The Road Home

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

I did that from memory. :) It's my favorite poem. And what I love best about it is that Tolkien puts two versions of it into his books. And he only changes one word - "eager" to "weary." Read it again.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

It's different, isn't it? Completely changed. This is always my poem. Sometimes it's one version. And sometimes it's the other. Today it might be both.

I'm tired. Physically, I'm home. I've been sleeping through the nights and today I went to the library and picked up tax forms. Mentally and emotionally though, I think I'm still making my way across the Atlantic. Having Sarah home next Monday will help a lot. Going to the beach yesterday was good. I drove to the beach by myself and screamed all the way through the Tilimook State Forest. How is that place possible?? The beauty of it overwhelmed me. More than St Peter's Basilica in Roma. That's nothing. Nothing compared to the misty trees, those deep wooded hills and the light snow falling on the road. That was epic. That was majesty. That was grandeur. And it's in my state. It's practically in my backyard.

I said I was tired. And I am. I'm already realizing how much more complicated my life here is than what I had in Fulham. Not in a bad way. Just in a people way. There are a lot of people here. People that I love and I loved seeing at Kyle's wedding. If you're reading this and you were there, I hope I communicated how glad I was to see you. If not, please hear it now - I was very glad to see you and I so appreciated your support for our family. We needed it and we were happy to have you there. Even though it was kind of weird to have all of our worlds collide. :)

So I'm home. And the travels are over for now. But the Road goes ever on. That capital R "Road." Sometimes my feet are eager and sometimes they're weary. But they're always moving.

It's a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

travelin' through

Yesterday Sarah and I rolled into Salzburg on the train and it was not raining. Which was an immediate point in favor of us liking this city. The next few hundred points were delivered emphatically by the beautiful mountains surrounding us on every side. A point or two was taken away for the smoke filling every cafe we wanted to sit it, but overall, we are happy happy happy. I can't help but love a place that puts me within arms' reach of towering peaks and snow-covered hills. Gosh, this place is stunning.

Today we went on "The Sound of Music" tour. That's right. And it was such a good decision. Not least because now I can watch that movie and say, "I've been there! and there! and there! and there!" And probably only you - Daddy - would be able to sit through three hours of me doing that. :) But mostly because it took us out into the lake district which was lovely. And we never would have been able to get out there on our own.

By the way, did you know that Mozart was born here? Because you couldn't walk through Salzburg and stay oblivious to that fact for more than a few minutes. Mozart-worship is everywhere. I like the man well enough, but give me some Mahler and I'll forget Moz-something ever existed. Sacriligious, I know. But I was never a conventional music major.

We just came from Vienna and we have no idea what the city looked like. The wind and rain were so fierce that all we saw was the pavement and the insides of buildings. Can I just say - if I ever have to look at a rendering of the Madonna and Child again, I'm going to hurl. Or Dead Jesus in His mother's arms. I miss Impressionism...

In Vienna, however, we got to go to the symphony. And that lived up to every expectation we had. Debussy, Ravel and some other composer named Zemlinsky. It was gorgeous. Just absolutely divine. The opera, on the other hand, we left at intermission. "What a great experience," we said to one another. "Thank you for not wanting to stay."

Before Vienna was Vernazza in Cinque Terra on the coast of Italy. You'll have to ask me individually about all these places or this update will never end, but this village was classic little Italy. We loved it. We didn't enjoy Firenze as much. It was rainy and grey, but also, we'd just come from glorious Roma, which had completely stolen our hearts and our ability to immediately appreciate any other city. It was sunny there! Sunny and ancient and orange!

So yes. That is the traveling update. After Salzburg is Munich and then Amsterdam, Bruges, and for me - London and home! How quickly the time has gone. I'm anxious to be home, even while being present in the traveling moments - drinking in my surroundings, trying not to inhale too much cigarette smoke, drying out my boots each night, and dreaming of the tea pot which waits for me in Portland.