Fin del año

It's hard not to wax nostalgic about the year as it slowly winds down (with an extra second).  Though some things (the election) may not have gone the way I would have hoped, many things were beyond expectation.  Nearly every day had a celebration of some small kind, and over the summer, though the very long walk, I gained an even deeper appreciation for what are normally noted as the "small" things.

I was reminded as always that love is a gem, we are more alike than different, we are luckier than we remember most days, sunscreen is underrated, laughter makes nearly everything better, and time passes too quickly.

Wishing you a wonderful wrap-up of today and this year and best wishes for a happy, love-filled 2017.  Buen camino.

Summer (or Winter) Reads

With long flights in November, I had quite a bit of time on my hands to read a few lingering books in my Kindle library.  

The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen was an August "First Read" title.  I've had mixed feelings about many of these free offerings so I entered with low expectations.  The NC setting as well as the variety in story-telling lulled me into the narrative pretty quickly.  Though I suspected I knew the direction the novel would take, I was often wrong and pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  (I also caused a small commotion on the plane which someone touched my arm during one of the chapters but that's a story for another time.)

ShadowShaper by Daniel José Older is a definite to add to your list from the YA category.  This book was an animated discussion for bookclub with it's portrayal of women, self-image, and family dynamics, to name just a few themes.  The author also did a really nice job capturing the voice of a young lady in his writing.  Be forewarned:  there are a few loose ends you'd like to see tidied up and sequels have been announced.

600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster.  I'm not sure how this book ended up in my Amazon wishlist but thank you to whoever inspired this addition.  (Prime Members, it's free read now as well!)  There were a number of things I liked about quirky Edward, one of which was the evolution of his character from "statistician always" to "statistician mostly" with room for life.  Many of Edward's days were routine but each time I stopped reading, I couldn't wait to dive in again to see if Dragnet was still at 10.  Though to the extreme, I kept thinking about how we treat time and habits, and I wondered if we're all a bit more like Edward than we care to admit.

Un momento

"I heard there was an American living in the building" she said in the elevator after asking if I "was from around here."  My castellano will give me away every time.

Luckily there were only six more floors of conversation before I could pop off, avoiding the inevitable question and my answer to attempt to explain current politics. "Why?" is the most frequent followed very closely by "How?"

I have long been a fan of travel for how it opens your mind to see simple occurrences in a different light and for how it opens your heart to have a deeper empathy.

If you have ever been the only [fill in the blank] in the room, on a corner, at a restaurant, on the street, you know the gift of a smile, the power of being kind, the gratitude for help given without gain.

Here's hoping that we all remember to be kind and generous in the coming new year.

Corta Camina

My favorite buildings here are those that pop with color from the normal gray (as well as a certain panaderia for my favorite factura).  This is a glimpse from last Sunday morning's walk.

Quilmes, AR
December 2016

Here's hoping your Friday has a bit of flair and a sweet ending!

After You Walk 500 Miles

After walking something nearly 900 kilometers across Spain this summer, I took a break from running.  One of the side effects of that journey was that I fell in love with walking.  (If you're going to walk for 40 days with blistered feet, you'd either better love it or learn to love it.)  

My training thoughts from July - November: "why run if you can walk?"

So now, I'm trying to flirt with running again and, with seasons reversed, this restart is in the warmth of the sun.  This romance is like any other:  days where I'm excited and it seems fresh, days where it is laborious and tiring and I wonder if it's going anywhere, and the days where I do it because I made a commitment to it.  (The good days have a direct correlation to temperatures less than 80 degrees.)

The terrain also meets this analogy of amor.  The sidewalk is not smooth, different obstacles pop up every day, and in order to be successful, you have to run with traffic.  It's different.

I've been honked at by buses (because there's not enough room for both of us)*, barked at by dogs, avoided jackhammers, dodged motorbikes, and melted in the hot, mid-day sun.

I've also spoken to men on carts pulled by horses, stopped to watch a man make empanadas, been overwhelmed with the sweet smell of jacarandas, and experienced the unexpected exhilaration from knowing which way to look when crossing a street.  (There are no stop signs in most intersections here - only a series of criss-crossing one-way streets for four streets, then one two-way street usually with a light, then back to the four one-way streets.)**  

So like love, I have to choose it and in the end, I'm the better for it.

*  Buses always win.
**Beware of bikers though as they occasionally often ignore these traffic rules.

Casa a Hogar

As the sun started its initial descent, the kitchen was filled with its normal yellow hue from the glass panes, and I was (and am) filled with gratitude for the wins over the last few weeks, built upon the first visit, giving me the hint that this feels more like home.

• Finding the sweet spot on the hot water knob to provide a shower that's warmer than my body temperature
• Learning the correct "open/close" direction on the black out blinds so that I don't get them stuck between floors (Unfortunately, all windows were affected last visit.)
• Successful lighting of the oven and stovetop range while keeping all my hair intact
• Navigating the host of opening lines to find the suitable response upon greeting with a kiss:
• Hola, qué tal?
• Comó andas?
• Todo bien?
• Qué haces?
• Como estas?
• Unassisted navigation to the gym, yoga, church, bakery and plaza
• Adoption of the 9 or 10pm dinner and 5pm merienda schedule
• Making acquaintances who know you are not local and are extra kind, speaking with a little slower cadence than their norm

I'm quite sure I underestimated the effort to live in an area that is not common for tourists, but I'm learning.