We’re home once again. The weather driving, as expected was atrocious. It reminded me of going to MA in 2001, when all the kids went with us. I think that is the last time we went to Louise & Scott’s house rather than them coming here. Anyway – it was shortly after 9/11 of course and I was struck by the normalcy of the travelers on the road with us. There were a lot of American flags on all the cars and there was a sort of affinity among all of us strangers. But mainly I had this sense of the persistance of doing what we always do – get together with people we love to celebrate our blessings. This year on the way there, in between fearing for my life as gi-normous trucks blew past us with gallons of rain water spewing off of them and into our windshield, I thought a lot about that other trip and the changes since. Even from the highway, at night you can see into some houses and lives, in a way that you can’t in the daytime. Families putting up Christmas decorations and watching TV and eating a meal together. Fast flashes of people’s personal cinema. Normal. Ordinary. But such a blessing. One we take for granted most of the time, but even that fact is a blessing in itself – because we can.
