I probably should have been keeping up regularly with my posts...and you'd think I would be considering I've been on vacation- but alas, I haven't....
How can I explain myself?
1) Holiday Shopping is exhausting.
Sometimes I can't figure out WHY I participate in this holiday. When I strip it down to what I'm really doing...it is celebrating a consumer holiday. A day where a bunch of money has been spent and a bunch of money is received. Don't get me wrong....I completely love the thoughtful and wonderful presents I received. It just all feels so weird, considering my thoughts on consumerism. Not to mention, doesn't it sometimes feel like you are essentially just buying items for yourself (e.g. I bought one of my brothers a gift card for 20 bucks. He bought me a gift card for 20 bucks. Couldn't we have just skipped the whole exchange and both be 20 bucks richer?)
2) Holiday Travel is exhausting.
Yes, I know...the holidays just wouldn't be the holidays without all the annoyances of driving to where your family lives. This put us in a bind- (the cats)- and luckily we found a neighbor who watched over our little ones. We spent 3 days away from home, split up between Charlotte and Wagram. There were all sorts of nitty gritty items to take care of: when would we open our gifts for one another? did we pack all the presents for family and friends? how could we organize to see all our friends (actually a few friends is more like it)?
I have suggested Holiday: Destination for next year, but I'm not sure that my family is into it. I suggested everyone comes to Myrtle Beach to celebrate. Its quiet here. Its beautiful. And I wouldn't have to travel one damn bit!
Honestly, the highlights of my trip were the few intimate moments that I shared with friends and family members...Like the one moment...
...where Jennie Ann and I sat in the corner of the bar and talked about minimum drug sentencing...
...or when I rode to the mall with my brother John and we discussed the nature of education in public universities...
....or the time I spent with my other brother Taylor at the Park Road house while listening to Neutral Milk Hotel...
...or the conversation I had with my grandmother about aging and the elderly...
...or how my grandmother kept saying veterinarian instead of vegetarian...
...or dancing and laughing with my mom in the kitchen of her house...
...or my stepdad giving me a Cody Wyoming magnet and talking about his trip across country...
...or Tim and I trying to keep everything sweet and light for the entire trip, while staying in that cold, cold Park Road house...
I've realized it is these moments (among others) that made this holiday special. Those are the more important times...not the flying wrapping paper and endless "awwwwwww, awesome. thank you, this is really awesome. i love it..."
*** So what else?
I've been feeling extremely creative lately. I've been thinking of what is next on my agenda of world domination. i still have about 13 days off of school! Now, I can finally "relax" a bit. I'm staying incredibly busy, as I'm trying to get a jump start on the semester and have a majority of the lectures and such already planned out. i'm getting some reading done...reading Zinn's People's History, Seaside Gardening, Hawken's Ecology of Commerce, and a book by Ray Anderson (the CEO of Interface) about sustainability....I think Anderson may be one of my favorite people in the world...."Its the wrong thing to do..."
One of our neighbors has been out of town for the holidays...this pains me because, I tend to gauge the weather based on what he is wearing. Since I am home most days and our mailboxes are right outside our front door...I sit at my computer, while looking out at the front yard/ocean. I usually see this neighbor walk to his mailbox around noon...and depending on what he is wearing, I can tell what the weather is going to be like.
Over 70 degrees: No Shirt, Khaki Shorts, No Shoes
50-70 degrees: Shirt completely unbuttoned, Khaki Shorts, Flip Flops
30-50 degrees: Shirt unbuttoned halfway down, Khaki Shorts, Flip Flops
0-30 degrees: Shirt buttoned, Khaki Shorts, Flip Flops
So, as you can see...the real determinant rests on the buttons of the shirt...and since he has been out of town...I have no idea what the weather is...though we do miss him...but not his evil box of liquor (another story for another time).
Speaking of neighbors, we have another one...who apparently was drafted by the White Sox right out of high school...of course, he also told us he was bringing over his cousin Tanya and we haven't seen her yet...
So...its almost the new year. I don't know what we are going to do to celebrate (other than hit up the bookstore). I'll probably spend some time crocheting...did I tell you I'm going to learn? Regardless, its almost time for my walk on the beach...I always get so thoughtful during those walks. I wouldn't trade anything for that time...
Last week, I read this great book called From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden by Amy Stewart. Here is a tidbit from it....as it reminded me of the type of things I'm experiencing..
"I never thought I'd live in a beach town like Santa Cruz. If you ever wondered whether people who live at the seashore take it for granted after a while, let me tell you: We don't. At least, I never have. To wake up to the sound of harbor seals barking under the municipal wharf, to breathe the fishy salty air every morning- there is nothing better. The Pacific is never the same from one day to the next. Sometimes it is wild and dramatic, even inside the bay where I live. The waves rear up, taller than me, and pound against the sand, sending sea foam flying in every direction. Other days, the sea is flat and calm and almost warm enough for swimming, a study in blues: the flat glass of the ocean, the bright blue of the sky, the faded blue paint of the lifeguard stands.
I walked on the beach once with my aunt D'Anna, who was visiting me from Texas. We were talking about our jobs; we each had our own kind of job stress at the time. "But you see," I explained, "I come here at the end of the day. No matter how bad it is, I always know that there is this waiting for me. Sort of makes everything else seem unimportant." Some nights I see a flock of pelicans diving for anchovies, and sometimes a low tide lays sand dollars and beach glass at my feet. I come home with my pockets full of treasures, and they litter the front porch: the seashells, the dried-out seaweed, the beach glass in a jar. There is always sand in the entryway-you can't keep it out. It dusts the front steps and trails inside like breadcrumbs."
**And so you are probably wondering: Myrtle Beach celebrity? Who is it? Last night, Tim and I had dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Filet's. When we arrived the hostess says, "Don't you teach Psychology?"...and instantly I was a celebrity, though recognized for the wrong subject. Still...its fun to be recognized as a professor. Or just to be recognized. No pictures please!
