Where I'm Happy

Here's a shot of the volleyball crowd I sometimes play with on Wednesday nights. It changes every week but some people are regulars, so I kind of know them, and everyone is friendly and in love with volleyball, as I am. I've written about this game before. Sometimes after work I think I am too tired to trudge the mile or so from my office to where we play, but then when I arrive and start playing, I am taken far away from everything, all the worries and sadness of the day. And I think, if I could just play volleyball twenty-four hours a day, wouldn't that be great.

The picture above doesn't show how lovely it is where we play, alongside the Hudson River as the sun is setting. You have to look at the picture below for that.



Tomorrow I take off for Spain. Not that I'm packed or anything. But experience tells me I will somehow get myself onto the plane in time. I'm excited!

Think good thoughts for me, and I'll post when I'm back.

Countdown

A week from today, I will be arriving in Barcelona after an all-night flight. I am doing an "adventure"--or adventurish--vacation with a group, walking in Catalonia in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

I am starting to get excited--about being away, seeing something new, meeting new people, and most of all, being outside and walking every day.

Of course, I have yet to figure out if the new hiking boots fit properly, or even try to break them in. And there are lots of other things on my list to buy this week, all of which will have to be done in the evenings after work. And I want to clean my apartment, so that I don't come home to disorder.

But I suppose it will all work out. I can always use my old hiking boots if I need to. And I will find a way to get at least most of what I think I need to buy, or do, bought and done.

Other things:

Summer, and volleyball, and yoga, are still making me happy. My apartment is as hot as ever, since the work on rewiring the building seems to have stalled. But the prospect of hot nights in the apartment sometimes leads to spontaneous evenings out--last week I unplannedly went to a movie on Monday, out for drinks with people from work on Tuesday, and to the ballet on Thursday. The ballet was truly unexpected--a friend called Wednesday night to say he had an extra ticket for Giselle at ABT. Orchestra seats no less. Giselle is the most quintessentially romantic (and Romantic) ballet there is: ballerinas in diaphanous white dresses, peasants in colorful rustic clothing, trickery, unrequited love, moonlight ritual, visits from beyond the grave, and supreme forgiveness. And the dancing was phenomenal. I was practically swooning with pleasure the whole time.

Today I am off to see my brother, whose birthday was earlier this week. Must close now, but will write again soon.