Hi Folks
You know I’ve made my way back to my apartment in The West Village. But it must seem like I fell off the edge of a map marked ”Here Be Dragons.” Once you’ve written a travel blog, it seems strange to write about “my stationary life here in NYC.“
Draken Harald Hårfagre
The rhythm of my days since I returned home…well there is no rhythm, really. Every day is a new day, and I’m trying to figure things out here: to remember the subway map, to run my calendar without double-booking or standing people up, how to be on time so I don’t miss my Long Island Railroad train by one minute. Yes, the LIRR does occasionally run on time, especially if you’re late!
I’ve been doing the slow-mosey in terms of moving back into my place. I had it painted in a single shade of Landlord White, then decided I wanted my bedroom the color of the Pacific Ocean as I saw and photographed it off the coast of Mendocino. That took a few days, since I’m out of practice, and I’m neater than the rent-a-painters. Also, after having had other folks living here while I was away, I needed to clean, and clean, and clean—every corner of every drawer and cupboard.
Finally, I began to unpack and consider where I want to put things, as if I hadn’t lived here for twenty years. It’s been a meditation this time, unlike the one-day move that helped me up the stairs and out of the boxes in a whirl of wonderful helping friends and family.
Putting away the things I had with me in The Beast was the easy part, as I’d been traveling pretty light by the end of my trip. But I have an 8’ x 4’ storage loft that I built in the hallway over my entryway door, and that was stuffed full of all sorts that I didn’t bring along in the motorhome. There was also one closet that was pretty full of my stored goods, and the boxes of books that I couldn’t bear to part with. Weirdly enough I couldn’t find any of the queen size bed linens, so I went out and bought one set, to go on my new mattress. The rest must be in my son’s attic, where I have the last pile of my stored stuff. There was too much to leave in the apartment, and really not enough to justify renting a storage space for a year—not when you have great kids who were willing to help out.
Visit to the Viking Ship
Speaking of kids, I’ve also been spending lots of time with them and my three grandsons that I missed terribly all through the year of my travels. It’s fall, that busy back-to-school time in a family with three children ages ten, nine, and six. Many after-school activities, meetings, appointments, plus Alice, the best daughter-in-law on the planet, is re-entering the work (for-money) force, and I’m happy to be her backup with the boy-os, meeting them after school, to wrangle dinner and homework sometimes.
And of course, I’ve been meeting up with and hanging out with friends in NYC and Brooklyn—my people, whom I also had dearly missed these past many months. My re-entry has been filled with grace and joy in all the ways that are really important. The only worry I have is that I have not yet sold The Beast, after having her on the market for two months. I reduced the price, and felt like I was close a couple times, but not yet. I’ve got her in a storage spot over the GW Bridge in Englewood, New Jersey. I guess she is safe enough there, but I’m sure she’s lonely. If you know anyone in the market for a lovely, sturdy unit at a great price please let me know!
Funny, in my mind I just heard the echo of my mother’s voice saying, “That should be the worst of your problems!” And yes mom, that’s right. That is the worst of my problems, so I guess I have nothing to complain about.
Mom getting on a tour bus