« What's next? Legwarmers? | Main | Exposition »

March 22, 2005

Lebanon

In this Sunday's NY Times Style Magazine there's an article about Beirut - written by a young female writer who went there in January. The article focuses on the club scene, and the writer had me dancing on the tables with her. I guess it doesn't hurt that Java is playing some funky dance-type music this morning and the subtle thumping as I was reading helped set the scene.

My parents were planning to go to Beirut in June to attend the centennial of my dad's high school alma mater, the American Community School in Beirut (when I was in high school he let me wear a sweatshirt to school from ACS - I distinctly remember one kid asking me if it was a joke. He couldn't believe there *was* such a thing.) I seriously considered the idea of going, too - Beirut stories are as much a part of my childhood as anything else. Any gathering that included my dad's family included stories of Beirut. I think for a lot of families there's one specific time or place that really emphasizes who they are as a family, and for my dad's family it was Beirut in the mid-60s (for our nuclear family it's probably Guam in the mid-80s, although my youngest brother would protest that he was too little to really appreciate it. But then again, maybe that's who he'll always be in my head when I think of us as a family - a bratty little kid in o.p shorts.)

Once I started kicking the idea around seriously I did a few internet searches and came up with some gorgeous pictures of Lebanon - in a way I guess it could be considered a miniature California: mountains, desert, ocean. But not cold, grey, rough Pacific Ocean; beautiful blue Mediterranean Ocean. I could tell Andy was going to be a hard sell, though: not long after I floated the idea by him he sent me an email with the distances from Beirut to the Gaza Strip and Fallujah. For him, the word Beirut is a one-word summary of the struggles in the Middle East during our lifetime. As long as we have been able to understand the evening news we have heard the word Beirut associated with death and violence and bombs. As much as I associate Beirut with fond memories of my dad's family telling stories I associate Beirut with my dad collapsing into his leather chair after work saying "Lay it on me, Walter" and Walter's nightly stories of fighting and bombs.

So the plans for the trip have been scuttled. And we're going to Cancun (again) instead. Well, maybe not instead; we probably would have gone again anyway. Maybe we can come up with an another interesting - but safe - vacation.

RUNNING - oh yeah, that. I've been going three mornings a week and then on Saturday mornings. I haven't gone over 5 miles, though. I've been starting off with the walk-run thing and then finishing up with strides. It's kinda sad how the strides wear me out! But our mornings have been gorgeous and I usually see my friends at some point, so I feel like it's a nice, relaxed balance. I still don't know when or if I'll get the itch to train for anything.

Good grief I've had too much coffee - or more accurately, I've had too strong coffee. I've only had two teeny-tiny Java cups, but I've acquired a taste for the stronger stuff and it's giving me the jitters. Any stressful situation when I get to work and I just might explode ...

Posted by jenandmats at March 22, 2005 7:49 AM