Life’s Destinations
Several years ago, my husband and I were living in England — as a result of a career decision on his part. As the spouse of the person who gets up and goes to work everyday, one must quickly learn how to occupy her time or else simply, go insane.
In my own case that meant walking EVERYWHERE and getting to know the city of London — still to this day, I know the short cuts which will get you from The King’s road in Chelsea to Buckingham Palace.
It turns out that what I thought was a meaningless little journal to pass the time, has turned out to be an invaluable gift to myself.
Recently, as I looked through all of my notations about life in England and all of my explorations, I was amazed at all of the traveling we did. (Much of it I did on my own.)
What is interesting is how much of those experiences and memories have been incorporated into my current life. I know that I own, behave and think about certain things now, as a direct result of having visited different countries:
- My collection of egg cups and my love for fine drapes and bedding, and very large books about the English monarchy: England
- My affinity for plaid scarves, lush wool sweaters and (sadly) Braveheart: Scotland
- Overdressing for most events and trips, including ordinary jaunts to the supermarket: Paris
- My need to use only fresh ingredients and my ability to now make pizza dough: Italy
- The little jeweled shamrock I wear every St. Patrick’s day and the best meal I had in Europe: Ireland
- And…whenever possible, my ability to look at even small moments in my life as remarkable: Spain
So, now…years after my fear of flying…thanks to the events of Sept. 11th…I am now ready to hit the road again. I do hope we return to England…I do miss my local pub very much.
Image: flickr.com/Dunnattor Castle, Scotland
