Fork in the Road

In the book The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, there is a passage where Milo and his friends Tock and the Humbug come to a large fork in the road. Not just any fork, this divergence of two paths that Robert Frost so eloquently described is actually marked by a massive utensil stuck in the ground and to pass beyond it, they soon discover, is to find the Doldrums.

The two weeks that have passed since I was supposed to have left for Ghana have been filled mostly with apartment hunting and the occasional day at Rebecca's school, or writing curriculum for the summer, or meeting Ben's friends over breakfast...oh, and the Doldrums about my times of adventure being over for now with almost twelve weeks left before I have to move into my house at camp for the summer...oh, and the realization that if I do rent an apartment here in Berkeley for the next three months the MINIMUM I will pay is $2,400.

So instead I think I will leave again. Time with my brother and his little family at their cozy house that I adore, in a place far away from here that was once home to me too, has been discussed. There is a fabulous week-long cooking class at Esalen in early April which would bring together two activities of which I am indescribably fond: cooking fresh local food, and doing art in a sun-soaked barn overlooking Big Sur's slice of the Pacific coast with a little hula hooping thrown in on the side for good measure. Then, after all that, I am considering a trip to the country whose name I was awarded, interestingly enough, in the What Country Are You? activity--India.

My time here has been restorative to my heart and spirit in ways I didn't even realize I needed when I first returned. Now, I believe I am almost ready to begin again the journey I set out to take this year. I said almost. I'll keep you posted.