I need you, Vermont!

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August 22, 2014
Day 114

Have you ever noticed how some vacations arrive right on time?  They seem to be timed perfectly to coincide with high stress points in your life, and are there as a treat at the end of a dark corridor.  Maybe it's like when you need to pee, and the urge only increases with your proximity to the bathroom.  Your urge to go on vacation only multiplies the closer you are to that moment.

Today, Friday the 22nd of August, I am in that moment.  My vacation awaits me beginning tomorrow morning around 8 or 9 AM. 

The last two weeks have been extra, extra crazy.  A family picnic, a Broadway musical, a midnight show at Studio 54, a New York International Fringe Festival play, a pool party, a lunch out with coworkers, and a wonderful Shamanism class: these were the highlights.  All fun, but all kept me busy this way and that, and were sadly punctuated by some less than happy occasions in between. 

Andy's Uncle Fai has been in the hospital with a critical illness starting in his stomach, possibly related to food poisoning.  He's gone from critical to serious to critical to serious a few times now, and though he's stable and possibly/hopefully mending now, the concerns are still high.  Andy and I have visited him in the hospital almost every day, and it's been very difficult seeing Fai like this.  He's only 67, but has resembled a man in his 90s at times.  Tubes everywhere, bags of medicine going in, other bags collecting what comes out, his hair all over the place, his eyes and mouth opening wide in what appears to be drug-induced visions all around him: it isn't pretty.

We've also got Andy's parents staying with us for the past week or so, and I must confess, that has also been quite difficult for me.  (Don't tell them, though!)  We love them both very much, but our small house is just that much smaller with double the people living there, especially with their different schedules and all of our hospital-visit time throwing things up in the air too.

Suffice it to say, I need my vacation!!!  Andy's uncle seems to be slowly on the mend, and both Andy and his aunt seem okay with me taking my departure, so I have no guilt in my escape.  I think having one less person in my house will help everyone a little bit anyway.  I've mostly kept my temper in check, but there have been moments when the thermometer on my head burst a little, my blood pressure spiked, my sleeplessness made me cranky, and, and, and...

Yes, Vermont!  I need you so much right now!  I can't wait to see the beautiful Lake Pauline again, as well as that adorable little town of Ludlow.  I am already craving the sacred peace and quiet my mind and body need so much right now, and all of it will be there for me starting tomorrow! 

Some vacations arrive right on time, don't they?  This one here has arrived right on schedule! 

So keep an eye on this blog now for my daily updates from Vermont, where I'll hopefully be writing a lot about peace, nature, and plenty of nice fun stuff like that!