Hurrah! Leaving for vacation tomorrow! Shall eat yummy French croissants and drink Italian cappuccino and walk on sandy beaches in the sun. Will be thin and worldly and have bronzed skin when I return...
Uh, sorry... just having a bit of a Bridget Jones moment. (Cindy would understand that... not sure if anyone else would. :)) And while I may, possibly, know a bit more about the world when I return, I'm fairly certain I won't be thin (too many good things to eat) and I certainly won't have bronzed skin. Even if I were to lay out on a beach in Monte-Carlo for a week -- I've been blessed/cursed with some kind of genetic, organic SPF 100 in my epidermis. I recall a picture from a Caribbean cruise several years ago, where a group of us were gathered around a table. Most of us were sporting either red noses and foreheads from sunny days of exploring beaches and wandering from t-shirt shop to t-shirt shop, or lovely mocha latte skin in various shades of pigmentation. And then there was me -- white. Blindingly white. I think you can actually see a sort of glowing aura about me in that picture. And it's not like I was hiding under layers of sunscreen and straw brimmed hats and gauzy fabric during that cruise. In fact, I may have forgone the sunscreen altogether, in an attempt to coax my skin cells into pigment overdrive. Didn't work... still Blindingly White Lisa.
I wouldn't have high hopes for a tan this time, anyway -- I've been checking the weather forecast overseas, and it looks like we may be in for some cloudy, drizzly days. But there's something about visiting a new area that makes the rain tolerable. I was just telling a friend about how depressing I find cloudy, overcast, rainy days -- at least here at home. But when I visit a new place, I like to experience the reality of that area -- even if it's not always picture-postcard perfect. And if it's raining in Barcelona on Wednesday, so be it. I'll be happy to hold my hands out, and feel the drops splashing on my palms... I'll be happy to smell the fragrance of rain mingling with the scent of a new city. Because it may rain, but it'll be raining in Barcelona.
It's funny how vacations and holidays and other happy moments tend to sneak up on us. When we planned this vacation, it seemed so far away that it was hardly worth thinking about. And then all of a sudden it's the day before we leave and I'm not even packed yet. If you know you're going on vacation ten months in advance, doesn't it seem like it should be easier to pack? :) One of my favorite quotes from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is when the young Stephen Dedalus is anxiously waiting for Christmas vacation, marking off the days one by one. It seems so far away, "but one time it would come because the earth moved round always." I think of this quote any time I'm waiting for something good and need to be patient -- whether it be a two-week vacation, a much-anticipated meeting with a friend, or simply wondering when my dinner will be ready when I'm out to eat. "But one time it would come because the earth moved round always." (If it seems like that steak is taking forever -- well, as long as the world keeps spinning, it'll get here eventually... :))
Another thing I love about Portrait of the Artist is this pervasive feeling throughout the book of wanting to be free -- wanting to explore, and travel, and learn. I love the symbolism of the name Dedalus -- based on the myth of the Greek engineer who built wings to escape prison. And Stephen Dedalus wants to escape, as well -- "Away! Away! The spell of arms and voices: the white arms of roads, their promise of close embraces and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon, their tale of distant nations. They are held out to say: We are alone. Come. And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of their exultant and terrible youth.... Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race."
Okay, perhaps a bit dramatic for a little two-week vacation. :) But since the world is still spinning, I'd better finish packing. My plane will be taking off before I know it...
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