Keeping on Keeping on

So Keeping on Keeping on is an old expression from my youth.  Definition: keep trying; keep doing what you are doing,  So what has happened since the last post is myriads of Mothers telling me of similar experiences to mine.  When I called my amex card to book a flight to Europe to stay with my daughter, she shared her own daughter's story.  It was amazing to have yet another mother reach out to me to tell me not to worry, and to try and let go.

So funny, that at 3:30 a.m. a stranger from Spain calls to speak to Morgan.  I ask who he is and why he is calling and he keeps talking about a bus to Andorra and I tell him no that I booked Paris. Then, I finally wake up enough to know, he was not speaking about me!  He was calling about her.

Six weeks later, I have been to France to meet her and I have returned. And she has gone on to Brussels, Paris, Basel, Berlin, Amsterdam and who knows where else. She has mastered the rail.

I no longer worry and she no longer fears calling me to tell me she has no plan.

How lovely an idea, to have no plan.

Rising to the Return from Vacation

I have not taken a two week vacation in at least 15 years.  It was FABULOUS! The thing about the two weeks is that the first week you still think about work and check your emails, the second week you so don't care!  You stop grinding your teeth and your shoulders relax.  Your hips realign because you are not driving as much as you used to.  I am telling you there is a huge difference between the four day steal that I have done for the last 15 years and the two week vacation.

And then, when I thought I got back into the groove of work,  my daughter calls crying from Switzerland.  The tears were clear in the voice, even with the lag of wi fi conversation.  And I miss her as much as she misses a great plan for mass transit.  She is dreadfully upset with the Euro Rail options for an on the move back packer.

Rick Steves be darned, she is a college grad with a non-plan plan. And Europe is supposed to be aware of her intentions.  Well, not that bad really, but she is very displeased with the limitations of non reserved second class seats.  Though after looking at her pass, she has logged at least 20 rides maybe 30 from one place to another, including Croatia and Hungary as well as France, England and Ireland.  All in all, I think she has gotten her value from the pass and she has gotten value from the experience.  How wonderful she has the opportunity.

So, I miss her when she calls and I want her to be having a great time and enjoying the diversity.  For soon, she will return to Tallahassee, which by comparison, will feel small and not so much like Notre Dame.  But it will feel like home.

Home because her dog is here.  Her kitty is here.  Her horses are here.  And somewhere way down the list are her parents and family members.  And we will embrace her return and wait for the next opportunity to celebrate her announcement.  I for one, am not in any hurry.

But back to my reintegration into the work place...  I have worked now for three full days and I was so tired on Friday!  I went to bed at nine p.m. and slept until five thirty a.m. I got up Saturday morning feeling groggy and hit by a truck.  The fact that my ribs had not healed from the fall in Bordeaux reminded me not to move quickly.

I have to say it felt good to be in my own bed.  And so nice to have my own bathroom back with my things in it and my own towels.  And even nicer to discover that my husband had vacuumed the floor and cleaned the sinks!  lovely homecoming.

I am already plotting my next escape.  I hope before the return to France in 2014 for the World Equestrian Games.  I would love to see Australia or New Zealand or even more of California.  Pennies in a sack, every day, I drop my pennies in a sack....

Glad to be home, so glad to have a home to come home to!

of the graduating daughter

In looking at my beautiful baby girl who could never wear clothes on the beach,
never met an animal (including reptiles)

she didn't love and thought dirt was a badge and paper never had enough space for her essays:  I say congrats Morgan.

 Job well done.

You turned the lousy high school experience into the lovely collegiate pursuit and graduated with honors.

I love you more and miss you a great deal.
 Every day.

 and I searched for songs to toast you and there is a list - of course there is a list...

 http://voices.yahoo.com/top-30-songs-dedicate-daughter-7942458.html?cat=25

But there was one, that did not show on the list and it is not the standard send off, but the warning type song.

The group is called Daughter, and the song Youth

And I love the part about being the lucky one.  Being in this world, across all nations as you want to be, you are lucky.  You have had a loving  family and enough money and a public education.  You have a wonderful heart and common sense and sense... of what is around you and whom. And Whom.

I know that you are struggling with what is next, but not me.  I trust you. I trust all that you are.  You are amazing and smart and beautiful and strong. You are passionate and love your animals and your garden and mass transit.  You supported Obama but not blindly and you care about the implementation and you object to the blind obedience.

You and the others of your generation are the best of the best. You have more education and the luxury of thinking about it.  You have the time to grow up and the time to ponder and the time to not judge and the time to rethink.

You have been more places by 17 than I at 55. You have a broader perspective and more tolerance and less judgement than anyone in my generation. You can make jokes with friends that don't insult and know with friends when jokes are not funny.

 You know the importance of the online communication and that abrupt words in email can hurt and that Facebook is forever, but not for everyone.  Twitter is only 140 bad characters and YouTube videos are now more than 15 minutes.

And yet.

You still want a graduate degree and to compete on horses at the Olympic level and to speak foreign languages  You still hold yourself to expectations that I never dreamed of.  You are truly amazing.

So here is to you my young daughter.  If you go to Cornell, or Portland State or Aachen, they are the ones blessed to have you.  They are the ones who should look to you and say why in this world of on line education should we be fortunate enough to have you at our brick and mortor?  They should look at you and say here is our future now and later.

If they are smart, they will look at you and see that they will never see all that you and your generation will be, but make it possible for you to be the next, the best, the bold, the edgy, the strong the weak, the timid, the future. Our future.

So the average elephant baby matures at age 70 and that means that now that humans live to 100, youth should last to 25 and adulthood should be 30.

And these are arbitrary numbers as are all things projected.  So enjoy your youth.  You can at least surpass the elephants.

Joy the Baker – These Things I’ve Learned in Thirty Years

Joy the Baker – These Things I’ve Learned in Thirty Years

and eventing is really fun Mom!

ready to ride

Rising to the Occassion Texas Style

This past month, I had the opportunity to visit Texas.  With the exception of passing through to change planes, I had not been there since I was a kid.  So visiting Austin, Texas was quite an experience.

First off, Austin is not what one thinks of when you say Texas.  Very few cowboy hats.  But there were boots.  Lots of boots, but more on the boots later.

The first day, I had flown all day from Tallahassee to Austin.  That means going through Atlanta airport.  The longest, never change planes on the same concourse, ever, airport in the U.S.  Ride the train, wait to get off, ride the escalator, ride the elevator.  The only thing they didn't make you ride was a horse (that could at least be fun).  Then off to the skies to Austin.

After sitting endlessly through the "cattle car" section, I arrived at the Austin airport.  It was a genuine Texas welcome, with a towering guitar.  Showing my ignorance, I asked about the guitar.  Who knew that Austin was famous for music?  Okay, who in Tallahassee knew Austin was famous for music?  The guitars are everywhere.  Huge colorful guitars for varying corners with much appreciated color and meaning.  Also, a very convenient way of navigating the city.  This is particularly true for the direction challenged.

My traveling companion wanted to head to the hotel, so after checking in, I went walking to discover the lay of the land.  It was fairly straight forward and grid like, so all I needed to remember was Congress Avenue, and the numbered streets.  All the other streets are named after rivers.  That single piece of information made the walking pleasant. Once I had oriented, it was back to the hotel to make the plan for sight seeing after attending training at the huge civic center across from our hotel.

The second evening, it was a walker's paradise.  We strolled west along fourth, made it over the bridge, then turned and went toward the park.  We had heard about the bat colony: http://www.austin360.com/search/content/events/special/bats.html  It is alleged to be the biggest in urban America, but you will have to do your own research.. Though we made it to the Lamar Street Bridge and crossed over to watch.  No bats emerged where we could see, so we went back down to hike Lady Bird Lake Trail.  It was filled with people walking, jogging, running and showing their pets the outdoors.  It was lovely and laced with Texas Flowers: the bluebonnet http://www.50states.com/flower/texas.htm

They are some kind of blue and very spicey to look at.  They decorate the hillside where the lake is and make the landscape a vast canvas of color.  We continued the hike, but came to the detour site, that said the roads were closed and so was Congress Ave.  An art show was in progress of dismantling.  We missed the show, but it must have been fabulous because the streets were packed with semi trucks and porta potty vehicles.  We had to climb the hill and slip through a fence to avoid another long walk.  I personally would have kept going, but my sidekick was starting to fade on me.  She kept muttering about a coldbeer.  Coldbeer is one word for her.  And apparently, not just her.

We emerged at congress and started the long hike back.  We decided to stop at Frank's for a coldbeer and a ginger beer.  http://hotdogscoldbeer.com/  Frank's is a pretty cool place, that looks like a grocery store, but inside is a bar, restaurant, coffee shop and music hall.  We had the privelege of listening to Ava.  The photos almost can let you hear her soft melodious voice belting out crooner music.  Check her out! http://www.avaarenella.com/#!music

After that we strolled back tot he hotel.  A bit refreshed (where my sidekick decided a pizza was in order).

The next day we had time to slip out for lunch at the Driskill.  If you have never been, it is quite lovely with a story behind every pillar and room.  It was breathtaking and truly awesome when you see it  for the first time.  I can see why LBJ took Ladybird there for dates.  Quite impressive.  http://www.driskillhotel.com/

Lunch was divine and all of us had our fill.  They have the most incredible burger that you have ever had.  Amazing.  Bacon, egg, cheese, hashbrown, burgehttp://www.austinducks.com/r, bun, just oozing with caloric goodness.  It is huge too.  What a fabulous walk back to the convention center after such a lunch!

No tour would be complete without a tour with the "Ducks".  Ausitn Ducks tour http://www.austinducks.com/  took us on the river, by the capital and past the UT campus.  It was great weather and lots of fun.  Our guide was a part time tour leader who full times as a firefighter.  Handsome, fun and brave in one package!

I will visit Ausitn again, with better walking shoes (did I mention walking with my broken foot boot on?).  I really appreciate the sights, the friendly residents and the lovely atmosphere.  I wish my daughter had been in Stubbs barbeque and I wish that my sons could have heard the music.  Maybe I can put Austin on their to do lists for the future.

BTW I am not sure why, but Austin just makes you feel more beautiful and alive.