've taken in a long time. It doesn't do justice to the experiences we had. This goes to show what a difficult job it is to be a travel writer. After rereading this I feel like I've taken all the color right out of the trip. In any case, we look forward to exploring more of Mexico, and I hope I can learn a little Spanish in the meantime.

Seven Amazing Weeks of Summer

I can't believe how quickly summer is marching along for me. Filled with all good things, so far. But, my oh my, am I exhausted!!!
I'm coming off a 7 week extravaganza and still in recovery. Taylor and I started in June by going to Oregon and Washington for two weeks. While there we attended David's graduation. Yeah!!!!!!!! We were all so excited - here we are on the Evergreen campus after the big event. It was quite an unusual graduation ceremony and definitely worth the trip. Try to picture samba dancers leading the processional instead of pomp and circumstance. We followed up with a dinner for family and friends at an Indian restaurant. Now David will be heading off for University of California at Davis for a PhD program in ethnomusicology. We're so happy for him, as well as proud. He is following his own path, in his own time. We should all be so lucky.

The grand finale of the first two weeks of the trip was my 40th high school reunion. What a hoot. You're looking at my best friend Nancy, and me before the event. I'm so glad I went. It seems that everyone is more of what they were in high school. I had a wide range of friends and it was a kick to see so many people in one place. The entire time was wonderful - catching up with old friends, and just being in Washington and Oregon together was a treat.

When I came back to Pennsylvania I brought my mother with me for a 3 week stay. We dragged her everywhere including New York City and Connecticut. She told us she thought she was a "damn good sport" to see so much in so little time. She had never seen our house in Connecticut so we did a drive by. I actually had the nerve to go into the driveway to inspect the perennial bed that I planned and planted five years ago. It looks good.............but it was all I could do to keep from jumping out of the car to divide and replant. It was a bit crowded.

Of course, I had to take mom back to Portland. This time I house sat for the same best friend in the picture who was doing volunteer work in Mexico. So I got to live in Portland like a native. I went to a party, had a dinner party, and had my cousin and David stay with me for a bit too. The bittersweet part of it was spreading my father's ashes. My mom, David, cousin and Dad's final caregiver, Jeri, and I went to the woods where mom and dad loved to walk, spread the ashes, We followed up by enjoying his favorite treat at a picnic table: maple bars and coffee. It was a good conclusion to my northwest summer.

I've got a few more trips on my near horizon - back to Seattle for my son's best friend's wedding over Labor Day. I've known Graham since birth so he's worth the trip, but oy, can I keep this pace up? And.............we plan to go to Mexico City in November to visit our other son - Syvart, who is living there and teaching English.

All this having fun - a tough job - but someone has to do it!! I'm just thankful that for a while at least everyone is healthy and happy in my family and we can all enjoy life. I know how quickly things can change.