The sidewalk along the river…spooky!

While reading the Sunday paper today, I got a little emotional.

There was this article, which you’ve probably read because it was the most emailed NYT article. It was about Charleston staying (or not staying) true to its historical architecture.

“New arrivals and a diverse economy threaten to transform a merely beautiful metropolis into an economically important one.” “The $2.8 billion tourism sector lives or dies on the city’s ability to remain charming.”

There was the article about the 70 year anniversary commeration at Auschwitz this coming Tuesday.

The article about new activity in Ukraine (which is as close to here as Charleston is to Oklahoma, to put it into perspective).

The article about radical Islamists in Belgium (a mere three hour drive from here).

Or this article, written by a 40-something who regrets not having children. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what her point was. Her article made me mad at first (how dare you try to project your wishes for children on me). But I guess my takeaway should be there is no such thing as a perfect life, so stop waiting for all the pieces to fall into place (but I’m not waiting, so again…mad).

It was like this weird mix of topics that I could somehow relate to, that I seem close to and far away from at the same time. Anyway, they stayed with me throughout the day.

Sometimes, when I’m eating at my table, I look out my window and think, “I’m eating breakfast…in Germany.” So far away…

And then I put on some soul music and do laundry and life goes on.

The insolvable words on the washer and dryer have become a blur; laundry is a question that has been answered now.

I hang a few pictures of California on my wall.

I catch up with new friends for lunch, and then wait for my old friends to wake up. After all, they need me to report back on how Sunday will be.

And the world doesn’t seem so big after all.