my true love gave to me an afternoon reminiscing.

Rudi and I, not having plans for today to ski or visit friends, decided that it was time to return to Middletown, our former home, which I hadn’t visited in several years.

Our first stop was O’Rourke’s, a classic diner that serves gourmet quality food. It had a fire several years back and the community came together to help Brian, who had lacked insurance, rebuild. The new space sits on the same footprint, but there definitely were some aesthetic changes made. Luckily, the changes did not affect the generally cheerful employees or the amazing brunch offered. I ate the Irish soda bread trinity (or something like that), which was three different types of Irish soda bread turned into French toast and then topped with different jams and clotted cream. Yum! And so filling! (When we lived in Middletown and ate there semi-regularly, I would ask for just two slices to minimize the waste. Luckily, in this instance, Rudi was not so stuffed that he couldn’t help me out after finishing his own meal.)

To aid our digestion, we walked south down Main Street to see what had changed in the seven years since we’d moved. Some things had stayed the same, while others had changed. Spaces that used to be a bridal shop, a dollar store, and the extension to a clothing store had all turned into restaurants. The paint-your-own pottery studio looked to be a used bookstore. The natural food store had built its own building next to the roller rink. The bead shop had become an artisanal chocolate shop, Tschudin Chocolates, with a friendly owner. We bought a few candies to bring back for dessert tonight, including one flavored with Captain Morgan rum called the Johnny Depp and a delicious chocolate and coconut covered marshmallow.

We ended the evening at two other old haunts: Klekolo’s coffeehouse, whose days open now number past 5,000, and Amato’s toy store, where we may have bought a new game to subject our friends to play with our friends.

Heading home, we drove through campus to see how things had changed since I’d left. There’s a new, fancy campus center, but that was the only obvious alteration to the landscape visible in the growing dusk. I’m glad. I don’t mind change (it’s unfair to expect things to stay the same when we ourselves don’t), but I prefer it to be gradual and human-scaled. Today’s seemed to fall within that category, and I am grateful.

Rudi and I are trying to pull things together so that we can leave tonight. Rudi thought when I suggested we consider leaving tomorrow morning instead that it meant I would need ’til morning to get ready, whereas I just needed the extra headspace to finish things up.

Getting there…

Our drive to Connecticut, which normally averages 8 hours, took 12 instead. It was a surprising turn-of-event, but not as painful as you might think. I did, after all, have my favorite guy, good tunes (including two new cds Dad mailed down for the occasion), and knitting to help while away the time.

Here are three beautiful things from our drive:

1. We drove up Maryland Route 40 instead of taking 95, from just north of Baltimore to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. At one point, while sitting at a light, we realized that although it was raining over the car there was sun behind us. We probably would have missed the rainbow in front of us if we’d been on the highway.

2. Road food is an important aspect of any trip. We stopped for a 5 p.m. lunch at a hot dog stand in Wilmington, Delaware, where delicious meals for two ran me a whopping $11. And we just squeaked into our old favorite pizza joint as they were closing. We were too late for table service, but we split our piping hot takeout pie while sitting in the car outside. We dripped cheese and sauce and our fingers ran with grease. I don’t think there were two happier people in all of New England. I kept sighing with contentment the rest of the drive north. (Thank you, Modern employees, for making us a final pizza of the night. We are truly, truly grateful.)

3. A later start meant we got to see the first Christmas lights in New Jersey (my favorite state for holiday decorations). And by the time we were driving on the Merritt Parkway, the fog curled around the trees in the median, offering ghostly shadows as car headlights bounced past.

Have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow everyone. I hope you’re spending it with people you love.

It’s been a year since Rudi and I packed our bags and headed to France.

It was an amazing trip.

This year’s travels have been more prosaic and more domestic, with trips to New England, Chicago (for work), Portland, and Salt Lake as our destinations.

I’m starting to feel that wanderlust kicking in…

Our annual meeting is in San Diego this coming year, so it’s likely I’ll be sent there for a few days, which I hope to combine with some time spent seeing the California friends. I also believe we’ll have to head back to Salt Lake so Rudi’s mom can have some assistance as she recovers from surgery next year, but I’m hoping that’s not the extent of our travels.

So, I thought I’d ask: If you could travel anywhere in 2010 or if you could recommend one spot to go on vacation, where would you select and why?

No place is too random or far-fetched to suggest. I’m really interested to hear where you think would be a fantastic destination. Do you have a dream trip?

I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I seem incapable of being an adult and preparing for travel in a normal, daytime manner. Instead, an impending trip usually brings panic and clear eyes about the mess I live amidst on a normal day-to-day basis. Packing must be put off in lieu of dishes, laundry, or general housework. (Yes, I know where this comes from…)

Take tonight: I was home by seven. I could have packed for Salt Lake and been ready to get a somewhat full night’s sleep if I’d been dedicated. Instead, though, a movie took precedence. And dinner. And cuddling with the cats.

Right now? Dealing with the eight pounds of tomatoes I’m not sure will last uncooked in the fridge until Sunday. And tidying the living room. And queuing blog posts. (Don’t forget to stop by while I’m gone…)

Okay, yes, my stuff is pretty much ready to go. I piled shirts on the couch before dinner. And all the clean underwear I own is there, too, making my task merely one of picking several pairs to take with me. I even have a relatively clear idea of what knitting and reading will accompany me. But it’s not in the bag.

There will be no sleep tonight. And that’s no one’s fault but mine.

I’d better finish up my summary of Sock Summit and my trip to Portland before I forget what happened. No one else cares, I realize, particularly at this late date, but I don’t want to forget and writing it down seems like a good way to prevent that happening.

Sunday was the final day of Sock Summit and my last day in Portland. As such, I wanted to milk it for all it was worth.

The day began with a class from Anna Zilboorg, who is an expert in Turkish knitting. She gave a great talk about the history of knitting in Turkey and the various motifs that regularly appear in their knitting, such as the hook, which is the wave-like design you can see on some of the socks she’s holding.

One of the most interesting things she had to say had to do with Turkey being, until recently, a predominantly oral, rather than written culture. Instruction is handed down person-to-person, rather than being committed to and learned from paper. Because of that, she noted, there is a very strict interpretation of how things are to be done, and deviation from that way is not accepted, and this extends to handicrafts. To allow people to adapt designs and techniques to suit their own style would contribute ultimately to the death of the culture. And, of course, that totally makes sense, particularly as modern Western culture infringes more and more into their world.

She passed around many authentic Turkish socks, including this one with loops at the toe. She also showed us Turkish bridal socks, which were ornate and colorful. You could practically see the joy of knitting and wearing such an item.

She also shared a few knitting charts so we could practice some of the common motifs on our own. I knit one of them and can see creating a sock in the future that included at least one. (more…)