Open doors (life)

I have been mentally trying to write a blog about my flight back because I sat next to a man who played guitar in Anthrax for several years. He was very nice. We knew we would get along when we were both got excited because we thought our flight attendant’s name was Chewbacca. [It was not, by the way.] I seemed to keep the man from Anthrax amused right up until the time I feel into a hard open-mouthed sleep for the rest of the flight. But, that whole blog idea has become overshadowed by the blog-worthiness of my transition back to my world.

After almost 2 months away, I returned to my apartment to discover that I no longer remembered how to work my keys. I have a 5-key/2-door system. When I first tried to get in, I had absolutely no idea which key went to which lock. It would have taken me tons of time to figure it out had my roommate not been walking up our sidewalk. Her skills with the keys were especially welcomed because I had used my time on the drive to the apartment to drink a whole lot of coffee and there was a situation.

The other thing that I am having difficulty doing is figuring out how to get from here to there. When I had to ask myself, “How do I get to the Whitestone Expressway?” you could practically see the tumbleweed rolling through my brain. My approach was to just hop in the car with the hope that I would remember how to get there as I drove. There was a similar situation on the way home. But, it worked out in the end—as it always does.

I was able to enjoy this summer in ways I have not been able to enjoy things in such a very long time. I hope that I am able to hold onto some of the things that became so important this summer: new ways to approach life, willingness to push myself beyond my personal world, the ability to be as generous to people as people have been to me, the lightness that comes from doing just what you want to do, and the knowledge of a whole new world. But, what I think I hope for the most after this whole summer away is that doors will keep being able to be opened.