The Bronte Parsonage at Haworth

View of the Parsonage from this beautiful mossy cemetery

View of the church (right) and parsonage from the cobblestone street 

Inside the church, lighting was poor but the space was ideal

I love the lanterns and the bench

This old wonderful street... the Black Bull was patronized frequently by Branwell Bronte. The weather was appropriately bleak and blustery.

City O City, Leeds...

Zach and I have finally made it to England; and I have finally made it to graduate school. I'm posting some photos of our more recent wanderings.

Another "Start"

There is so much to say about Zihuatanejo that I won't say anything now. Later, Zach and I will upload some photos and perhaps we'll narrate our travels with these. We had a wonderful excursion though, and across our six flights, I became attached to Bill Bryson, the hilarious, oddly comforting travel writer and ex-patriot.

At about day three in Zihuatanejo, I decided that it was time to change this situation at the house. Since AmeriCorps doesn't pay me a thing until mid November, I am getting a second evening and weekend job which will begin as soon as any shop, pub, or coffee joint asks me on. Fortified by my new "tan" and the purple earrings from my inlaws, I will do some serious job hunting down Broadway street tomorrow morning. Zach also has a suitable prospect, about which I am not at liberty to disclose any details.

The journey home from Mexico was ambitious all by itself. We stopped in LA, were whisked off to IN'N'Out by Zach's brother Kurtis, where Z and I indulged ourselves with double cheeseburgers, fries, and shakes, the only part absent was the meat. Apparently I was starving because I thought our pasty buns and melted cheese tasty but Zach informed me otherwise. Then, after an all too brief period of catching up with Kurtis, we flew to Portland. In Portland, our hippie friend who went to school with Zach in Boston, picked us up and drove us to an all night crunchy coffee shop. After grilled cheese and grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and loads of gossip, the three of us explored downtown Portland on foot. I was mesmerized by the truly countless coffee shops, the abundant verdure, and one Episcopalian church. This church, called Trinity just like our favorite one in Boston, was spread out like a quad of a campus with two side wings extended like arms in a welcoming posture. Something about the layout of the church moved my mystically inclined self. Vanessa told us that the church hosts yoga and Buddhist spirituality classes. I'm not one that is moved by the open, fluid concept of a "spiritualness" that counteridentifies with organized religion and all things conventional. I think most of that is vacuous. But I stand in quiet wonder at mystics, I am compelled by Buddhist thought, and I believe meditation to be of great value, be it through yoga, taize, or prayer. Suffice it to say, the church impacted me, and I would love to walk there one early Thursday morning and say a solitary common prayer with a priest. I believe Portland is the US city for us.

Despite my love for Portland, it was a little less that wonderful spending the hours from 3:00 to 6:30 this morning on the airport floor. Fortunately, there were soft chairs and the security announcements only came on every 10 minutes. We even had about 20 minutes of quality cuddling- I'm sure to the disgust of the other airport night dwellers.

We finally arrived home late this morning to be greeting by my two most wonderful, most favorite dogs, Wesley and Seattle. If anything, I am grateful this day for friends and family who drive 20 miles to the airport to eat fast food with you, airport cuddles, churches that stay in your mind all day, and dogs that celebrate your return no matter how short your jaunt.

Littleton Haze

We've arrived in Denver, been greeted and welcomed by my family, and now have only to settle into a much quieter life of work, saving, and awaiting direction.

Wednesday we went to the farmers market in Littleton, Yum!, and visited the littleton YMCA.

Thursday we went to the post office and the DMV, where, after waiting two hours I failed my vision test with my glasses on and Zach failed to have enough identification because his present license is from Texas.

Friday was Laura's birthday! Happy birthday sister!

So far my interest list runs as follows:
Various Americorps and family shelter places of employment
Evening classes on teaching writing to college students, sign language, and oral renderings
Volunteering at the Colorado Puppy Rescue center as either a "puppy posse", an "adoption advocate", or a "puppy walker".
Attending yoga, pilates, swimming, and/or back strengthening classes with Zach at our local Y.
Scouting out farmers markets with Zach.
Training the new family dog, named- not by me- Seattle, not to climb on the counter top, open doors and trash cans, chew on the couch, greet people by handling various parts of them with his jowls, or jump circles trying to chase our other dog Wesley while taking a walk around the neighborhood.
Keeping in touch with my much loved Boston friends and former coworkers. It really amazes me that despite my bouts of unhappiness and hatred of the winter months, I made friends that I am loathe to lose and acquaintences that I will acutely miss. This is, of course, an encouragement to myself and all my other friends who are considering transition to go for it because there are wonderful human beings in all parts of the world. Boston means a great deal to me. I believe I doubled my self confidence through work and taking time off from academia. I increased my self sufficiency by using public transit and my own two feet to take me everywhere I needed or wanted to go. I gained a sense of what "neighborhood" means by living in a large city but exsisting in a small circle. I discovered, created, and allowed myself to become a "me" outside of my family and the friends I grew up with. I hope that now back at home again, I can keep this different person alive admist familiar family dynamics, so many cars, and the new unfamiliar streets.
Perhaps most significant, is the way that Zach and I came to depend upon each other entirely. So far away from our families in the great Northeast, we were isolated from influence and sometimes local support. I hope we can keep this intense bond strong and ever new in our life in Colorado.

Here's to another start, new friends, catching up with old friends, and another glimpse into the world of adult work.

Boston, New York, Tempe, Colorado

The past weeks have been something of a blur. Zach graduated on the 21st and his family (minus Austin) joined us for the occasion and the visit was fun and wonderful! Zach surprised everyone by graduating Magna! I'm so proud of my MTS graduate! And Dr. Walters gave the greatest, most inspiring graduation speech I've heard. He spoke of Jesus' temptations in the desert as symbollic of the temptations that dreamers face during their quest after the dream. How often do you enjoy a graduation ceremony?!

The night of graduation, my sister, Laura, made an apparently perilous trek by bus from New York to Boston. At the station in NY, she was accosted by a plain clothes police officer certain that she was a run-away. She refused to go with the officer until he produced two other officers in uniform who insisted that she follow them to call her parents. The fact that she had lost her cell phone and that she offered the number of her chaparone (she was on a senior class trip) didn't seem to help her story. Fortunately, after the officer terrified our dad- "This is Bob with the NYPD, do you have a daughter named Laura?"- she was able to take her bus and, hours later, arrived safely in Boston with a very adventurous story to tell.

We are going to Arizona in one week for the same sister's high school graduation. I am very stoked to see some old friends, and hit the old places, especially the one and only Changing Hands Bookstore- the very first new, used, and independent bookstore of my life.

One week after we return, we're flying to Denver and the unknown.

Yesterday was exactly six weeks from our date of departure! I'm feeling it coming!

In the wake of Barbara

Our excursion to Washington DC was marvelous (minus the adventurous return trip). The talk/reading was very enjoyable. Barbara K. has a melodic, poised and perfectly accentless speaking voice (surprising as she is Kentuckyan). The talk, as well as my dips into her book, has left me far more aware of the food that I consume on a daily basis and the way that my food choices impact everyone from small farmers to the environment. Lest this become another one of those blogs, I won't go on with environmental jargon but will say that once again, Barbara has chosen a very important human issue and written about it with perspective, charisma, humor, and deep sincerity. When she signed our books, she was so personable and inviting that I ventured a nerdy comment about how I read her books in high school and was from Tempe AZ. She responded very graciously and even commented on Zach's excessively nerdy "Stop Mountaintop Removal" shirt. What a wonderful gift from my Zach.

We also lunched with Alex, our friend from Abilene who roomed with Zach across several undergraduate years. It was wonderful and as Alex said, a miracle- like meeting someone from a different life. I hope he will come visit us in Boston before we leave.

Yesterday I finished a book by Jane Goodall called _Reason for Hope_. I love that despite her scientific background, she is a mystic and a very faithfilled person. I hope that one day I will be as filled with peace as she is. Her book and story have inspired me not to give up on my hope of a meaningful career and a very deliberate life. Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I doing my best to wait quietly and hopefully to hear what I must do.

Congratulations to Katie and Jeremiah. I know I've been waiting for this news for a long time. I wish you both happiness and fulfillment in one another. Blessings!