This and That and the Other Thing

It has not been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon and mostly, happily so. Three dinners and two lunches with different sets of friends, two nights out at a bar watching the Warriors, attending my nephew’s play, writing my new book with fiery inspiration, playing piano at Sequoias Retirement Home and as always, the Jewish Home, singing for a 2^nd grade class at a local school. 

 

Then the list of “to get done before the trip”— shots for Ghana, Covid booster, book hotels in Austria, book flight to Ghana from Europe and home again, haircut, packing and etc.  One more full day to keep pecking away at that list and hoping to board the plane with a great exhale of satisfaction. To give myself over to that “nobody in particular” self I’ve loved my whole life and occasionally get to hang out with. These bike trips (this my 4^th) the perfect vehicle for that fellow. 

 

The temperatures in France promise to be like Portland last week and San Francisco this week—near-perfect 72-degree days. I’ll take it. At the same time, I need to prepare for the occasional chilly morning or rainy day alongside the predictable heat in Ghana. Packing will indeed be a challenge, fitting everything into a carry-on for 8 full weeks of traveling in France, England, Austria and Ghana! Already worried about doing laundry. Wondering if I should really take the four paperback books I have, the possible Kinko’s copy of my new book, my recorder. Raincoat and umbrella? For the first time, deciding to leave the blue jeans and opt for one pair of lighter pants. 

 

So this my little palette-cleanser blog-post, neither the deep introspective thought of Schoenberg’s quotes nor the reports of adventurous travels. Just a little bit of this and a little bit of that, perfectly describing my present state of being. Alongside a faint sense of eight weeks away being so long, especially just as I was feeling better on the piano and on a roll with my writing. 

Then there's the other thing. Of course, I can read the news anywhere I am, but just being miles away from the next five-alarm fire of you-know-who should be a bit of a relief. But if I hear of a rally in Paris or London or Vienna, I will be there!

 

And now, on to packing.