This is an aimless blog that gives voices to small joys, quirky happenstances, everyday occurrences, and occasional pesterings as the author navigates her life paths as an educator, transplanted Wyomingite, traveler, and curiosity seeker.
That's right. Snow renewal, not removal! I am reveling in the recent changes of weather around here. As school's close, people forget how to drive, and locals complain about defrosting their cars, I feel rejuvenated by the backdrop of white and new way of looking at my neighborhood (it looks so clean!).
Ironically, I began to cover a unit on weather with my students on the first day of snowfall this week, and my students and I discovered a Marcel Proust quotation embedded in our unit:
"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves."
Many of my students from Saudi Arabia and the UAE were seeing snow for the first time in their lives and the novelty of the experience was not lost on them at all. I have seen snow my whole life, and I still have chewed on this phrase over the last two days. It is a brilliant way to think about our relationship to weather. (You may remember the gloomier days of dark postings from the Nordic.) What a little bit of sunshine or snow or rain or wind does to change our surroundings from murky to bright, from sublime to treacherous, or from peaceful to agitated. After all, weather shapes our ways of life and our cultures; why would it have any less profound effect on us?
As a person who checks the weather forecast (can I bike to work today or not?) before she even hits snooze in the morning, I can say that the weather shapes my daily life in a very concrete way. These last few snowy days, although not exactly ideal biking weather, have been ideal for crisp, cool re-examination of my surroundings.
Yes, thankfully, winter even comes to Washington for a moment or two now and then.
There is not a better word to describe these last months than this simple and entertaining toy. It is as if I have been a yo yo controlled by the flick of a wrist. Up and down around and out up and in and loop-de-floop walk the dog and around the world... God has taken me on a wild and fabulous ride and it is a story worth telling.
I guess that speaks a bit to the reason why I like to keep this blog. My time in Europe has once again passed, and I'm a bit more settled, so this is not really a travel log. I am not sure it ever really was, actually. I can't say that I am enamored with the idea of publishing the details of my life to the world, so the purpose of this blog is not to gossip. Instead, I have stories that I am bursting to share. I am convinced that we all have stories to tell. I suppose that "there's something way down deep that's eternal about every human being" (Our Town, Thornton Wilder). All of us have stories, and I just want to throw a few of my happenings into the fray. It makes my world seem smaller when I know that I am reaching out to share those stories with those who are precious to me in the many places they call home.
So, let me share a few of my yo yo tricks and adventures from the past couple of months:
Yo Yo Trick: Walk the Dog And walk the dog I did. Home for the first Christmas in over four years, I had a fabulous visit back to Wyoming to see family and the family dog, Skip. Although the wind chill kept us indoors, we were warm and full (of cookies, lefse, turkey, stuffing... mmmm!) and in great company. Pinochle, Settlers, 31, cribbage, and time with the whole family made it just the best White Christmas to be home for.
Yo Yo Trick: Time Warp I greeted 2009 back in Washington and rung in the new year resolved that it was going to be spectacular. So far, I have not been disappointed. From the very beginning when I showed up at a New Year's Eve party to find that the friend who invited me was stuck in transit from Michigan and Uli and I were the strangers at a party full of friendly faces, the new year was an adventure.
Yo Yo Trick: Around the World Visiting from Nordic Estonia, Uli gave me the best present so far in 2009. We've decided to make our global friendship and romance a bit sweeter and have announced our engagement. We are really excited to celebrate this summer with family and friends in Wyoming!
Yo Yo Trick: Reach for the Moon Just after the new year, I snagged some tickets for the revival of West Side Story being done for one month at the National Theater before moving to Broadway. The performance was great in many ways: fabulous dancing scenes, good music, and, a new take on the show, bilingual songs in both English and Spanish. The Argentinian woman playing Maria was spectacular!
Yo Yo Trick: Spirit Bomb Things in my story were going smoothly until I encountered this yo yo trick. Commuting into work by bike (yes, by bike in January) on a crisp sunny day, I was ready to tackle a new semester. After a day of meeting our new students and helping with orientation, I headed out to find a broken U lock in place of my set of snazzy wheels. Indeed, what a bomb. My cool new blue bike from last summer did not last long (even with my excellent dual locking system) under the trusty hand of professional bike thieves. Alas!
Yo Yo Trick: Boingy Boingy Every down has to bounce up though, right? I solved my security issues by purchasing a Dahon folding bike, and I could not be more thrilled with the ride (see demonstration, below). I can now take my bike indoors to store in my office or apartment without worry of bike snatchers!
Yo Yo Trick: Hop the Fence Last weekend, I did just that and hopped down to Colonial Williamsburg for the weekend to meet up with some friends from Farmville. We toured the city, hit a museum, saw a concert celebrating the glass armonica (an instrument invented by Franklin to emulate the sound of playing water glasses!) and caught up over several games, bottles of wine, and cheeses. The friends we met up with are friends from our time in Estonia, and it always surprises me how much of the world really is just beyond our back door. Friendships that can be picked back up easily in new places and times are really precious.
Yo Yo Trick Ferris Wheel Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year felt almost as exciting as an amusement park ride. Under the direction of the very soulful and inspiring Reverend Nolan, I joined with 170 other voices to be part of the "Let Freedom Ring" choir organized every spring by Georgetown University and the Kennedy Center. This year's program included Nuttin' but Stringz and other artists. The highlight was our choir's soloist -- Ms. Aretha Franklin! The entire performance was stunning from the rocking string players (wow!) to the saxophonist to the energy of the choir for our solo number "Turn You Round" to Aretha's gorgeous voice. The rememberence of Dr. King along with the excitement for the day to follow and the history about to be made was a good warm up for Inauguration Day. (You can watch our performance on The Kennedy Center Millenium Stage).
Yo Yo Trick: Regeneration Just before Christmas I found out that I had been selected through a lottery system to carry the Slovak Flag along with the National Returned Peace Corps Association in the Inauguration Parade!!! I spent January 20 in the middle of it all and in the fascinating company of global and polyglot citizens. We represented the 138 countries and over 200,000 volunteers who have served with the organization since its founding in 1960. Our day was a long one as we met at 7am to clear security and make our way to the Mall and did not finish until almost 8pm that night. The weather was downright chilly but the whole event made me want to alternatively glow and cry. The two biggest highlights were 1) coming into the Mall area by bus around 11am and seeing the crowds extend beyond the Washington Monument and 2) passing by the reviewing stand and seeing the Obamas and Bidens up close. I felt star-struck and enthusiastic about the entire day (and I have a commemorative scarf to treasure!). Indeed, I do hope that we can, Mr. President.
Here's a YouTube video of the folks I spent the day with saying hello in the language of their country of service put together by Peace Corps Connect. I'm in the first ten or so..
Yo Yo Trick: Stop and Go Today, I am yo-yoing back to reality a bit. My better half left me to return to his duties in Estonia, and in these quiet moments I am mulling over this new year and what stories it contains for all of us in the months ahead.
Happy New Year to all of you near and far!
***Disclaimer: the author of this blog has not played with a yo yo for ages, nor can she accomplish the feats of aforementioned tricks. :)
