In the last six months I have traveled to Florida, the Boston Harbor Islands, the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont, Vail and Boulder, the Berkshires, London, Paris, Geneva and then driven all the way to Hilton Head and back. For my patients out there I apologize for all the time out of the office, for my students out there I apologize for all the time out of the yoga studio and for me I apologize for all the hotel beds and time seated on trans-Atlantic flights and east coast driving marathons. But now I am home and all of the lucky couples are successfully married and eagerly entering into satisfied marriages.
I’m not a great traveler for numerous reasons: insomnia, anxiety over new experiences, discomfort with new smells, noises, crowded places. But the biggest reason is quite simple—I love home. We ended up in Northampton not because of a job or a family obligation. Actually we moved here without jobs and we are quite far away from my husband’s family. But we moved here because the Pioneer Valley is where we fell in love and where we both deeply feel a sense of home.
I am a firm believer that we all have an ideal landscape for our bodies and soul. For us the little green sprawl of the Holyoke Range, the curve of the oxbow flanked with potato fields, Hadley cornfields and an ever-expanding number of colorful CSA fields resonate on some innate level we neither understand nor question.
This September as we return home to a forest of a garden, a house fully infested with fruit flies (a few dozen tomatoes sitting on window sills will do that) and the low fading light of autumn we are so excited and relieved to be home.
The beauty we have seen this summer with forever bless our memories. But already in just two days of being home we are again in love with Northampton. Monday night we picked up our farm share and I got to pick tomatillos, ground cherries and lots of fresh herbs for putting up over the winter. The farm is in the early stages of wilt where most of the brilliant summer yellows and oranges are browning but the magnificent magentas and lavender still glow. We came home with potatoes, butternuts, collards, saucing tomatoes and fall raspberries. A bounty that is richer than all the gourmet cuisine we have savored over the summer (French crepe, pickled herring, Swiss Fondue, Italian limoncello, basil ice cream, She Crab soup, lamb, lobster ravioli, pork cheeks, grouper, sausage gravy, grits, blood sausage, falafel, mousse au chocolat and so much more). Yesterday biking downtown I was met with the familiar aspects of a typical Tuesday in Northampton. Two incredible saxophone players crooned from two different locations, the aromatic smells of India House flooded down State Street, two stay-at-home dads walking away from Pulaski Park with two very giggly little ones and tough women driving pick up trucks. Yesterday working from home I watched early yellowed leaves fall slowly off our great maple tree. Last night driving through Florence we were met with an outdoor early evening drumming circle. I’ve already had an amazing Jo Bunny massage, an Embodyoga class at the YMCA with Kyla and subbed for a yoga class at the YMCA to a very appreciative and excited group of students. It is so good to be home among familiar faces,
Today I’m back to my blog and back in the office thrilled to be done with a year of weddings. Before you head back to your busy life here is a quick taste of our travels.
1. Stonehenge 2. Route 6 in Colorado 3. Me beneath the Jet D’Eau, Geneva 4. Place des Vosges, Paris 5. Me at Highclere Castle 6. Garden in the Northeast Kingdom, VT
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