travel
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Gray Converse Tennis Shoes
They are a charcoal gray, and they have an elastic stretchy heel… and I just love them. They keep me light on my feet — and maybe it’s just an illusion — but a feeling of quickness. And yes, while I took my black high-heeled pumps to New York City – but when it came right down to it, the subway stairs, the miles of concrete sidewalks – all the quick stopping and starting — those lovely converse tennis shoes won out. And, it was so cold. Blustery, windy – like a real New York Winter… so, while I did bring jeans (the perfect pairing with the converse), I had…
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How We Arrived Fashionably Late For Dinner In New York
The waiter brought us our food quickly enough, but I looked at the window at the people and the taxis zooming by, and I wondered if we would make it on time. The restaurant we were in, was the exact same spot I found on Google Maps, Mon Petite Cafe, before we left. But, I hadn’t planned on it being so far from the church. We hadn’t ate a thing since we left home that morning, and we were starving… this was our lunch, at 5:15… and the food was going down easily. Out of all of my trips to New York within the past year, I had yet to…
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Some Might Call Them Opportunists
Some might call those New Yorkers opportunists. But I think of them as being rather thoughtful. To realize, that as the weather changes, we might need sweaters instead of T-Shirts, and fuzzy hats instead of baseball caps. Reminders of beauty, and the smell of roasted chestnuts to lift our spirits. With just a few Christmas lights starting to pop up around Rockefeller Center, and the fact that my son is arriving home tonight for dinner, from college (to see a concert here), it’s hard not to believe it’s not Christmas time already.
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Back in New York
I was a bit nervous about keeping up with the walkers…. But my fears were unfounded. The people of New York City, are always so gracious and kind. So, here I am, back to see my favorite client.
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The Words “Ski Lift” Shall Never Be Used Again
The only way to have a big adventure is to take a big risk. I think it was Tom Preston-Warner who said, “When I’m old and dying I plan to look back on my life and say, ‘Wow, that was an adventure,’ not, “Wow, I sure felt safe.’†When he, a friend, not Tom Preston-Warner, started to tell the story, my story, he was making a big joke. He read from a different script. Same story, different adventure. Yet, the one he told sounded familiar — there was a cadence that moved me toward a recognizable ending – a story I had forgotten, but the one, the only one, I…
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It Was Like Arriving In The Swiss Alps
When the snowmobile finally did come to a stop, a flurry of girls came running out, and they had blonde hair, tied in braids, and they were wearing Ugg boots, fuzzy tights and felt skirts. Embroidered, of course. And the first thing they said was, “We will get you some hot tea, how does that sound?” And there were dogs! They were wearing red vests, just like the medics. They were rescue dogs, just like in the cartoons from when I was a little girl! I was so, so happy to see them, and they licked my hands. No more wisecracks, no more treating me like I simply tripped… It…
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Are You Claustrophobic?
Well, I finally did get that cup of tea… but I had many miles to go, and a high price to pay before I got it. When the pain subsided, a guy from the mountain rescue team asked me to stand. He took one side, and my son took the other, and they pulled me up. Surprisingly, I was able to stand. “I heard him say, maybe it’s just a minor sprain and you can get down the mountain by yourself.” Except that I was so, so, very sick and weak, and I collapsed right back down. I was so beyond sick. Lying in the snow, I kept scraping the…
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A Miserable, Blustery Day That Called for Nothing But A Cup of Tea
It was one of those miserable, blustery days, with low visibility that makes me think of nothing else than sipping a cup of tea and Staying indoors. So, you can imagine my bewildering reaction to hear everyone raving about the perfect conditions. So, after making my successful, yet treacherous, descent, I met my family in the lodge, where we unwrapped the sandwiches we packed that morning and broke bread together. The boys laughed at my hair, which was full of icicles, and they took pictures of my frozen hair, and I remember feeling so hungry – even after eating. They were all making plans about which mountain to ski next,…
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How To Cook Dinner on A Dreary January Night
Other than flying off to eat somewhere special, where the meal is carefully created by someone else – someone more deliberate and intentional than you are with the food, the next best thing is to “become†that somewhere else. We all have pictures and images in our minds; the things we see when we are eyes are busy looking at the task in front of us – the eyes of our mind often filled with other things… the worst that can happen; the horrible things that did happen, or something more annoying. But, if we can simply shift that vision, just a bit, and recall a memory of that special…
