on the road (a week ago)

All taken on the roadtrip from home to college. Which yes, did happen over a week ago. Also all SOOC.

Out and About in Central Park

Night on the Town

We went to see Mamma Mia! (absolutely no photography allowed) and the city at night.

Staten Island Ferry

New York City, continued.

On our first day we took the Staten Island Ferry.

Breakfast and the Subway

I am making my way slowly through New York photos. Instead of waiting (possibly forever) for me to finish all of them, I thought I'd post them in chunks.

These are from the first day;eating breakfast from a cart in a little square, surrounded by water and traffic and then starting to figure out the subway.

Two Ways to See

It took a long day of travel to get where we were going. Driving and flying and taxiing. Only to arrive at the hotel and find that our room wouldn't work because....and it just sort of went on and on.

Or at least that's how it felt.

I was exhausted. I wanted to curl up and sleep. But I was also hungry. So we went out to eat.

This tiny little Indian place that was long and very very skinny. With very excellent food.

All through dinner I had been staring at the beautiful lights that didn't match the intricate Indian lanterns. The fun, bright wall colors. The simplicity of plates and glasses and napkins, just waiting to be used.

So when our ice cream arrived, I just had to get out my camera.

And even though they're horrible pictures, dark and grainy and very orange-y, I don't care.

They're perfect.

Because they're what grounded me. Made me feel like I had really arrived.

Suddenly I was dancing down the streets, irritated by my slow parents and the necessity of stopping for cars.

Photography is what I needed to really be present.

***

After just a few short days in the city, I was tired. I was ready to leave.

As amazing as it was, it was constant movement and stimulation.

All I wanted, and needed, was to curl up with a book and just be still.

It was really perfect timing because the next day we took the train out to Long Island.

A beautiful place that reminded me of where my grandparents used to live.

Small towns and strawberry festivals.

It smelled clean.

And as beautiful and photogenic as it was, I didn't take out my camera once. Not once.

I had been with it, behind it, almost constantly during our time in the city.

I needed a break.

I love to be behind the lens. It helps me to see the world in a different way and to see things I never would otherwise.

Yet sometimes I need to leave it behind and let my own eyes take it in. The beauty in my surroundings.

I am so incredibly glad I brought my camera to capture memories and to center my brain. I am so incredibly glad I let it sit in it's bag for the last three days to let my brain calm down, and to let the memories seep into my pores.

Both

Yesterday was a long day. I somehow managed to be awake and packed and out the door by the time I had been waking up for a week. Sleep is a wonderful thing.

I ate another muffin. Really really good blueberry muffins.

I put off calling the hospital, to tell them I wouldn't be able to make it in.

Mostly because I still wanted to believe I would go. Which of course, was completely ridiculous.

A car ride, two trains, a taxi, a looong flight without a movie, and another car ride, and we were home.

Home to our house.

Shriveled orchids and purring kitty.

Comfort and routine and internet that works.

I unpacked at night. When the house is quiet and I'm listening to music on my iPod that is once again fully charged.

I create a scary pile of laundry to add to the already scary pile.

I dig some coins out of my hairbrush.

I flip through the playbills from the shows. I finger the tickets.

I breathe in the salty smell of the sea.

I run my hands over sandy shoes.

I love to travel.

I love going to new places and exploring.

I love being a tourist. Once I can get over the "I look like a total tourist" thing.

And I love coming home.

I love feeling wrapped up by familiar smells and sounds.

I love both.

Leaving

Tomorrow I will wake up at 7 am. About three hours earlier than what I have become accustomed to.

I will double and triple check everything, convinced I have forgotten something. I'm sure I have, but hopefully it won't be something vital. Like my boarding pass or camera. Or underwear.

I will trek through an airport, mourn the loss of the really-good-muffin-place, and settle in for a three hour flight.

I will disembark into a new airport that I have only heard about. I will get on the subway and thank my father for doing so much research.

I am sure I will want to curl up and go to sleep and go out and run around with my camera like a crazy person.

I don't know what to expect. This is a city I have heard so much about, yet I really know nothing about it. I don't know the people. I don't know what it sounds like or smells like.

I only know what it looks like through other people's eyes. I have yet to see it with my own.

I have left much undone, here at home.

My bulletin board is half-full, waiting for me to print out all the pictures of smiling people and laughing faces.

My pictures are a mess. My camera rearranged its numbering system and I lost my editing program.

Yet tomorrow I will get in that plane and let go of it.

Someone else will, literally, be in control. I am there as an observer, to soak it all in. And to do that, I cannot remain attached to here. I can't be focused on my messy room while I'm in the city that never sleeps.

What I Did While I Was Gone

I learned my ipod battery doesn't really last six days.
I inverted an umbrella for the first time.
I hung off the side of a cable car.
I scared a seagull.
I walked until my joints ached.
I returned to the crepe place.
I didn't return to the doctor's office.
I discovered a picnic table that I want to come back to and eat a picnic at.
I took pictures.
I got glared at, but mostly saw smiles.
I stood out as a tourist, despite my best efforts.
I bought one scarf.
I got wet feet.
I spent a lot of time in airports.
I got home at 3 am.
I don't think I lost anything.
I still wrote everyday.
I took pictures everyday, more or less.
I missed my cat.
I walked through Chinatown and really stood out as a tourist.
I saw beggers.
I wore eleven pairs of socks.
I stayed a little organized.
I brought back more than I went with.

Year in Review

My parents and I were talking on New Year's Eve about 2009. A lot of it has been me being sick, and them working. We found good doctors this year who are really great, working at my pace and keeping in contact with us and all my other docs.

My dad went to Argentina, and was very missed for the month. He is teaching another month long course over the summer in Namibia. I thought it would be fun to stay in South Africa for the World Cup, but he is coming back to be with us. Smile.

Let's see, my mom did lots of chauffeuring of me back and forth across town. And she worked. Now she is going to move her office a few blocks, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but it will be. Last time she moved the movers broke all her stuff and didn't pay for it. Fun, fun, fun.

She and a friend are going to France and Spain in April. She has relatives in France, and then they are going to go exploring for about a week along the border. I am super jealous. Tonight we are having friends over to talk about their own experiences in Barcelona, so we are making lots of tapas.

It's a little sad just being at home and doing school while my parents are off having lots of adventures. I used to travel a lot too; that used to be our thing as a family. But it's okay, I know I'm getting better, and that this is where I am right now, and this is where I need to be.

That doesn't stop me from salivating over the pictures.

This was my mom's big Christmas present from me. I did it in the art class I am taking, with a woman who lives down the street.

She also gave me sort of the basic idea for my dad's present, which was a book with pictures and memories of the two of us.

I got that hat for Christmas-it might just be my favorite present. It is very warm and fuzzy. 

Smokey's present was a laser light and she just goes nuts over it. And skids everywhere on the floors. I keep thinking I need to take a video, because she is very cute. She looks like a dog chasing its tail.

Every year JibJab does a year in review; I didn't think this one was as good, but check it out. (And while you're at it watch the other ones, especially It's Time for Some Campaigin'.)

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Does anyone know what the original song is? I've never heard it before, not that it's particularly catchy....

A Blah Day with Good Memories

Today is a very cold, sort of nasty day in that it is below freezing and very windy, but snow-less. I have been reading other blogs all morning and am now very jealous of all the pretty snow. It makes the cold a little more bearable because it is just so fun and pretty to look at.

Yesterday I had a procedure done that is supposed to help with my headaches. I got about 40 shots in my head, neck, and shoulders that will block the nerves and get the muscles to relax, which should in turn help with my headache. So far I am not impressed, but the doctor said it could take up to a week for it to take effect, so I am trying to remain open-minded.

*****

This year I thought it might be fun to participate in The Best of 2009 Blogger Challenge. So today I get to discuss my best vacation from this year. Now, I didn't actually take any vacations, unless you count driving to doctors, so I am going to sort of cheat and do one that my dad took.

He taught a college course in Argentina in October/November. He took students down, and they learned all about the ecology and biology of the area for about a month. He was very missed back here, but he had a wonderful time, and came back very tan and full of life.

He has taught this course in previous years, and my mom and I went for a few weeks one of the earlier times. It was great; we got to see spectacular views:

swim in ridiculously cold glacier water:

and see penguins in a desert:

My dad was pretty happy too, what with all the new, interesting plants. (He's a plant guy.)

So this year, I guess I lived vicariously through others.

What about you? What was your favorite trip this year, or any year?