Sunday, October 23, 2011

Where Have I Been?

Who knew I would be missed?  It's been some time since I've sat down to write. This is mostly due to my being back in RI with my family.  I guess I haven't had much time to write. Also, there is so much that simply cannot be put in to words (I'm sure you know what I mean)

The month here visiting is coming to a close, Thursday I leave for two weeks in FL.  Dennis has been in France this past month, taking care of his mother without me. It has been a very difficult separation for both of us, the kind that cannot possible be properly expressed with words. Needless to say, we have sworn to each other that it will be the last goodbye. Let's hope we can keep that promise.

So what have I been doing?  Believe it or not, exercising has been a daily event for me since coming home. If you know me at all, you know how funny it is for me to even write that. Working out is not something I do without a fight.  And actually watching what I eat. France, in 7 short weeks, tempted me into more weight gain then I care to discuss here and I am slowly making an effort to eradicate that problem. Hopefully my "cheese roll", "fig roll", and "bread roll" will soon be a thing of the past.  Eating here is so very different...I have slipped somewhat back into eating for survival.  Sad really..but necessary when you consider how porky one can get and how quickly it can happen. As a friend of mine once said, "Sarah, you need to do something".



Besides NOT eating and working out...I have spent lovely hours crocheting all manner of tiny animals. Yes, crocheting. I have heard the jokes...the calls of "old Lady" and "Grannie"  but I can't help myself, I love to make them. Pigs and Penguins...and Pandas too.  So there is a table in my parents' living room that has become Noah's Ark of crocheted animals, if you can imagine such a thing.



Being with Anna again is perfect too.  I worry that she and I will be missing something by always being apart...but she seems just the same, as far as I can tell.  I have been readying her for her French adventure. Tomorrow she goes to the vet for her microchip...stay tuned.  We walk together every day. When I sit by the window to read, Anna will come sit beside me with her head just within reach to be pet. She is a constant comforting presence.

Its amazing how slow and how quick a month can pass, isn't it? It drags at night...one sleepless minute crawling past after another. But once the sun rises, I can't hold on to the hours and whole chunks are gone before I can stop for a breath.  I am ready to go and I am dreading goodbye.

The weather has turned cool...not that I am complaining by any means! The leaves aren't brilliant this year but the change in seasons is still enjoyable for me. The crunch of oak leaves under my feet, the frosty grass in the early morning, the need to wear a sweatshirt even indoors.  The sky is heart-stoppingly blue this time of year. Its my favorite thing about Autumn in New England. It feels like it could crush you or carry you off, all at the same time.

So I am hanging around at 36 State Street, with my parents and my sister Kate. Just enjoying the familiarity of the people whom I call home, enjoying my mom cooking for me and chatting with her every day, enjoying the sound of Kathryn's music streaming out from under her door and the smell of candles in the air, enjoying my father searching for music online every night and tapping out the beat with his feet while he is lost inside his noise-deafening headphones. I am back. It isn't foreign to me, it is where my people are. This is my tribe.