River Brown

Waiting in the gas line this morning, with my Miata’s top down and the sun blazing, KDFC Baroque hour piping a chamber piece from Corelli, I was exulting in the sheer loveliness of being alive, healthy, well-rested and enjoying a full day to get ready for my road trip.

I have been working all summer, which was wonderful, but having a get away and change of scene is the best.  Monday, while many of my colleagues are fluffing up their classrooms and shopping the sales, I’ll be on the road to Ashland.  I am simply going to breathe and trust that I will get all that stuff done quickly when I return and step into the meetings and schedules.  For now, rest.

One of the first things I’ll do out there in Valley View at the “hobby farm”, after hugs all around with mom, sister and brother in law, will be to walk down the country road where the blackberries grow by the irrigation ditches.  They are prolific.

Picking blackberries is like church, said Toni Morrison, somewhere in Beloved. I believe it is.

And, I will read, play with pastels or paint, take long walks and go into Ashland to enjoy the small town shops and local atmosphere.  There’s a real bookstore there with a nice cafe upstairs.

All I have to do is pack.  And water and feed the dozen and a half orchids — Mom’s.  We want them to be perky when she comes home with me at the end of the week.  And, the house has to be perfect for the airbnb guests who will serve as Mickey’s wait staff while I’m gone.

However, none of these little chores are any kind of burden, because the day is long, the ceiling fan is keeping the house cool, the cat is stretched out beside me listening to the clicking of my nails on the keyboard.  And life is pretty good.  As lovely and uplifted as a Baroque tune played a little too loud on the radio.  As vibrant as the deep red tomatoes I ate with fresh basil for lunch.

I am drinking in every moment of this vacation, since it began on Friday night.