Also empathize so much with the experience of books in storage. Mine are still there, and I long for the moment that you describe so beautifully of taking them out and giving them their rightful care again. And how wonderful to start reading them with William C. Williams!
As someone who had actually attended 12 schools by the time I graduated high school (I include having studied in Israel in that count), I understand the desire to move and the fearlessness it takes. Haven't moved so much in my adulthood unless you count all the moving back and forth from college and grad school. We have now been in the same home for almost 25 years. That is what is really scary.
How interesting! I suppose it was marriage and then parenthood that led to the stability. All that moving around before, though! There are stories in that, I'm sure. (And of course study in Israel counts.)
Also, thanks for your comment on Notes expressing concern about my back. It offered a much needed smile.
Jay - I keep being surprised by the synchronicities that pop up between us whenever I read your articles. In my 46 years I have moved 22 times, in large part due to my career in the Navy, but even before that I was a wanderer, seeking the new and exciting adventure. I think that is part of what drew me to the Navy in the first place, never more than a couple years in any one place. Movement can inject new life and energy, much needed for the creative mind.
I visited Marco Polo's residence when we were in Venice. We arrived by gondola appropriately enough. I also enjoyed reading your book, Waiting for Word, which I took with me on the trip. My favorites were the poems 'weightless' and 'Ocean's End'.
Hope you get settled in the new place quickly my friend.
Matthew, great to be in touch again. We've both had busy summers, yours more momentous and then a lot more varied and interesting than all the effort of my move. I hope you and the family were invigorated by those travels and you rewarded by the whole process of transition. I'm struck, too, by those commonalities between us. It reminds my of something I mention in that essay "Life in Motion," about encountering people in far places during one's travels, how you may come from such different origins, but life and travel throw you together and you discover that shared experience of being where you are together now and your mutual love of the kind of living that brought you there. It's a more meaningful connection, I think, in the end than the mere chance of just having been born or raised in the same place.
I'm honored that you made Waiting for Word part of your trip and pleased by your favorite poems. They're older poems in the collection, some of which are much more recent, and I think there's a commonality between them, too. I wonder if it's any accident that the Navy man favored "Ocean's End"?
Thank you, Jeffrey, all around. Yes, it is and yes, there is! And welcome back from your summer vacation. I think maybe you've been back for a while, but I've been preoccupied in recent weeks. Looking forward to reading you again, too.
The Billy Joel song "Movin' Out" has been going around in my head since I read your post!
I've been reading your political posts with interest, though not commenting, as I'm not sure I have anything interesting or orginal to say about American politics, despite following developments with interest.
The poem is truly wonderful. I hope that you publish more of it.
Also empathize so much with the experience of books in storage. Mine are still there, and I long for the moment that you describe so beautifully of taking them out and giving them their rightful care again. And how wonderful to start reading them with William C. Williams!
As someone who had actually attended 12 schools by the time I graduated high school (I include having studied in Israel in that count), I understand the desire to move and the fearlessness it takes. Haven't moved so much in my adulthood unless you count all the moving back and forth from college and grad school. We have now been in the same home for almost 25 years. That is what is really scary.
May you only have joy in your new home!
How interesting! I suppose it was marriage and then parenthood that led to the stability. All that moving around before, though! There are stories in that, I'm sure. (And of course study in Israel counts.)
Also, thanks for your comment on Notes expressing concern about my back. It offered a much needed smile.
Jay - I keep being surprised by the synchronicities that pop up between us whenever I read your articles. In my 46 years I have moved 22 times, in large part due to my career in the Navy, but even before that I was a wanderer, seeking the new and exciting adventure. I think that is part of what drew me to the Navy in the first place, never more than a couple years in any one place. Movement can inject new life and energy, much needed for the creative mind.
I visited Marco Polo's residence when we were in Venice. We arrived by gondola appropriately enough. I also enjoyed reading your book, Waiting for Word, which I took with me on the trip. My favorites were the poems 'weightless' and 'Ocean's End'.
Hope you get settled in the new place quickly my friend.
Matthew, great to be in touch again. We've both had busy summers, yours more momentous and then a lot more varied and interesting than all the effort of my move. I hope you and the family were invigorated by those travels and you rewarded by the whole process of transition. I'm struck, too, by those commonalities between us. It reminds my of something I mention in that essay "Life in Motion," about encountering people in far places during one's travels, how you may come from such different origins, but life and travel throw you together and you discover that shared experience of being where you are together now and your mutual love of the kind of living that brought you there. It's a more meaningful connection, I think, in the end than the mere chance of just having been born or raised in the same place.
I'm honored that you made Waiting for Word part of your trip and pleased by your favorite poems. They're older poems in the collection, some of which are much more recent, and I think there's a commonality between them, too. I wonder if it's any accident that the Navy man favored "Ocean's End"?
A moving essay on the literal move and the metaphorical move to "on"!
Thank you for always reading so responsively, Mary, just as you write.
Good luck with the new place, Jay. Unpacking books is a great pleasure, isn't it. There's so much scope for random joy. And I loved the poem.
Thank you, Jeffrey, all around. Yes, it is and yes, there is! And welcome back from your summer vacation. I think maybe you've been back for a while, but I've been preoccupied in recent weeks. Looking forward to reading you again, too.
The Billy Joel song "Movin' Out" has been going around in my head since I read your post!
I've been reading your political posts with interest, though not commenting, as I'm not sure I have anything interesting or orginal to say about American politics, despite following developments with interest.