- Published on
New York, New York
And people are here from all over the planet speaking all their myriad of languages and think of all the hours worked to get here all the emotional upheaval all the planning the working the wishing and praying and suddenly you are there in Times Square and your heart just sings at it all and your inner child is practically climbing up your inner organs and screaming dear Lulu! THIS IS WHERE WE BELONG! OH HOW I LOVE IT HERE! And your adult sensible self thinks, oh god. New York?! Times Square?! It is grimy and full of advertising and pandering to mass consumption and the massive energy use of the place and the people everywhere. And surely this is not paradise! But oh my! Another hundred people! NYC with all your shiny lights and endless billboards and theatres on every corner and crowded streets and vendors selling hot dogs and pretzels and the stands with the men selling prints of paintings of the shiny lights and endless billboards and theatres on every corner and crowded streets and vendors selling hot dogs and pretzels. And everywhere you look is a sign advertsing a show! And theatre is number one! And you’ve just come from a Broadway show and here you are walking down Broadway to the subway at 42nd Street and it is wonderful! It’s true what they say, the Bronx is up and the Battery’s down and the people ride in a hole in the ground, New York, New York, it’s truly wonderful brilliant amazing makes your heart and soul sing!
- Published on
LA
And you find yourself on a mountain. And over to your left is the Hollywood sign, unfocused and blurry not from romantic screens over the camera but from the haze that covers the sprawling city. But still the view is pretty and surprises you because there is more green than you ever expected or remembered from your last time in this place. And then you are sitting in a chair that gives you a massage while one lady buffs and files and paints your nails while another buffs and files and paints your toenails and suddenly you are in a restaurant which serves the best quality food and it makes you happy to know that there is a place that values organic whole foods too. It even has a name here. Macrobiotics. And you spend time with friends and you play games with dice in red cups and you work together to save yourselves from the sinking island and capture the treasure and escape before it's too late and because there are more of you playing you can't quite figure out how to do it and the game sinks you twice.
With old friends in LA
And suddenly you are on the other side of the country watching the Tony Awards in Brooklyn. And it is nice to be with people who have even been to see some of the shows, let alone know what the Tony Awards are. And then you are standing on the High Line, a disused railway line that is now a garden. And it really is delightful to walk above the New York hustle and bustle and be amongst the greenery. And then you are in Central Park, and the Frick Museum, and then you are walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and you find yourself in a little shop drinking hot chocolate spiced with chili and cinnamon and nutmeg because although it is the beginning of summer this afternoon is a little cold with a constant drizzle of rain and it is perfect weather for spicy hot chocolate and little hand-made chocolates.
The Highline
And then you are in Boston. And you are with your cousin. And although she is several years younger than you, and you grew up continents apart, she gets you. She understands. She is like you. And it is nice to be with a kindred spirit. And you eat pizza with goat's cheese and fig and caramelized onion. And you sit in an Irish-style pub and listen to an Italian musician sing convincing drinking songs, and everyone around you is banging the table with their hands and singing and laughing and even thought the room is dark the mood is light and you enjoy your red wine and your gorgonzola melt and singing and laughing with the rest of them. And then you are in Salem and you marvel at the history of it all and when did that history become a tourist attraction? The cemetery with its old graves makes you shake your head in wonder. A grave from 1692! And you look out at the lake behind Kassie's house and marvel at all the events that have brought you to this place, this whole year-and-a-half of events, and you are glad that you are here with this beautiful friend overlooking a beautiful lake.
Salem
And then you find yourself on Nantucket. And you are with Los Titos de Nantucket. And they make you feel so at home, so welcome. And although there are many memories here, you feel OK. And it surprises you to feel OK. And it makes you feel better. And you wander around town and feel joy in all the flowers and the prettiness of the place. And you are walking along the beach looking out to the Atlantic. And all around you are shells - the flat mother-of-pearl ones are Indian currency. The round stripy ones are scallop shells and remind you of the Camino, but these are smaller. There are rocks and shells of every colour and the sand alternates between soft and rough and you watch a seagull picking its way through a fresh crab. And as you get closer, the gull picks up its lunch and moves further down the each, lest you try to steal his catch of the day.
Nantucket
And you breathe in the salty air. And on the ferry you toss two pennies overboard, just past the lighthouse, to make sure you will return. And as you approach the lighthouse you inspect the pennies and discover that there is a penny for each of the years your sisters were born, the older and the younger, and you think that is a nice touch of coincidence. Your family are with you wherever you go. And you hope that by throwing those pennies up into the air and sparkling down into the water below, they will draw your sisters here, and bring you back too. To this pretty place where you have so many friends and so much delight.
Nantucket
- Published on
Imagine a girl who wakes up one day to find herself on a plane. And she is somewhere over the Pacific. And she thinks perhaps the events of the past year and a half have only been a dream. Because suddenly it all seems right to be flying in the air towards a new life, heading
towards a life of musicals and theatre and being away from the place where she was born and grew.
And even though this is her third trip away, this trip feels different from the trips before, because now she has the Scarecrow and the Tinman and the Lion by her side. In the past year and a half she has acquired a little more wisdom. She did the meditation course and sometimes it was hard but mostly it was wonderful and she learnt to sit quietly with herself
and be still.
And even though her heart had been shattered into a million thousand pieces, she realised that she had all these wonderful friends around her (And you were there! And you were there!) and she learnt to look after herself and take care of herself which were all very important. And it was heartening to make all these discoveries.
And in discovering she had a little more wisdom and a little more heart than before, she discovered she had the courage to go out into the world as herself and not be afraid of what other people thought or said or how often they projected their own fears about the creative life onto her being.
And she made a promise to herself that she would continue to practise as often as possible to have wisdom and heart and courage and remember her friends by her side and to go out into the world and trip the light fantastic.
The end. Sort of.
towards a life of musicals and theatre and being away from the place where she was born and grew.
And even though this is her third trip away, this trip feels different from the trips before, because now she has the Scarecrow and the Tinman and the Lion by her side. In the past year and a half she has acquired a little more wisdom. She did the meditation course and sometimes it was hard but mostly it was wonderful and she learnt to sit quietly with herself
and be still.
And even though her heart had been shattered into a million thousand pieces, she realised that she had all these wonderful friends around her (And you were there! And you were there!) and she learnt to look after herself and take care of herself which were all very important. And it was heartening to make all these discoveries.
And in discovering she had a little more wisdom and a little more heart than before, she discovered she had the courage to go out into the world as herself and not be afraid of what other people thought or said or how often they projected their own fears about the creative life onto her being.
And she made a promise to herself that she would continue to practise as often as possible to have wisdom and heart and courage and remember her friends by her side and to go out into the world and trip the light fantastic.
The end. Sort of.
- Published on
What on earth possessed a human to look down at a chestnut pod and think
Hmm, I’m going to crack open that there spiky pod and then I’m going to take out what ever is inside and I’m going to throw it on a fire and crack it open again and eat the yellowy white flesh in the middle
Because truly, chestnuts are a strange item
And it is hard to imagine that you didn’t eat your first roasted chestnut until you were 24 and walking the Camino in rural northern Spain
Because by that time in history chestnuts had already been reduced to a cliche
Swooney tunes sung by swooney men at Christmas time in the northern hemisphere
Entire worlds away from your birthplace
And at 24 you are walking through a chestnut forest with your beloved
And you wonder if the chestnuts on the ground all around you are edible
And you exclaim I want a roasted chestnut!
And you round a corner and there are Giuseppe and Maria collecting chestnuts
And Giuseppe calls out to you
And you start chatting
And he talks about the niños in the area lighting fires at this time of year
And you and your beloved shake your heads and tsk-tsk those naughty niños because where we come from children who light fires in the forest at the end of summer are asking for trouble
But this is northern rural Spain
And autumn time is chestnut time
And Giuseppe lights a fire and throws a couple of chestnuts into it
And you stare around nervously wondering if it is ok to be in the middle of the forest with old Spanish men lighting fires
And then he gives you a smoldering chestnut
And you peel it
And it burns your fingers
And then you taste your first roasted chestnut
And it is like a hot potato
It is like a hot potato with just the right amount of butter
It is amazing
It is heaven
Suddenly the cliche makes total sense
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
And two years later you are at home in Ashfield
And your beloved is gone
But you have a bag of chestnuts from the markets
And you’ve roasted them in the oven according to your uncle’s advice
And the smell of it makes your heart yearn for another time
And you peel the first chestnut
And the heat of it surprises you
And then you bite into it
And the taste is as blissful as heavenly as wondrous as you remember
And you remember the time and place and happenings of your first chestnut
And you smile
And you wonder how it is it all began
Hmm, I’m going to crack open that there spiky pod and then I’m going to take out what ever is inside and I’m going to throw it on a fire and crack it open again and eat the yellowy white flesh in the middle
Because truly, chestnuts are a strange item
And it is hard to imagine that you didn’t eat your first roasted chestnut until you were 24 and walking the Camino in rural northern Spain
Because by that time in history chestnuts had already been reduced to a cliche
Swooney tunes sung by swooney men at Christmas time in the northern hemisphere
Entire worlds away from your birthplace
And at 24 you are walking through a chestnut forest with your beloved
And you wonder if the chestnuts on the ground all around you are edible
And you exclaim I want a roasted chestnut!
And you round a corner and there are Giuseppe and Maria collecting chestnuts
And Giuseppe calls out to you
And you start chatting
And he talks about the niños in the area lighting fires at this time of year
And you and your beloved shake your heads and tsk-tsk those naughty niños because where we come from children who light fires in the forest at the end of summer are asking for trouble
But this is northern rural Spain
And autumn time is chestnut time
And Giuseppe lights a fire and throws a couple of chestnuts into it
And you stare around nervously wondering if it is ok to be in the middle of the forest with old Spanish men lighting fires
And then he gives you a smoldering chestnut
And you peel it
And it burns your fingers
And then you taste your first roasted chestnut
And it is like a hot potato
It is like a hot potato with just the right amount of butter
It is amazing
It is heaven
Suddenly the cliche makes total sense
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
And two years later you are at home in Ashfield
And your beloved is gone
But you have a bag of chestnuts from the markets
And you’ve roasted them in the oven according to your uncle’s advice
And the smell of it makes your heart yearn for another time
And you peel the first chestnut
And the heat of it surprises you
And then you bite into it
And the taste is as blissful as heavenly as wondrous as you remember
And you remember the time and place and happenings of your first chestnut
And you smile
And you wonder how it is it all began