To a conference!

Having been home, then, for approximately 5 minutes

I found myself in a Penn State mini-van with these ladies,

on our way to Chicago.

We arrived at our lovely hotel late in the night,

having spent a long day driving.

[Good thing they had this lift for the 3 steps 

we would have had to drag our luggage down...]

But the next morning I awoke ready for a new day,

and found this bakery not too far down the street.

I sat and pondered life, 

watching the morning commuters make their way.

It turned out we were in a part of Chicago called Oak Park,

which is where Frank Lloyd Wright first set up shop.

Hence the neighborhood consists of typical Victorians

mixed in with FLW's creations.

On Tuesday afternoon 

[before the conference we were actually there for began]

we wandered around to take a look,

and discovered that his very first commissioned house 

was right there on the corner.

[Then I ran into this flower, and got a bit distracted...]

Anyway, our destination was actually his original home,

which he built for his family and which has been restored
following their directions.

We toured around it [no pictures allowed!],

and marveled at his genius.

His studio was there as well,

and it was strange to think how ahead of his time he was,

since his work doesn't seem so unusual to us now...

Later that evening we were in for a treat,

because the CEO of the publishing house connected to the conference

actually lives in one of FLW's houses,

and he opened it up to us,

to explore.

[I enjoyed looking around,

though will admit that perusing these nice people's 

kitchen cupboards was perhaps going a bit too far...]

Anyway, we closed out the night by sitting out on the porch,

talking together about all kinds of interesting things,

and marveling at the fact that we were actually hanging out

on a FLW porch.

[Since this was the second experience of FLW's work I had this summer, and since it is usually all 'no touching allowed', 

this felt particularly strange to me...]

Anyway, eventually we ended up back at our hotel,

to continue to enjoy the cool night air

at our charming home-away-from-home.

But let me change the scene here for just a moment,

to tell you about the moments un-photographed.

Because this was one of those situations where if you kept yourself to a certain section of streets, you could think the whole world was pure charm. And, pure white.

But if you ventured off just a block or two,

[which I did, because I do that]

you found poverty, hardship, direness.

You found Jeremiah, of blank eyes and skinny limbs, 

asking for a dollar, but clearly needing more.

You found the man unnamed who stood with you in CVS, buying 6 very large cans of beer, while at the same time quoting AA statements about how life is what you make of it and being very very chipper as he discovered that the bandage he'd unwrapped while waiting in line had resulted in blood just pouring down his arm. 

[Which may explain why the cashier was wearing rubber gloves.]

You found a world you could pretend didn't exist,

if you wanted to.

But you could also carry an ache in your chest,

because buying one man breakfast cannot ever fix it,

and agreeing with the other that you just have to "keep your eyes above" 

will not change the roots of his hardship here below.

And then you could go on to that conference and spend days listening to people who've been educated for many many years, sharing so many things that they have learned and believe to be important. You could join them; you could present all your thoughts on how children learn music and the questions we still have and the answers we want to know, and you could have very nice visuals made of construction paper and rubber ducks and starbursts-for-the-taking.

And you could hop then in your car and head just down a block,

and find again that whole other world, 

and be glad your hotel wasn't just a wee bit further down the street.

You could do these things,

because that is what we did.

Speaking of favorites and being overdue...

There is a delightful town called Ipswich, 

which is where I met Kathy & Gene many years ago,

playing the piano for their sweet little church.

Then I hailed off to Princeton for my grad school years,

where I lived with my favorite roommate of all time.

Then, my favorite roommate of all time left Princeton to move to Boston,

and these days calls the delightful town of Ipswich her home.

Hence, since I was in the area, 

it was obvious I would go to see her.

I met her adorable toddler,

with whom I played and in whom I delighted

while she and I caught up on so much, or as much as two good old friends can when they haven't really spoken in years,
plus there is a toddler in the room.

You see, while Karen's second baby was not yet quite overdue,

this visit was, by far.

Eventually the toddler went to bed,

and Karen and her husband Blair and I ate this delicious pizza

and talked until it was time for me to head on my way,

but long before the talking was actually over.

Just this week, that adorable toddler was joined by a baby brother,

and while he did turn out to be a bit overdue...

we'll have to make sure my meeting him isn't!

Gosh, I love these Favorites

Upon depositing Lisa at the train,

I took my favorite Route 1A,

and headed over to Newburyport for a long overdue 

visit with Kathy and Gene.

Along the way I stopped at a quintessential New England sight:

The plants for sale along the road,

"please put money in the box."

Gosh, I love New England.

Anyway, I arrived in time to visit with kids and grandkids,

before we headed over for wood-oven pizza

in nearby Amesbury.

I was reminded: 

The restaurants in New England are of wide variety,

from seafood to pizza to roast beef sandwiches.

And:

Gosh, I love New England food.

The following morning was Kathy's birthday,

and so she and I drove downtown to 'ye old drug store

[now converted into a restaurant]

and had a delightful celebratory/catching-up meal.

We then spent the afternoon,

lounging in the pool.

It had been a while, but:

Gosh, I love lounging in the pool.

Later that afternoon, after we'd soaked up some sun,

we made our way north to nearby Maine,

and drove around the beautiful sights.

Kennebunkport was our destination,

home of many beautiful homes, charming views of the ocean,

and the Bush family compound.

Even more specifically, 

our destination was just across the street from this view,

at this charming Inn,

for Kathy's birthday dinner.

But, because she is so generous,

the staff were told it was both of our [July] birthdays,

and hence, we were brought mango gelato treats.

We were ok with this, 

even though we were stuffed with delicious food.

For the sake of record keeping: I had a bisque made of crab, roasted corn, mushrooms and lemongrass broth, plus a hunk of monkfish set in mussel and saffron stew, the memories of which I am still reveling in.

Gosh, I loved that food.

Then we drove home, 

tired out from so much good.

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful,

and while Kathy watered flowers and Gene mowed the lawn,

I sat on the porch with coffee,

and read.

Gosh, I love sitting on the porch with coffee.

But then, Kathy's dear sister Merrily arrived,

just in time for Newburyport's Market Square Day.

Together, we wandered around,

combing the booths for treasures and treats,

before settling down for lunch.

Since Gene & Kathy are Newburyport regulars,

we ended up at one of their regular spots,

at which I had the most delicious burger

I've had in a long time.

I don't even remember what was on it;

I just remember:

Gosh, I loved that burger.

And treated, I was, for sure.

Afterward, we spent the afternoon back at the pool.

We lounged, we swam, we talked some more; 

we watched a hawk chase a snake across the yard.

After many years, theses dear people once again
opened up their lives and their home to me
and allowed me the space to dwell peacefully,

and to learn from them.

And all I could think was:

Gosh, I love being with these favorites of mine.

HOL 4: To wrap up

The purpose of HOL is to hash out life,

and while usually we hash it out with Geoff,

this girls weekend was full of special moments in the place we first learned what just-getting-in-a-car-and-wandering could lead to--

random-castle-sighting, 

case in point.

Sunday morning we took more advantage of our view,

talking on the deck as we watched the fishermen,

talking with our window view
when sprinklings of rain drove us inside.

After getting ourselves packed

and tearing ourselves away from our house
[not to mention from Randy, our cranky/absolutely-lovely innkeeper],

we spent some time at the beach.

[There is nothing quite like a rocky New England beach...]

We wrapped up the talking,
making sure we shared all of what's good
and all of what's heavier about life these days,

and then wandered out to drive through the campus of Gordon 

that brought us to the North Shore in the first place,

many years ago.

We reflected on those girls we were,

the women that we are now.

We thought about all we've learned,

the strength that we have gained.

And we laughed about if only we could 

have seen ourselves today back then, because,

did I mention the inn-with-quite-an-expensive-view?

But our hearts ached too,

at the innocence we didn't know we'd lose.

And then we wandered more through my old streets,

until we found the train on which to send Lisa home.

In this beautiful, memory-full place,
we wrapped up 16 years,

ready for whatever is next.

HOL 3: And did I mention there was a castle?

I bet you didn't guess there'd be a castle.

On our way between wandering and back-to-home,

we drove toward a sign that said "Magnolia"

and found ourselves driving past a giant castle,

set on the edge of the sea.

We said:

"It will be corny, but the view is good, and we have to pee. Let's go!"

We did not expect to be 

absolutely and completely charmed.

In the midst of just looking at each other in utter bewilderment,

and proffering phrases such as

"Huh, this is really quite something..."

and

"Words I did not expect to say today:

I guess we have to go out and across the drawbridge...",

here is what we found

[in this castle built by a guy to house him and his wife,

her European treasures and his wacky inventor's laboratory 

back in the 1920s]:

Hammond Castle, ladies and gentlemen.

We recommend.