Imagine Two-years-ago-me
Sitting in her room
In suburban Sydney

Wishing hoping for something different
And following Amy Krouse Rosenthal
And being inspired by what she had to say
Her interactive works of art
And flashmobs and acts of kindness and moments centered around
The Bean, Chicago.
And finding
Today Me
Sitting on the grass opposite
The Bean, Chicago
And feeling like
Oh. My. Goodness. Look where we have come!

And sitting in the public park
On a glorious late summer's day
And people watching
There's a family on a picnic blanket
Mom and two sons
All reading books,
There's a grown-up mother and daughter
Just lounging on the grass
Looking up at the sky, the clouds, the shimmer of trees
The mother has white hair and permanent wrinkles around her mouth
The daughter has brown hair and similar, though less pronounced wrinkles,
And every so often the daughter turns her head to her mother.
There's a mother and baby,

The baby is old enough to sit up on her own, but not yet old enough to be forming words
She can hear the band in the distance, but can't quite figure out where the sound is coming from.
The music excites her and she points to the sky and smiles and exclaims,
"Oh!"
She toddles around on the grass, smiles shyly at strangers who smile at her, and occasionally stops to bop along to the distant music-
She is distracted by another baby, a boy a few months older than her,
He is oblivious to her existence but she smiles and waves at him anyway,
"Look at us! We. Are. So. Clever!"

And then finding
Today-Me
Sitting in a car
With a patient, loving boy
Driving across the vastness that is America
And seeing all the corn and soybeans and giant billboards
And literally driving into the most glorious of sunsets
Where the sun is an impossible giant orange ball

And suddenly you are in
Colorado
And there are mountains in the west
And the streets are wide
And the sky is so incredibly blue
And bands are playing in the small parks
And the lady who sells chocolate honey at the farmer's market is an actual witch
Who knows how to brew concoctions that taste like heaven

And the man from the winery is willing with his samples
And the fruit tastes so good you can't believe you ever lived without it
And you breathe in the warm dry air
And you wonder
What is next on the adventure?

The end.

This summer
I ran rehearsals and taught singing lessons
And led a meditation session in the Igloo overlooking the forest.
I worked and played and hung out with the most wonderful people.
We sang Persichetti and Handel and Traditional and Anonymous.
We read sheet music and improvised and played by ear.
We ate cookies and mac and cheese and pizza and toasted sandwiches
And gobbled up the fresh fruit like we would never see it again.
We stargazed and ran through cooling rain and shivered through raging storms.
I did office duty
And counseled homesick kids
And had long d&m's with campers
I sat in on the Philosophy Club and discussed the existence of god and morality and ego.
I stayed up for late night techs
And got up early to make sure the keyboard was ready for rehearsals.

I helped to stage
6 music concerts
2 musicals
And 1 peace night
And I managed to write my thesis.
I discovered I have more skills than I thought
I relished in what I still have to learn.
I had a tough summer. I had a wonderful summer.
It was emotional and inspiring and exhausting and blissful all at once.
And at the end, I packed up the car with my boy
And drove off, literally into the sunset,
Heading west for the next adventure,
Having no idea what is next.
The end.