One of the things that is hardest to get used to when you lose someone, even temporarily -- whether a child to summer camp, a boyfriend you've broken up with -- or more permanently, a friend or parent who has died, is the hole it leaves in your life. Suddenly the time you were devoting to feeding the child, calling the parent, taking time with your friend or lover, is available just for you. In some cases this can be great -- when my children went off on their own this summer, the days became really long. When I go away for work, and I no longer need to do laundry, the dishes, the shopping, I suddenly can read for hours, or go for long walks, or attend the theater every night. But the important losses -- the loved one, whether to breakup or death -- create a void that looms from morning to night, and sometimes all night long. Time does not open up horizons, but instead can gape in empty and horrifying ways. Preparing my new courses for the fall, I've had several things
A blog about travel and staying put, reading and writing, food and food for thought.