Life of Larberg v.42
I have a theory about being cold.
It's always been my belief that the 'degrees' systems - Fahrenheit,
Celsius, Kelvin etc... - are nonsense. When it comes to cold: either
you're cold or you're not. It's a light switch in my mind, not a
dimmer.
But one singular experience changed my mind this past weekend.
There's something beyond cold when you walk from a set of apartments
to a metro station five kilometers away outside of DC. It's a level
beyond cold - it's something else. My mom can always read my mind:
Lara: "Hey, I'm calling you from the DC metro. It's so cold, my
vocabulary can only function using two words and they both begin with
'F'"
Mom: "I'm gonna guess one of those words is freezing…"
But DC was great! I mean it was the only time I blinked just to keep
my eyeballs warm, but it was a great trip.
Kay's family was wonderful. It was such a sparkling serendipity that
Kay was returning to DC from Madrid on the same weekend I was flying
to Baltimore for Emily Hutchinson's (Morgan's) wedding. I stayed with
Kay's family for the days surrounding the wedding (Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues
morning) and genuinely had a great time with them.
I especially enjoyed talking to Kay's dad. He was the one to pick me
up from the airport ("I'll be the man wearing the NHU hat. I'm tall."
Awwwkwarrd…) Since Kay's flight was delayed I ended up spending a
good chunk of time with just her mom and dad. I actually had a lovely
evening with Mr. and Mrs. Freedy hanging out and talking about all
things travel, cycling, and Eugene Peterson.
Mr. Freedy and a lot to talk about. He's even going to take me on a
cycling tour of DC in the Spring when I come to Peabody to visit
Cameron. I have full intentions of following through on these plans.
But the main event of the visit was the wedding. Kay was a super-great date.
Actually, side note, Kay's just a superb person in general. She knows
I love her, but I wanted to reiterate that Kay is one of the most
unique, most eclectic and stimulating people to talk to. I heart Kay
Freedy. Okay. Y ESTA!
The wedding was surprisingly refreshing. Kay and I revisited this
topic several times afterwards, but we both enjoyed the lack of
affectation of the whole event. It was all very genuine. Really nice
wedding.
Plus, I loved that they quoted Corelli's Mandolin...
Being around the Furman crowd is always enlightening, too. Kay and I
shared some interesting observations but in general it was just nice
to see friends and share harmless updates and counter-updates.
Thank God for Carolyn Carrier and Maggie Stapleton who saved me from
utter small talk purgatory (DEF: a no man's land of conversing -
neither dull nor stimulating - just idle mingling of no social
substance. You know it…). Carolyn's just an interesting person and
Maggie and I were able to bond on various amusing topics for quite
some time. It was fun talking to both of them - in general, a nice
afternoon.
I could've done without the blowing of the bubbles though. At that
point, I was so cold that I thought it would've been just as efficient
to chuck ice cubes at the bride and groom…
Alas.
We spent Monday in DC where it got even colder than the wedding day
I'm pretty sure I experienced (for the first time in history, perhaps)
a brain freeze from the outside-in just walking around the Washington
Monument.
We saw sites. We museumed. We Christmas-treed!
I had a strong emotional reaction to the 9/11 exhibit in the war part
of the museum. They had a section of the twin towers' steel frame
mangled in a spiral. Like a beautiful, but sad piece of music, I felt
so sad standing there.
Kay also cried. But hers were tears of joy from being in the presence
of Julia Child's kitchen exhibit.
But that's Kay Freedy…
The Christmas trees in DC were really cool. The first time we walked
down there it was all locked up. Fence. Barricade. Uniformed sex
objects. It was all very official because the President was flying
into the White House. And right on cue, just as the George Costanza
lookalike announced this information we witnessed three large, black
POTUS helicopters flying very low above our heads to the White House.
It was pretty neat. I couldn't really tell which helicopter he was
in, but I'm pretty sure someone in the middle one was making a
blowfish face against the glass…
Just a guess.
Within 30 minutes of the helicopters landing the firemen, EMT, police,
and barricades were lifted so we could tour the trees.
You must be tired of my Life of Larberg by now. Long entry this week.
So I'll resist adding in my additional theories of why screaming
babies seem to be pre-boarded on every flight I've ever taken to
Orlando like an unhappy prize at the bottom of a box of cereal or how
'Jingle All the Way' starring Sinbad and Arnold Schwarzenegger
fulfills only HALF the promise of in-flight entertainment...
No, I'll keep those theories for another time and simply wish EVERYONE
a very, merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, all.
Love and Kelvin,
LaraLouise