“…from 13 original colonies…” Part II

Now that I have described some of the background as to why I am living Boston for the year, I would like to give a brief recap and show some pictures of the road trip from Dalton to Boston. As I mentioned, my friend J.D. had agreed to accompany me & so we decided that since his sister had just provided him with a brand-new nephew in D.C., that we would stop in that area for a few days, so he could see the new baby & I could take the opportunity to visit family in VA, where one of my cousins who lives abroad was also visiting with her newest addition to the family…a baby boy!

Our journey was set to begin first thing in the morning on Wednesday, August 11th. But, as often happens with long road-trips and big moves, first thing turned into about 11 o’clock, after we had finally stuffed the last few things into the jam-packed trailer and somehow pulled that door shut. It really feels like quite an accomplishment when you can compact all of your earthly belongings into a 5X8 U-Haul trailer (with the exception of those few boxes of books and some furniture at Mom & Dad’s…thanks!) The drive to Virginia was for the most part uneventful and the conversation never dulled. J.D. had spent the summer in Portland for an internship in Landscape Architecture while I had been teaching one last Spanish course in Athens, so there was plenty to catch up on…and good thing too, since neither one of us had organized any iPod action for the trip and good radio stations were few and far between.

Just starting out...

We finally arrived at my aunt and uncle’s farm around 9 o’clock, which was just in time for supper…grilled salmon and shrimp served on the patio by the pool; an incredibly delicious and refreshing meal was just what we needed after 9 hours cramped in the jeep. This meal set the stage for the few days I was to spend there with my extended family. Great company and conversation, excellent food and wine and best of all, the chance to spend time my newest little cousin, who had travelled all the way from South America (with mom, dad and big sis of course) at only 3 months old!

The one snafu to this idyllic country life came when I was nearly killed (or so it seemed to me at the time) by a huge (ok Lou, maybe not that big…) tree that fell across the one-lane dirt road directly in front of me as I was out driving one day through a tornado style thunderstorm that happened up one afternoon (here's the evidence...)

Taken afterwards, had already been cut from across the road...

Looking back, it would seem, even to me, that I am blowing this experience out of proportion, but for anyone that has been caught out in their car in a tornado or been at the beach during a hurricane, you can understand what I was feeling at that moment, which is all that matters at the time. This experience makes the 4th time that my life has flashed before my eyes…the other 3 all involve being held under water; twice by sweeping river rapids (remember the time at Fall Creek Falls Mom?) or being held under a capsized kayak, not being able to find the skirt release cord (thanks Greggy!) I don’t remember so much what I was thinking or feeling in these moments when they happened to me as a child, but since two of these events have occurred in the last year, I can say that both times, I definitely sensed the possibility of my imminent death. At first, this provoked panic, increasing my heart-rate, spurring on the use of adrenaline by my nervous system (which is probably to thank for me finding that release cord and the driving reflexes to avoid that tree), but then also, I guess almost simultaneously, a feeling of peace and release as I uttered what I thought to be my last prayer to God, committing myself to His will and thinking about those most important to me, my immediate family (Mom, Dad, sister & brother). However real or imagined these fears might be to a casual observer, I believe the outcome has always produced a positive effect on my thinking; that is, causing me to evaluate my life at a given moment in time & to remind me of what’s most important in life. This experience, along with a conversation with my cousin Lou (who was born only 12 weeks before me) about how we are “getting older” & what our ideas are for the future in regards to starting a family, seemed to provide me with more needed focus relating to the questions I had been struggling with about my future career.

So…on Saturday, I reluctantly hooked the trailer back up, left the farm, drove into D.C. where I dropped off my Cousin-in-Law and his daughter for their flight back to S. America and then headed over to J.D.’s sister’s house for the evening, from where we would leave the next day to drive the rest of the way up the coast to Boston. J.D. had been loving the visit with his sister & brother-in-law and meeting his new nephew & it was great for me to see yet another young family so happy together as they begin to grow. The supposed 7 hour drive from D.C. to Boston in actuality took about 10, 3 of which were spent moving at a snail’s pace through NYC…which I vow NEVER to do again…The New Jersey Turnpike and the George Washington Bridge might possibly be a major cause of suicide in the Northeast, as evidenced by the road-signs that say “Call now!” and give the number of the suicide-hotline…we called, but being put on hold was just not what we needed right then! We did eventually make it to our final destination, where the incredible sunset view of Cambridge and the Charles River suddenly made the whole day more than worth it (see last picture below). 

NYC's gonna be a piece of cake...

Doesn't seem so dismal yet...

Ok, stand-still traffic before the bridge is not a good sign!

Hard to imagine that people live their whole lives here in the Bronx...

On the GW bridge (2 hours later...)

Ah...Connecticut seems like an oasis...

Coming into Boston...

The pay-off!

Coming soon (again)...Touring Boston on bicycle, 1st time at Fenway Park, meeting the new roommates, dropping out of school (it did happen), etc. (I didn’t realize it would take 3 posts to get through all of this…bear with me!)