Saturday, April 29, 2017

Wanderlust


Lately I've had a yearning for Africa. Do we all yearn for Africa?

I stare at the map on my wall, on which there are no red dots stuck to the African continent. Truth be told, there's a few continents without red dots. There used to be green, blue, and yellow dots on the map as well, but everyone always asked what the different colors represent, so I wanted to stick with red. My dot stickers are old now and don't stick very well. I just superglued red dots on top of all the yellows, greens, and blues. My fingers are covered in superglue. Boston? How did I miss Boston? Boston got its red dot- I ran the Boston marathon in 2014.

Staring at Africa, my eyes graze over the different colored countries. Where could I go in Africa? Morocco? Yes, maybe some day. But that's not what I'm yearning for. Egypt. Yes. That's what my heart wants right now.

"Right now?" Mike asks when I tell him.

"Well no. Right now I'm going to go for a run. Then eat breakfast." I wonder about the current state of Egypt and decide that at least for the next few months, I don't have time for Africa. I'll spend a week in Hawaii a month from now, I'm spending another summer in San Diego, one more trip with Emily before school is back in session. Then I've got to work on graduating.

Last night I dreamed I was in India, making curried lentils.


Thursday, April 27, 2017

City Life

Jen made a comment a couple months ago that I'm living a glamorous life. I think spending most of your life in a small town can skew your image of city life. I think it was the mention of taking the train to the airport. Trains seem adventurous... although I may have been talking about the light rail, which is a bit less adventurous.

I know what she's saying though, and it's probably why I like living in a city more than in the country (and I've done both). I teach today, so I'm sitting in my 8th floor office (with 8th floor roof access) downtown, dressed up in a teal blouse, open front black sweater, and black slacks. Slip on black shoes. Dangly earrings. Beside my laptop sits my cell phone and coffee.

I did  not take the light rail here today. The light rail takes 2-3 times longer than just driving, so I'm contributing to city's air pollution.

My sinuses are so inflamed that my teeth hurt. My doctor just upped my dosage of Nasacort to twice daily (it's a 24 hour dosage), and order that I get back on Zyrtec. I was going to drive to the pharmacy to drop off my prescription for a steroid inhaler, but I would lose my fantastic parking space. I have to pee and I'm two floors up from the restroom... with no elevator.

I'm wedged tightly between glamour and misery.