I was driving home in the rain tonight after sitting for 2 hours at a dance lesson. Tomorrow, I will be accompanying five 11 year olds and one 9 year old to the science museum. Sunday, I will be fitting in church, skiing, and oh yeah, the kids climb with their peps that day. I'm no martyr and I fit in quite a bit for myself but I was musing about the things I miss (that is the danger of a 2 hour dance lesson when you are not the dancer)....not as a mom but as a middle-aged person with responsibilities on all fronts.
I miss reading the Sunday paper for hours. Was the news more riveting 20 years ago and so took a more concerted effort? Thinking of the Sunday paper leads into all those leisurely Sunday brunches; banana pancakes in Austin, beignets in New Orleans, green chili breakfast burritos in Albuquerque, and of course, Jazz brunch in Cambridge.
I miss week-ends devoted to just one thing. Like riding my bicycle from Austin to Shiner, Texas.....82 miles in one day. If memory serves me, I was so exhausted once I got there, I tried to get arrested so I could rest. As a footnote, you have to do more than pee in a bush to get arrested in Shiner, Texas. How about all those climbing week-ends? Glorious because that is all we did....we climbed in the week so we would have the stamina to do multi-pitch climbs in the Gunks and in the White Mountains. We slept by the side of the road and ate power bars on the cliff all day. As a footnote, power bars plug you right up.
I miss staying up all night dancing with Jen in our vintage garb and eating breakfast before heading to bed.
I miss travelling. Driving through the night to go skiing in Colorado or to see the sunrise over the canyons in West Texas. Driving out west on a stretch of road between Lubbock and Clovis where there is nothing but road. Feeling the peace of that.
I think we can be in the moment, and love our lives and community and family and all the things we are doing and still take a moment every now and then to remember those hell raising days. I can stand up to an angry adolescent who is threatening to take out the principal because I waited tables at Abel's. I can stand in the rain at my son's soccer game because I rode and climbed in the rain back in the day. And I can damn sure appreciate a Shiner Bock beer, good enchiladas, and now...New England Clam Chowda. It's all part of the mix.
What do you miss?
I can't say I miss any of thing you mentioned . . . I do miss going to clubs and gigs until 2 in the morning, showering, and heading back out to work. I was never tired - how could that be? I miss all the nights dancing with friends in Cambridge and Needham (of all places). The thing I miss most is all the days at the beach - walking, floating on a raft, reading, and just rejuvenating. Maybe I'll try to do that again this year. While I don't think I could, or want to, spend all night in a club, I can still go to the beach.
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