Dear J-
I’ve actually cured myself of the whole oversharing business, maybe. Cured may be too strong a word for it; let’s say moderated instead. I went to bed last night early-ish and got up on time without any major dramas, did not rush over to the van, and I think I might actually get used to this new existence, virtuous and somewhat rested. When I try to cram too much in after the kids are in bed that becomes a whole second day in itself and I found out in Japan that there’s so much more to be done than sit around on the computer all night. Perhaps that speaks to the dearth of things in Charlotte more, but I’m sure there’s a happy medium somewhere in between.
I suppose I can blame the novelty of being in Japan — in a foreign country where no one spoke English and everything was so, well, foreign — for my restless feet; you don’t know what opportunities you’re going to have and when you’ll be back, so that may be why my least favorite night was the one I spent in the restaurant. The food and company were impeccable, but I was itchy to see something unique, over and over and over again. I liked Birmingham, surprisingly, last year because of the rich sense of history; the part of suburban Charlotte where we stayed this year was too new and homogeneous to hold much interest, except for the parks and lakes I went to visit.
I guess I’m still sorting out the whole road warrior mentality in my head, believing that I’m still traveling let’s me look at things around here anew. What opportunities do we pass up in the everyday because we think they’re too ordinary? I adored the train rides in Kobe, but perhaps that’s the BART in my heart speaking; we choose our own wonders of the world and marvelous magics and we could all do with a bit more extraordinary in our lives. There’s so much to see here and we can’t be stuck believing everything is too pedestrian for words.
Mike
Tags: everyday, ordinary, pedestrian, wonderful
