I can't believe it. I am 27 this coming Saturday. I woke up this morning with an unfamiliar feeling. In 1 week, I will be another year closer to 30. I can still remember my 21st birthday, all those gruesome shots of Malibu Rum (what was I thinking?!), like it was yesterday. There are moments, especially during hard times, when I can almost still taste the rum, hear the comings and goings of college friends, feel the laughter of young 20 somethings reverberate through my mind, calming, inspiring.....it takes me back to a great place. Licking my lips, I make another permanent marker line on my arm to mark the passage, ever closer to attaining the goal of "21 shots". Have I grown enough over these 6 years to say I truly am 27? I doubt it. But I don't mind. I relish being and feeling so young and free of spirit. Most of the time at least...
To commemorate my late 20 something stage, Mike (my husband....after 3 months, it stills feels new calling him that)is taking me to a couple of my favorite places. First, Thursday, I am cooking my first full Thanksgiving dinner. I am extreme when it comes to things like this. The menu took me 2 hours to make today. Damn that Martha Stewart and Better Homes and Gardens! Mike wouldn't go food shopping with me (you wouldn't want to go grocery shopping with me either) until he lost 2 games of paper/rock/scissors, our negotiating technique that works beautifully I must add, AND lost in head/tails 3 times in a row. As fate would have it, he was forced to come.
Friday, we're going to the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA birthplace and area of inspiration for Andrew Wyeth. The museum has a new exhibit of his that I cannot wait to see. Andrew Wyeth's work has been an inspiration for me most of my life. I loved his work before I even knew it was his.
Following the museum trip, we're going to nearby Long Wood Gardens. Created by industrialist Pierre S. du Pont, it is 1,050 acres of pure beauty. It's sheer size and immaculate presentation of almost every imaginable plant in its natural setting (rainforest, greenhouse, desert, etc) will make even a non-flower-lover feel like coming home and starting their own windowsill herb garden. Needless to say, I can't wait for the 2 3/4 day work week, Thanksgiving, and my birthday. Life is good. It's amazing how feelings can change, let me rephrase that, how bad feelings can be subdued with time. Thank God for resiliency.
