A few things I'm appreciating the hell out of:
-- A fair number of local businesses and homeowners have left their Christmas lights up as a countermeasure to the long Vermont January nights. I will confess that the short days and recent spells of extreme cold have been having an effect on my state of mind -- coming across displays of holiday lights shining through the darkness feels very nice.
-- Time spent with people. It's far too easy for me to spend far too much time holed up at home, alone, situated out in the middle of deep-winter nowhere as I am, especially during days of seriously frigid conditions. A neighbor told me about a Spanish-speaking potluck dinner happening two nights ago -- I called the place hosting it, had a nice conversation with one of the women in charge. Showed up Sunday night, finding myself in a large, sprawling Vermont farmhouse, amid an unruly collection of folks seated around a long, communal table. Speaking mostly primitive Spanish, eating Mexican style chow, a couple of kids and a pair of dogs slipping in and out of the congenial chaos. A major contrast to my living sitch, recently feeling a bit too quiet and sedate. The house appeared to be the base for a small spiritual community, Tibetan prayer flags hung here and there, pieces of funky artwork were scattered about. Conversation, laughter, motion, energy, decent food, and time spent chatting with the neighbor who clued me in to the event. Then this evening, an hour spent in Montpelier (post manly gym visit) speaking Spanish with two locals at a café/hippy-dippy buffet style joint. One of the other attendees speaks pretty high-level Castellano, the other has a good aptitude for languages, is not afraid of tossing himself into it, screw-ups and all. Simple conversation -- good medicine for too much time spent alone.
-- Money -- specifically, having enough to be able to splurge on a handful of impulse buys. Some DVDs, some good food. Modest stuff, bringing real pleasure to days when life begins to feel like it's closing in.
-- Daydreams, mostly about heading off to other parts of the world. A Canadian friend arrived in India last week, is sending out the occasional short email dispatch. In French, similar enough to Spanish that I can understand it, the brief bulletins provoking major bouts of imagining myself there (eating hellaciously good Indian food). A friend has offered the possibility of house/dog-sitting in northwest Spain for three or so weeks at the end of February, beginning of March. Don't know if it will work out, my immediate future being so up in the air, but it has my wheels spinning in good ways.
Thursday I head up to Montreal for three days, for a shot of other-placeness. Hang out with friends, eat good food, check out the winter version of a very international city. A good way to open out my little world for a while.
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January afternoon, East Montpelier, Vermont:
España, te echo de menos.
rws 8:02 PM [+]
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