I really should be packing right now

[pallas_athena]

But I'm writing this instead. It's deep night, and only a few optimistic fireflies are still out. I've been having a last walk around the yard barefoot, enjoying the different surfaces: damp grass, flagstones still warm from the heat of the day, smooth wooden planks. And water: I stood ankle-deep in the pool for a short while. I probably won't have the luxury of going barefoot outdoors in scuzzy London-- at least not much. There was one memorable day a few years ago when I locked myself out of my flat without my shoes and had to spend all day without them and then walk across Brixton in my socks to find the friend who had my spare keys, but I don't know if that counts.


One of the highlights of this vacation has been meeting laughingmagpie and her consort, the dashing and enigmatic Dr. Smith. The Magpie was in town for a family wedding, which was lucky, as it meant we were able to spend some time doing frivolous, fun DC things such as having dinner with speedlime, shopping for vintage clothes and going to the zoo.

In fact, we had one of the best days at the zoo ever. At Dr Smith's suggestion, we watched the octopus being fed, which I'd never seen before. The keeper would skewer a piece of shrimp on the end of a stick and wiggle it around so the octopus would chase it-- and let me tell you, an enthusiastic octopus is a sight to behold. It was basically the same sort of game you might play with a cat, if the cat were squishy and eight-legged and underwater. The octopus didn't want to let go of the feeding stick, and when the keeper tried to pry it away, the octopus captured her hand instead. I shall treat our cephalopod brethren with great respect from now on.

We also stopped by the Small Mammal House, where our hearts were won by some giant elephant shrews with mobile noses. Later, the Magpie-Smiths admitted they'd never seen an armadillo: Canada, apparently, is an armadillo-less land. We asked a passing keeper: "Where should we go to see an armadillo?" He said "Well, I've got one right here"-- and indeed, he was holding one in his hands. So now the Magpies have seen an armadillo from close up, and had all their questions answered by a professional armadillo-keeper. (Armadillist?)

Of course we stopped to pay homage to DC's firstborn panda, Tai Shan (AKA His Royal Fuzzness The Duke Of Squeeee.) The Duke himself was asleep in a cave, but his parents were being extra cute to make up for it. Pandas rule.

Indeed, the Magpie-Smiths were exposed to rather a lot of DC's wildlife: over brunch the following day, we watched a baby sparrow, barely fledged, being fed by its mother. The chick showed no interest in the breadcrumbs we threw: its mother had to pick them up and bring them over, and only then would it flutter its wings and open its beak and make "feeeed meee" sounds. It looked young to be out of the nest; I hope it survives.

In between, we hit the vintage shops of Takoma Park. The Magpie found a few shiny objects to take back to her nest, and I made a couple of unexpected finds too. But the best find by far was two new friends. I do hope the future will contain more Magpie moments.

Last night I went out to the house of some friends who have a ballroom: they have dance parties every so often, and while I'm a total dance n00b, I always enjoy them. (Hats off to badmagic, a skilled partner and a fine wit.)

Today the mercury hit 100, so after a morning of rushing around getting stuff done, the only sane place to spend the afternoon was in a swimming pool. Speedlime and two other friends jumped in too, and then we all rode out to Glenmont where somewanker served us red beans and rice and Futurama DVDs. A splendid last day in DC.

I've thought a lot in recent years about the concept of home. I seem to be able to make myself at home anywhere I happen to be, which is good-- but at the same time, there's no one place I think of as Home with a capital H. I like London, but I don't want to be there forever. I like DC, but if I moved back here for good I think I'd be climbing the walls within a month or so.

So I'm thinking of adopting the stray-cat definition of home as "anywhere I get food and friends." By that token, I'm at home now-- and going home soon.

In an hour and a half, to be exact, so I really should throw some things into a suitcase. See you on the other side, or as I like to call it, "Jetlagistan." Till then, stay out of trouble. If you can.

Comments

[orkamedies.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you caught up with The Duke of squee as well as that lovely weassle pusher speedlime and of course laughingmagpie
Best of all you wandering felline you your on your way back to mucky old London so a weekend of silliness will help get rid of your jet lag.
Will call you tonight to let you know when we will arrive can't wait to see you.

[pvcdiva.livejournal.com]

wahaaaaaa...you're all going to be together in London and I'm going to miss it. Poooooh!!!! Have a splendid time.

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to see you either, my dear! I got in horribly late last night, and my mobile isn't working, but you can call my landline if you've got the number. Big huge hugs to you and Esdi, and look forward to seeing you both soon.

[justpolina.livejournal.com]

Coolness! And you're coming back; even more coolness. See you soon. If I don't escape to the hairy metropolis in the next few weeks with some serious distraction in view I am going to go stir crazy, so I will be giving you a call sometime soon....

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Speak to you soon my dear, and hope you feel better!

[tacnukesoul.livejournal.com]

We were glad to have you here in the States, even if for just a little while. Hope you get a chance to come out dancing the next time you're here.

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Very cool! You were the fellow with whom I one-stepped? If so, it was indeed delightful to hang out with you there and at Plato's. I, too, hope to repeat the experience next time I'm in town.

[laughingmagpie.livejournal.com]

Yay!!

I had so much fun with you! I am going to try to blog my further adventures today, including the wonderful artnouveauho interlude in DC. Dr Smith and I truly appreciated your company! Looking forward to more of it in the future!

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

What joy it was to hang out with you both in realtime, after so long as boon companions in cyberspace! Hugs to you and the good Doctor.

[albertbbun.livejournal.com]

Stay out of trouble? Where's the fun in that?

Trouble is my middle name - well, Brouble actually, but only because it's a typo on my birth certificate.

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously I meant "Stay out of trouble-- unless you're a bunny."

[velvetdahlia.livejournal.com]

I'm off to Weston for my birthday this weekend but hopefully we can get together soon. I can't wait to see you!

Hope the jet lag doesn't hang around too long.

When you feel better, would you mind looking at my template for agent queries? In exchange for lunch ?

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!!!!!!! Hope Weston is fun.

I will happily go over your template! You don't even need to bribe me with food.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Great re-meeting you, and I'm glad we got to Plato's :)

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

Great re-meeting you too! Hope you're having a good week.

Wherever we're together, that's my home

[miriya-b.livejournal.com]

...sometime in the last few weeks I heard Billy Joel's "You're My Home" again.* And at the risk of being uber-corny, there's a certain amount of truth to its sentiments, for friends (and food too, sure!) as much as--if not more so than!--for Significant Others.

On recent visits to Places We Wouldn't Mind Living where our various friends have remained (New Haven) or landed (Philadelphia) or both (Athens, GA), I've said within a day or so (if not hour or so!) of arrival, "hey, you could get a job at ______ [academic institution] and I could get a job in the Jewish community and we could live here!!!" ... at least, until something happens to sober me up to the reality that this town is Not So Perfect (getting mugged at gunpoint in New Haven; getting fed up with the crappy road conditions/signage in Philly; dealing with drunken college students on the nighttime streets of Athens) and I realize that it's just that I like being around our amazing friends!!!

If you moved back to DC, I would be a very happy camper. New York, Philly, and most of the East Coast remain within easy and relatively cheap reach by train, bus, car, and discount airline, so wall-climbing should be avoidable. :)

There have been several times this summer when I've thought, "I really love this town. I wouldn't mind staying here! If there are to be any sprats, I wouldn't mind them growing up here like their mama. Sure, it's expensive & all, but hey! It is my hometown, and it's got a lot going for it!" (Funny: I, too, don't think of it as "home"--at least not yet--but I do think of it as "my hometown," more so than Louisville though I do say sometimes I'm "from Kentucky" as well as "from DC" or "Northern Virginia/Arlington.") The more friends of ours move here from elsewhere (Ruth! Amy L!), or move back here after being away (speedlime!), or we meet people we like in town (somewanker et al! some AU colleagues + some shul and Jewish community people!), the more like "home" it begins to feel.

Wherever we're together--with people who make it feel like a place we would like to stay, like a real community--that's our home.

*Actually, it was almost certainly on one of my-and-Mike's many June anniversaries, probably June 26 [on which we met 20 years ago] or possibly June 24 [on which we saw each other again, as boyfriend & girlfriend, for the 1st time in 2 years, 18 years ago], because he was playing the tape I made him in high school of, um, "our songs" [please do not gakk; apologies for smooshyness] and it's on there. (They're not all sappy: it's got R.E.M. and The Pixies and The Who and The Sex Pistols and Guns 'n' Roses and INXS and stuff on it, so it's mostly not Romantic Floofy Stuff...)

P.S. On Places We Would Mind Living

[miriya-b.livejournal.com]

The category of Places We Wouldn't Mind Living generally excludes:

-- NYC: it has too little green space, & we have too little of the Long Green, to make living there comfortable for us;

--Atlanta: we love our friends there, and it's near Mike's family, but it otherwise seems a set of soulless traffic-jam-laden concentric circles of suburban whitebreaditude surrounding a hot muggy concrete dubious corporate skyscrapered New South downtown concrete jungle ("sometimes you just wanna say it/ the New South/ is an old lie/ you can smell it in the reconstructed dirt/ and you can read it in that skinny girl's eyes--/ the one wearing the brand-new Jesus Christ T-shirt" -- one of my favorite verses from "Katie" [alas, not up on http://www.scottdownes.com/songs, since it was part of the Snake Oil Salesmen repertoire and has not been revisited/resurrected on singer-songwriter Scott Downes's solo projects website]);

--Houston: see above, only we know fewer people there and it's not near most of our friends or relatives;

--Boston: I had my 4 years of 6-foot-snowpiles on the streetcorners and a winter that lasts from October until April or early May. Plus it has some of the worst streetsigns and drivers in the U.S. of A. No thanks! (We could be convinced, and we know lots of great people there, but I'd be happy if we never lived further north than New Haven again...);

--Louisville: it's okay, and my brother & his fiancee (who are cool peeps & fun to hang out with) and my uncle/aunt/cousin (ditto) and my parents and grandmother (who are, well, family!) all live there -- but it ain't all THAT exciting, and the academic institutions & Jewish commmunity that are there would be a step down, not up, from where Mike is currently teaching & where we are currently living...