Grief

There's a wonderful poem by Robert Pinsky in a recent issue of The New York Review of Books.   I read it up in Maine this past weekend but it's stayed with me here in Philadelphia.  It's titled "Grief."  Here's the ending:

You can't say nobody ever really dies:
Of course they do: Lenny died. Mike died.

But the old thing is, the person still makes
A shape distinct and present in the mind
As an object in the hand. The presence
in the absence: it isn't comfort--it's grief.

The presence in the absence--that's what I felt so strongly being in the house in Maine.  It's grief but it's not necessarily sad.  Maybe, one day, it will be a comfort.

Climate Change

I'd like to think that some things will never change--my life in Maine being one of those things. But the reality is that is has changed.  Maybe not forever but right now even the good times are tinged with a sense of loss. That is not to say that I didn't have a wonderful time this past Memorial Day weekend but that was largely because of all the young people--my nephews and their friends, my "niece" and her boyfriend--who filled the house with laughter and love.  My pleasure is watching them make the house their own, filling it with good memories.

And, of course, the weather didn't hurt.  It was warm and sunny, perfect for running on the road, playing tennis and bocce and toasting the sunset on the dock.  Climate change has definitely come to Maine.  We used to see forsythia and lilacs this time of year but not any more.  They had come and gone by the time we arrived.  And the water was warm enough to swim in or so everyone told me.  I, of course, didn't even bring a bathing suit.  The kids even water skied, definitely a first for Memorial Day.

JUBILATION!!

I'm exhausted from following the Sixers.  All that jumping up and sitting down.  All that waving of the rally towel.  Now I know how the Celtics feel.  Those young boys just keep coming at you.  Last night, I had to have a glass of red wine to calm myself down before going to sleep.

I can't wait to watch Game 7 in Maine.  Go Sixers!

Go West!

 Honestly,  I did edit.  I left out many, many photos.  But it was too beautiful and there was so much to look at.  I had to keep clicking.  One wow after another as Jane said.

One thing I learned on this trip is that American history is so much about size and space and emptiness.  The photos don't really convey that.  You have to breathe in the space to experience the immensity.

 https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112770182031192371849/albums/5743682374795220641

The Biddies do Utah

I am a little more than halfway through my road trip through southern Utah with my BFF and long time hiking partner Jane. I haven't been on a road trip like this since I was 16 when my parents and brother and I drove out west for a month hitting all the national parks. It was our one and only family vacation and we all treasured it and talked about it over and over again. When I think about that month in a car together it makes me miss my brother so much. Without him, there's no one with which to share those legendary family experiences, to laugh at those stories or fill in the parts that I've forgotten.

Well Jane and I have certainly had a lot of laughs and the experience has definitely been memorable--the perfect coda to my birthday celebration. I think it will take me a while to completely process this experience. The natural beauty is truly awesome in the most original sense of that word. I've been snapping pictures like crazy but nothing, I think, can capture the sense of being out here surrounded by such massive, majestic and ageless expanses. What really impresses me is the silence and the emptiness. Looking out over the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon or up at the towering sandstone cliffs in Zion, I can't help but think I am in a sacred space.

Here's to Continued Love and Happiness

Does it mean anything that the Sixers beat the Bulls the night before and the day after my birthday. I like to think those victories were a present from Steve. No mushy card under my pillow this birthday but he was thinking of me. I went to the game on Friday and watched it at home on Sunday. In between on Saturday I stuffed myself with food and love and only good vibrations first at Liz's house and then down the street at Mr. Joe's cafe. The food kept coming. The laughs never ended. We came back to my house loaded with leftovers for everyone. Now I am off to Utah with my Jane, my BFF and long time hiking partner. After this weekend, I am ready for anything and everything.

Birthday Countdown

Some things are worse in anticipation than in actuality.  I think my upcoming birthday is going to be like that.  I was a basket case last week but now I'm fine.  Maybe grooving to the dulcet tones of Al Green at Jazz Fest cured me.  Just in case that's true, he's been on my play list--along with Lou Rawls--for the past few days.  Anyway, I am ready to become an official senior citizen.  I even have a laminated copy of my Medicare card tucked in my wallet, ready for any emergency.  Hopefully, there won't be one but at least now I can ride Septa for free.  I plan to keep walking though.