Wanderlust

No, this post is not about the new Jennifer Aniston/Paul Rudd movie, though it does look pretty funny.  


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. 
Dream. Discover.” 


Mark Twain has some of the best quotes out there on this little addiction of mine: travel.  Whenever I hear about or read about a place, I almost instantly find some quality about it that makes me want to visit.  This is especially true when it comes to the beauties of nature.  I love the mountains, waterfalls, beaches, rivers, and forests in a new place.  Most of the trips I take are pointed at seeing one of these natural wonders, and my February break travels this year were no different.  I flew to Phoenix with one of my best friends and met up with another to drive North and see the Grand Canyon.  They're not kidding, it's grand as can be.  

The photos above were taken from Cedar Ridge and Skeleton Point, 1.5 and 3 miles into the Canyon respectively.  Did you know that of the approximately five million people who visit the Canyon each year only 3% ever make it off the pavement?  The average time spent viewing the Canyon, according to our guide (Russ from Wildland Trekking: highly highly recommended) is ten minutes.  Ten minutes!  I know not everyone is as interested in nature as I am - I have been known to stand at the top of Anthony's Nose for several hours staring aimlessly at the Bear Mountain Bridge - but ten minutes?!  If you haven't been to the Grand  Canyon yet there is no way for me to explain how enormous and crazy looking it is.  Teddy Roosevelt called it "the one great sight which every American should see" and for good reason.  While we were hiking we had several great viewpoints, each of which seemed so different from the last going down and again coming back up.  So needless to say, I was shocked that anyone could sit at the rim for ten minutes, snap a few photos, and leave to never return.  We spent two days hiking in and staring at the Grand Canyon, and I could definitely stand to go back.  Our guide also told us that less than 1% of Grand Canyon National Park visitors ever sleep below the rim.  Of course now that I know that I'm dying to hike all the way down, spend a night at Phantom Ranch or at the campgrounds, and make the arduous trek all the way up the following day, just be to in that slim, slim minority. 


But  before I go back to the Grand Canyon, there are several other places I'm dying to see.  Isn't that the case for all of us?  What far off lands are on your list?  I am thinking that my next big trip will be to somewhere in Africa or to Turkey.  From my research so far, Turkey appears to be very affordable and very cool.  


One last bit: has anyone else noticed that everywhere you go, there seem to be Australians?  I think I was born on the wrong continent, because those people have a fervent love for travel that has made it into a national priority, and I'm guessing that they're a much smarter country for it.  So, on second thought, maybe the next trip should be to Australia.  

Yippee!

We're smack dab in the middle of the first full week of summer vacation.  Honestly, there was a moment or two mid-June when I thought we'd never get here, but now the school year has ended fairly smoothly and the next one will surely be here in a flash.  I spent the early days off finishing up classroom funding proposals on Donors Choose (which you should check out here and donate to, by the way).  I've now transitioned into working on my tan at Pop's pool and whiling away hours playing with Lola.  Ever since I started teaching, I've found myself so busy with work during the school year and so raring to go in the summer that I basically try to pack a whole year's worth of fun into two short months.  Lately I've also started to feel the need for new and fresh traditions with the family and friends, some of which I'm working on this July and August.  Here's what I've got on the docket for summer 2011:

• Yanks/Rays game tomorrow night.  Went to a ballgame with my brothers last year; this time around it's me and 16 others in my crazy family.  Hilarity will undoubtedly ensue.  It's looking like Jeter's three-thousandth hit may take place while we drink beers together in the grandstand.  Awesome. 
• Playtime with cousins.  My dad's cousin's kids are in town from Florida for a few weeks, and I'll be playing with them and taking them around town for much of July.  Definitely planning on going to the Bear Mountain Zoo, the Ice Cream Shoppe in Highland Falls, Children's Museum in Poughkeepsie, and some pools around Garrison/Cold Spring.  Where else should we go?    
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Holy Cannoli I cannot wait to see this movie.  Just watching the trailers gives me major goosebumps.  I started reading the HP books when I was 14, and I love the story so very much.  Too grown-up for the little cousins though, so I'll see it with the older ones or with Michael.  
• Housewarming party at the new apartment.  This is mostly to encourage me to get the new place set up in a timely fashion. Hopefully I'll get this together pre-wedding, but it may not happen until September.
• Bachelorette party.  Girls, spa, lake, mountains, kayaks, etc.  
• Wedding.  Marriage.  Yikes.  I think this means there are no more doubts that we're actually grown-ups.  I also think I may always feel like adulthood is impending and looming rather than actually upon us.  
• Honeymoon in Thailand (after a 20 something hour flight that is).  Nearly three full weeks touring a far away country.  
• US Open.  Went last year for my uncle Joe's birthday, and second annual tennis fun night will take place early this September.  This year, Mama Hask will join us for a Friday night match in Arthur Ashe stadium. 
• Untold hours of relaxation, swimming, reading, lying in the sun, planning for next year (yes, this is actually something I enjoy; yes, I know that I am a nerd),  and doing whatever else I want to do.

Good summer = the understatement of the year. 

Life's Candy

I haven't written in a couple of weeks because I have a lot on my mind and things have been generally crazy.  School is more stressful than I remember it being in a while, mostly for reasons that have very little or nothing to do with me or my ability to do my job.  Somehow that makes it more annoying, not less.  The thought that recurrently runs through my head isn't "I clearly have no control over this, so I should step back and concentrate on other things." That would be the rational thing to say to oneself.  Instead, it's "why can't I fix this? And this? And this and this?!" In all likelihood, this feeling will continue for an undetermined length of time, and that is unfortunate.

But for now I am on vacation and that is wonderful in many ways.  I am home to enjoy the open space of the backyard, the exuberance of the many dogs, and the company of my family.  This particular vacation is also turning out to be the time when I handle a myriad of random and obnoxious "housekeeping" tasks, another source of mild anxiety surging.  As I deal (badly) with car trouble, portfolio chaos, the wrong maid of honor dress, and the absurdity of a $500 change fee to alter my honeymoon plans to exclude Tokyo, I am immensely grateful that it's spring break.  I have the time to call the airline and wait an hour (or three) for them to call me back.  I can bug my well-connected uncle to help me get my car fixed rather than dropping it at some random mechanic in Crooklyn Brooklyn.  The fact that all the extra stress has piled on now rather than during a regular school week is a grand and glorious blessing.  It also really helps that I am breathing fresh air, getting hugs from family every day, and watching my Lola snooze the day away after a morning of running around in the drizzling April rain.  It's the little things, people.

Barbara says it best.  As always.

Sanity Week

There is this spot on route 9 coming up on Croton where the tree line thins to give way to a wide angle view of the river, now half frozen, and the mountains, now scattered with snow but ready to spring back to life.  Today the weather was bleak.  While driving, dark gray clouds monopolized the sky and fat raindrops plummeted onto my windshield in an uneven and obnoxious rhythm.  But among this apparent and broad gloom, I had the same thought I always have on this spot of road as I drove home from home (to Brooklyn, from Garrison) this afternoon.  I am beyond lucky.  I am so fortunate that I feel as though I'm going to have to spend my lifetime trying to pay the universe back for all the good favor present in my life.  Even that will not be enough, but I'll try anyway.

My Valentine's Day Presents from Mom. 

Can you tell that I am feeling well and rested?  It's the product of February break - a welcome week off to rejuvenate the spirits and thus reinvest in the work of the school year.  For this blessed week, I did not travel off to a warm climate or a cultural epicenter.  Instead I spent the week relaxing at home with family and running necessary errands.  I feel like balance has been restored to my being and my surroundings and by Monday I will be all but zen-like. 

Some of the best dogs ever. 

Aloha and Mahalo

Tomorrow we are getting more snow.  So while I fantasize about 2-hour delays, I'll spend a moment reliving our amazing winter vacation. Hawaii.  The fiftieth state.  The place Michael was born and spent part of his childhood.  The nearly 6,000 mile away home of my irreplaceable friend Rachel.  We went for Christmas, returned on New Year's and avoided the supposedly 6th worst snowstorm in New York City history.  Clouds plagued a few of our days, but that certainly did not hinder us from our adventures.  When we arrived in Honolulu, we were greeted by Mike's parents and grandparents, who promptly adorned us with orchid leis.  We managed to stay up late to have dinner but, being five hours ahead on NY time, I was practically falling asleep at the table.

We spent Christmas eve on Waikiki beach with Mike's family.  It was a bright and beautiful day and the beach was lovely.  The next morning, we saw and hugged Rachel for the first time in many months, and had a delicious Christmas brunch at the hotel.  We also got to see Mary and visit a few beaches on the windward side of the island.  One of the most memorable highlights of the trip came the following day, when we drove to the North shore.  The drive to get anywhere in Hawaii is beautiful, full of ocean views and mountains that look like they belong in some fairytale or fantasy movie.  Our trip to the North shore had an important purpose.  We got into a boat, were taken four miles offshore, and got into the bluest water I've ever seen in person.  We were in a cage, in the middle of the ocean, and several dozen Galapagos sharks were swimming circles around us.  We spent about twenty minutes barely coming up for air and holding on tight to the cage to keep from jostling around in the current.  I have a thing for large predatory animals, so to get this close to them in their world (they were inches away and on all sides of us) was one of the coolest things I have ever done.  

The title of this post is dedicated to our MC at the Polynesian Cultural Center's Luau on December 27.  Rachel got us tickets and it was a really cool place to visit.  The Luau had really yummy food.  Our MC literally said "aloha and mahalo" after every single sentence.  Why are you thanking us for eating, I thought to myself.  But Hawaii is just different.  The highway signs say to "drive with aloha," as in the spirit of. (We literally heard car horns maybe three times all week).  Needless to say, Rachel and Mike did all the driving while we were there; the only spirit I drive with is usually unadulterated rage.

While in Oahu, Mike and I never made it to Pearl Harbor.  I've heard from everyone who's been that it's very moving.  I decided that I didn't want to be so moved on my vacation, and I also didn't want to have to get there at 7 in the morning and wait for several hours to go in.  We did hike diamond head crater, see humuhumunukunukuapua'as snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, and slurp shave ice. The week we spent there was warm and wonderful, and I was extremely reluctant to leave.  Rachel dropped us off at the airport at around 8pm on New Year's Eve, and I was not happy to walk away from the car and into the terminal.  As our plane left the ground the sky was a deep shade of purple, littered with the sight of exploding fireworks and the darkened silhouettes of palm trees.  I said goodbye to Hawaii as the fireworks and palm trees disappeared, but I desperately hope some day I will be going back. 

We were lucky to sleep on nearly the whole flight back, despite the moronic old couple that sat in front of us incessantly rocking their chairs while eating chips as loud as possible and being mean to flight attendants for nine straight hours.  Those idiots needed some more aloha, but I wasn't going to let them take mine.