Someone with pull must have checked out that last post -- this morning dawned with blue skies and wan October sunshine, the first radiant a.m. in a while. I was out of bed at a hideously early hour to bring the car in for work ('cause although my debit card has been working overtime this last week, there's still $$$ in my bank account and we can't have that), the spectacle of sunshine streaming down through passing clouds boosted my barely conscious spirits in a big way. Enabling me to stumble through calorie burning at the gym with a minimum of pathetic moaning and bitching, then off to take care of far too many things needing attention before picking up the car and handing over far too many sheckels to the service department of the local Subaru dealership.
A beautiful morning, autumn leaves that looked dull/washed-out in yesterday's rain and overcast shone with spectacular color in the new day's sunlight. Montpelier is currently overrun with enormous buses packed with folks hoping for the rustic New England autumn experience. This a.m., one pulled over and parked in a right-turn lane at the town's main intersection. Its door swung open, a stream of gray-haired older folks in running shoes and casual (but not too casual) duds got off -- looking around, blinking in the sunlight, then dispersing to get some air, walk in and out of shops and take photos of, well, just about anything. (Local traffic, meanwhile, turned messy from the sudden loss of the lane at that key intersection.)
It's strange to be back in this compact place after the comparatively outsized city of Montreal. Last week was the end of my time there, a friend was supposed to drive up, we would then head north for two or three days of fun in that lovely, bilingual burg before I packed up my metaphorical tent, gave up the studio flat I'd rented for August and September, returned here to get ready for the next big adventure. The night before she was to join me, I got a late-night call: herself telling me she'd just discovered that her passport had lapsed last year. (D'oh!!) I encouraged her to call the passport people next morning, see if there might be any possibility of getting it renewed on extremely, extremely short notice. She called -- no dice. Leaving me to head north on my own to enjoy the city, spend time with friends, pack up, get out.
The final drive to Montreal: mountains of Vermont giving way to farmlands of southern Quebec, barns and farmhouses surrounded by fields of corn that stretched off into the distance, all that greenery turning yellow as September leaned toward October. Saw one big, boxlike piece of farm equipment moving slowly along the near end of a cornfield, three or four rows of corn being methodically devoured by the machine, leaving open space and orderly rows of cornstalk stubble in its wake.
Spent two days in the city, that brief time feeling like the golden tail-end of summer. Made a field trip to the Botanical Gardens on Thursday, found myself surrounded by camera-toting hordes that slowly thinned out as afternoon tilted toward evening, shadows stretching across lush grass and flower beds.
Had intended to call it quits and head south on Saturday, but after spending most of Friday night out having adventures (yeee-haaa!), my bod refused to cooperate on Saturday morning, forcing me to stay put and suffer through one more day of, er, good food, good coffee, time spent with a friend. Cold autumn rain moved in Saturday night, I was packed and out early on Sunday, overcast hanging low and dark, roads wet and slick. Sparse traffic, no one at the border, Vermont mountains rising against stormy skies. Finding myself back here felt strange, unreal, I dragged bags into the flat, dropped them, spent the day in a state of depressed retreat, finally cranking up the t&v, letting the hours slip by. Next morning, a full day of things to be done waited impatiently, leaving no time for boring self-indulgences like depression.
And that's been the story of the last week: getting shit done. All kinds of shit. Big honking pooploads of shit. 'Cause this coming Monday I drag my bags onto a bus and head down to Boston/Cambridge where I'll spend a night staying with friends, take care of errands the following morning, and fly out Tuesday night. Back to Madrid. Don't know how long I'll be there, don't know what in hell I'll wind up doing. Could be I'll wind up looking for a place to stay for a while, could be I'll head off from there to parts unknown. I have no idea what will happen (when friends ask what I'm going to do, I say, "I have no answer to that question."). I just know I'm ready for some big changes. Time to leap off into the void and see what happens.
España, te echo de menos
rws 5:43 PM [+]
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