Time to Go

Here's the email I sent my closest co-workers:

The End.

It’s barreling down on me like a New York cabby and there’s nothing I can do. Jump left, dart right, or just stand still. I’m in its way. And it’s in my way so in a moment we’re going to meet. I don’t know if I’m fully ready for what comes next, but I’ll find out. As I wait to see, feel, absorb the inevitable collision I take one more moment to listen to my coworkers go about their day. Bengt, legs kicked back on his desk, phone in hand is making plans with a friend. Sal is, well, being Sal. I think I just heard him say “Alan” as though he can only talk through his nose. The mouth never opens. Alido just kissed someone. Peter laughed, stopped laughing, and then laughed again. Marcus turned on a skate video, then uttered something about Chuck Norris kicking someone’s ass, and then went back to his skate video. Alido just kissed another person. Malcolm said something in a New Zealand accent. I know he speaks English but I have no idea what he’s saying. I nod. Stephen Land just called. Alan turned on some funk/rave/drumandbase/folk/new wave/hip hop/classic soft rock of the 80’s album that’s piercing my eardrums in and mind numbingly pleasant way. A phone just went off. Alan needs to get some new speakers. Lia is busy hating in the greatest, most enduring, lovely hate you can imagine. Justin, I’ve got those allocations for you. Zero hours on zero projects. “Do you know where Peter is?” Sorry Deb, I thought he was in his cube. Lisa offers her apartment to Alan. No she doesn’t live there anymore. Yep, he can use it rent-free for a couple of days. Pinero’s got her snack drawer of treasures in full effect. Bengt just hit it up again. Someone shouts out, “I’m looking for a good restaurant.” Kate answers and then goes back to crafting the perfect sentence. Who ate my gummi bears? Alido. Martha is pounding her keyboard into submission. Jamie just floated through the room like an angel. Aaron twisted that powerful grey curl a little to tight and winced. And Alido just kissed another person. I take it all in and then wait for the inevitable. In a few minutes it will slam into me and the end will turn into something else. The Beginning.

Stuff

We've got stuff. Stuff that seems to breed. Stuff that I've never seen. Stuff, stuff, stuff. So we made a plan. A moving away stoop sale. We executed it and walked away with a little extra cash. But, we still got stuff. So today's sale didn't fix our problem. We're moving 3,000 miles and we don't really want to bring that VCR we last used on Lovejoy street in Portland or that cute little teddy bear or that thing. You know the thing. Because you've got stuff to. It's unruly. Worse than rats and it cost A LOT to ship across the country. So we're getting rid of it. All of it... except for that thing over there and this thing. I like this thing. It does a lot for me... sometimes... I think. But I'm definitely keeping it. Damn this stuff. We got it. Want it? We'll give you a really good deal. We've got stuff.

Looking Back

June 14, 2007

Dear Caspian,

As I sit here on this plane to Portland with DJ Scratch at my feet, I am reminded of our move to New York two years ago. We were full of excitement, fear, hope and agony. Today, I would say, I am the happiest I think I have ever been. New York has been like a strict but loving parent - relentless for our own good. I won't regret a single minute of it. This experience has shaped our lives from here forward.

When we moved you had just started the second step of your successful advertising career. (The first was getting your foot in the door.) Your foot may have turned black and blue in all the time it was stuck in there, the door swinging back and forth; I remember you saying, "If only someone would give me a chance, I know I can do good work!"

Look at you now - A star in your company, high accolades from your peers, opportunities in the que.

I too have been working hard to reach my goals. Now look at me! On my way to graduate school. I knew I could do it, backed by your support and belief in me.

Yeah! Here we are, catching up with those dreams we have been pursuing all this time. The road may have been rocky, full of potholes, blind corners and seemingly endless; but together we're like our trusty Subaru, pulling and pushing each other through those curves.

In the upcoming adventures on hand, I just want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of you and myself and all that we have accomplished together. I am filled with excitement every morning I wake up to a new day with you. You are my best friend.

Yours truly, forever and ever,
Michelle

We Saw

Blown-up on Top by the Wind
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

The wind on top of the mountain was howling. Gusts of over 60 mph. I’m guessing. But it felt like more at times. We crawled along the summit so we wouldn’t be knocked over. And we looked out over the Adirondacks. This is what all the fuss was about. Everyone kept telling us that we needed to see this area. We needed to experience this part of New York before we left. It’s impressive and rugged.

No one in this state has ever heard of a switchback. All the trails go straight up what must have been creek beds in another time. Each step takes you higher. As you climb, all around you the trees are green and stunted compared to the northwest. It’s obvious that they’ve lived hard lives; the winters pummeling them with ten Oregon winters in one month. These are hardy living beings.

It is beautiful, awe inspiring, and small all at the same time. Mountains top out at a little over 4,000 feet. But you still get wonderfully lost in the grandeur. You are in God’s country. The ground is a mix of decomposing plant matter and stones. Large stones. And as we continued to rise up to the top of Mt. Wright I couldn’t help but think about my parent’s house and the riverbed that it was built on. All the excavating of rocks that I had to do to help my parents build a garden in the back yard. Now I was walking on those rocks. Step by step we made our way to the top of the world. In New York. On this Memorial Day weekend. 2007.

See all the pictures here.

Hike Fuel

Hike Fuel
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

A hike provides you with many wonderful things. Fresh air, open space, beautiful views, time together, and cheese. Lots of wonderful, lovely, tasty, yummy cheese. If you put in 7-miles in the Shagunks, you’ve got to have a delightful handful of different types of cheeses and a baguette that you can rip apart. Place the cheese in the bread and enjoy. That’s what Michelle, Caitlin, and I did a few weeks ago. Oh yeah, and then we stopped at the brewery in New Paltz for a pint. And a growler full of beer for Caitlin. There are some things about New York that I’m going to miss.

See the rest of the hike here.