Medytations: just for fun

Once upon a time there was a young woman from a suburban town who went on a trip with her husband to Baltimore, Maryland. Now this was quite a big deal, considering that they had six small children at home. Many loving friends and family had agreed to help - so many that the mother felt overwhelmed by their kindness. She spent the weeks before the trip carefully planning every detail. She coordinated which children would go to which homes, made sure that everyone had the phone numbers and information they needed regarding each child, made packing lists, and took the children to visit the homes where they would be staying so they would feel familiar with their temporary surroundings.

The night before the trip, the children all packed and ready, she began to pack her own things. She took all the pretty things that she rarely had the opportunity to wear at home except for church or on dates with her husband: cute skirts and tops, and even a few new things she had purchased for the trip.

Unsure which shoes would be appropriate, she packed a pair of her favorite flip-flops and a pair of high heeled shoes, deciding to wear her slip-on tennis shoes during the flight to Baltimore.

When she and her husband arrived in Baltimore in the middle of the night, she was a little nervous. The hotel was in a seasoned, old building in the historic city surrounded by lots of one-way streets and streetlights. Grateful that there were not many people or cars out at that time of night, she still wasn't sure what to expect from this big town. They checked into their room without incident, though there were some close calls with the walls in the narrow alleys of the parking garage where her husband parked the rental car.

The first day or two, the woman didn't venture out much. Her husband was away at a business conference during the day, so she slept and read in her room mostly. In the evenings they walked up and down Charles St, Cathedral St, and Light St, and around the Inner Harbor, taking in their surroundings.

Her feet started to hurt from walking on the hard sidewalks in her flip-flops. She began wearing her tennis shoes all the time, but they didn't go very well with the pretty clothes she'd brought for the trip. So, one day, she decided to do some shopping in the Inner Harbor while her husband attended a seminar. She found several pairs of shoes that she really liked. In fact, she had a hard time deciding which ones she wanted. The shoes were a little more expensive than she was used to spending, and she liked three pair really well. She sat, undecided, in the shoe store until her husband rejoined her.

The salesladies, who seemed to think she was a little silly for sitting there so long, kept coming by to check on her. When her husband arrived, they decided it would be best to get two pair, a pretty pair of wedge sandals to go with her skirts and tops, and a comfy, flat pair for the days back home with her children.

Outside the store, she put on her new sandals and placed her old tennies in the box from the store. She felt so pretty, walking down the street with her husband in her new shoes. They were comfortable too, even more comfortable than her tennis shoes. She smiled and held his hand. For the first time she was starting to feel right in this big, strange town.

After that, she didn't felt as intimidated by the tall buildings, the people on the streets, and the cars honking as they passed. The walk from the hotel to the harbor to meet her husband for dinner became familiar. First she passed the homey red brick "mother church of Baltimore," Old St. Paul's church.

Then she walked by the wrought iron fences and sleek, white columns of the first cathedral in the United States, the beautiful Baltimore Basilica. She walked past old buildings that had been long neglected and were mostly abandoned.

She wondered what it would be like to live in one of the newer glass and concrete skyscraper apartment buildings, to park in the garage underneath and ride an elevator home each night.

Finally she arrived at the harbor, marveling each time at the first sight that greeted her there: the U.S.S. Constitution, a sailing ship almost 200 years old that had helped to free slaves during the Civil War.

Sometimes with her husband and sometimes alone, she grew to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Inner Harbor. There was a little store where fudge was made by hand each day, the cooks singing and calling out to the tourists walking by. She bought post cards at a gift shop that she visited a few times. She ate hamburgers with her husband at Johnny Rockets, an old fashioned diner. And she explored a big bookstore that occupied what had once been a huge, brick power house for the city.

She walked over a bridge suspended by cables that bounced a little when you were in the middle of it, and climbed up into a light house that had once housed the keeper and his family in the middle of the bay. (A baby was even born in this light house!)

One evening, when they were very hungry and couldn't find an inexpensive meal in the cultured Mt. Vernon district where their hotel was, she and her husband walked an hour down to the harbor to eat huge burritos at Chipotle for only $6 apiece.

She enjoyed walking around the quieter Mt. Vernon neighborhood as well. Her favorite sight was the tall, white monument of President George Washington set in the middle of a square with a grassy park on each of its four sides. It was a popular area for people to walk their dogs or to sit with a friend. One day, as they passed through the square, and older woman approached them saying she was hungry. Since they didn't have any cash with them, they walked on to a sandwich shop where they bought a big sub sandwich and a cookie. When they returned to the square, the lady was sitting on a bench by the bus stop. She smiled when they gave her the food.

When her husband's business conference was over, they began to do more sight seeing. After breakfast one morning, they walked to the Basilica for a tour. Arriving five minutes after the tour was scheduled to start, they were afraid they'd missed it. However, a few minutes later their tour guide arrived. He apologized, saying that his bus had been late. As they were the only people who had come for the tour that morning, he spent two hours answering all their questions and exploring the Basilica with them. He even made the next tour group wait a few minutes while he made sure to answer all their questions fully.

Later that day, they went to the Walters Art Museum. They were amazed at the large collection of art and artifacts from antiquity: Greek and Roman sculptures, Egyptian mummies, and even blocks covered with heiroglyphics from old Egyptian temples. There was so much to see that they wished they could have spent a lot more time there.

They spent an entire day in Washington, D.C. They met up with a cousin who lived there, visiting visited with her, her four children, and her parents. They got to ride an elevator up to the family's apartment and look over the town from their balcony. They walked to the newer, much larger Washington Monument, took pictures in front of the White House where the President lives, and spent many hours exploring the Smithsonian American History Museum. They saw real plaster casts of President Lincoln's face and hands, took in the sights and sounds of the Apollo Theater, admired Juila Child's kitchen, and even touched a section of the Berlin Wall.

By the end of the day, even with her new shoes, the woman was too tired to walk all the way to the immense statue of President Lincoln, so she waved to him from far away.

Back at the apartment, they spent more time with her cousin's children and had a good, long chat with her cousin. Since they all lived so far away from each other, everyone wanted to spend as much time together as they could. They enjoyed catching up in the peaceful apartment, thirteen stories above the city streets.

Later, as they drove out of the city, they passed through an area what looked like a police stakeout. There were so many noisy cars and pedestrians, even though it was nearly the middle of the night, that they were glad to be returning to the relative peace and familiarity of their hotel in Baltimore.

The last day there, as they had every morning of their stay, they ate breakfast in the hotel cafeteria. After packing up and checking out, they drove to Fort McHenry, a star-shaped fort that had been the site of a major victory during the War of 1812 and the inspiration for the United States National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner." They were delighted to listen to the conversations of the people in the fort who were dressed in uniforms and talking to each other like they were soldiers of that time.

Finally, it was time to go home. Her flight was delayed by bad weather and circumstance so many times that seemed like it would never end. She didn't know whether she would see her luggage again, as it had not made it to the airport that night. But she was so glad to see the familiar face of her sister picking her up at the airport that she didn't really mind. Exhausted but content, she fell into her warm, familiar bed in the wee hours of the morning. She couldn't wait to pick up her children the next day, to tell them all about her adventures, and to hear them tell her about theirs.

Note: This is a story I wrote for my children about my trip to Baltimore last June. I thought it would be fun to post it here as well.

Today we went to experience the snow with our children before it's too late for this season and it all melts away. The only way we were willing to venture out to do this was to have a specific destination in mind that offered hot chocolate, restrooms, and a place to go indoors. We decided on Squaw Valley. After spending the first few hours of the day getting everyone breakfasted, dressed, lunches made and all the accoutrements that go with babies and small children packed, we pulled out at 11am. We'd hoped to leave between 9-10am, but with a large brood, we're learning to be flexible.

Two hours later, driving two cars and having had only one baby scream for the last 20 minutes, we arrived. (Beloved Pearl and I had an awesome time chatting the whole way up and back. Though we do live and work together every day, we're pretty busy and don't always have as much time to talk as we'd like.) Packing the babies into the double stroller and making sure everyone had their warm things on, we discovered that Laughter had forgotten her coat and Mommy had forgotten to remind/help her find one. Well, we'll make the best of it. We planned to make this a short trip anyway.

After wandering around base camp to get our bearings, we decided to eat lunch at an outdoor barbecue area where we could see the skiers riding the lift and ending their runs. It was worth braving the cold wind in the shade for the chance to soak up the atmosphere and people-watch. (Plenty of people were watching us too, I'm sure!) As soon as the food had been consumed (and bottles warmed by nice taco-sellers at Beloved Pearl's request, and enjoyed by two hungry babies), we were ready to re-enter the sunshine and find some snow to play in. We trooped behind our brave leader as he scoped out the possibilities and settled on a patch of snow in front of a store. It was just the right size for our little crew! We laughed as we pictured how silly we must look playing in this tiny patch of snow and taking pictures as if this were the most marvelous experience we'd ever had while entire snow-covered mountains surrounded us. But we were having a blast! Even Thunder got to enjoy this snow adventure in miniature. Our brave Little Tree was delighted to discover another snowy hill just a few feet away, so we hiked across the pavement to have snow balls chucked at us by four gleeful children.

Laughter was unfortunately starting to turn blue, so we ended our snow exploration to retreat inside a Starbucks. Finding a little corner to take over (the only other occupants being a pair of very nice ladies who spoke kindly to our Precious Crown), Saltracer ordered a bunch of hot chocolates (our only expense on this trip besides gas). These having been consumed with great enjoyment (and only two spills, a few dozen napkins and a mop), we headed out. Stopped by the restroom to make sure those who could go potty in the toilet went and those who couldn't were changed (discovering after the first un-diapering that all diapers had been left in the van, so auntie ran to tell daddy who ran to get them while auntie stayed with those outside the bathroom and mommy stood guard over aforementioned un-diapered baby and those children who were still in the bathroom). Loaded up the cars two hours after having arrived with four tired and happy children, two tired and not quite as happy babies, and three tired and happy grownups for an uneventful drive home.

Not bad. Not bad at all.