Hi everyone,
Starting in again with regular blogging is one of my New Year's resolutions. I am especially saying "Hi" today to Alice, Joan and Jean as the three of you have proven to be my most faithful blog readers. Blogging makes sense as part of this year's major task: to break into writing for a consumer marketplace.
Looking back on 2007 I see a series of misdirected actions which caused me to end the year with a loss of life's gusto. Thankfully the trip we are just finishing reversed that trend. Being in the US and seeing large numbers of family members on what Margie and I called our, "Grand tour" turned out to be a wonderful prescription for rejuvenation. Traveling to the US as a tourist is a blast! California is blissfully sunny, San Francisco is a fabulous city, the ocean is magnificent with waves that shoot up over our heads, can I say more? Of course I can! We took in coconut Palm tree lined streets, Christmas lights, and all the American favorites (such as Mexican food!). Balmy days strolling on the beach dodging the waves at high tide and adobe Spanish styled tile roof homes, nestled in neighborhoods that are diverse as time and building styles could allow. These and many more memories will be stored in our brains as treasured keepsakes from this trip.
Family can be wonderful, warm, inviting, and our experience was that everyone generously opened their homes and their lives to those crazy relative who now live in the Europe. Small children have grown two years older, and have their parents. Talk around dinner tables was of political change, imagined or hoped for. Thank heaven all were well and enjoying good health, although in one case it had been a close call.
Since we did not shop we did not see the commercialism at Christmas that used to drive me nuts. We celebrated by sheparding an aging mother out to see decorations in Houston's malls and hotels and (later) to see the lights decorating the houses at night. When we left the US two years ago the large blow up Santas were something of a novelty. Now a variety offer bright and colorful splashes on most blocks. Two of my favorites were a Santa in a hammock between two palm trees at a beach house and a full Santa express train, complete with elves, toys and moving parts.
As is often the case within deep human connections we travel home realizing that we were given a great deal through our exchange of ideas and conversation with others. It was refreshing to be viewed and acknowledged by friends and family who see us from the same cultural lens as that we grew up in. I leave having felt "seen" and this energized my passions for writing. It feels good to be able contribute fully and I look forward to some new beginnings when back in Kinsale.
On the horizon for 2008 are:
- Volunteering and perhaps leading a meditation class at a cancer center in Cork.
- Writing a book proposal and query letters describing our passage from the US to Ireland.
- Writing an advise column for a free newspaper geared for immigrants and multicultural living in County Cork.
- Teaching online, mentoring doctoral students, drawing pictures and playing games with friends.
love to all,
Alana
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