That Was an AWESOME VACATION…

I don’t think that I had realized just how depleted I was emotionally and in every other possible way after the events of this summer…thankful, but thoroughly depleted…in fact, this self-portrait by Michelangelo from the Sistine Chapel ceiling pretty much sums it up:

Michelangeo Buonarroti, detail, Last Judgement, Sistine Chapel

I was talking with someone this morning, describing the six-foot-tall scaryass metal chickens on West Street in Annapolis, and sharing details of my close encounter with Rodin’s Burghers of Calais in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, the Flyers-Rangers hockey game in Philly…and my friend commented, “Deborah! You’re GLOWING!” And do you know…I was. I feel replete. I feel fulfilled. I feel rejoicing. I feel…like I have literally been REBORN. My friend asked me what lesson it was that I learned during this trip…and I said, “Well…I had this BIG ol’ looong list of All. The. Things. that I wanted to do…and on the second day of my Adventure on the Mall, whilst sitting in the foyer of the Hirshhorn with my aching, swollen feet propped up on the wall…I realized something very, very important: You. CANNOT. Do. All. The. Things…and that has to be okay too. The Things, I told her, that I – ME – wanted and needed to do for the renewal of my soul/spirit/mind/whatever were quite simple, in the end: I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my beloved Burghers, Balzac and all of the sumptuous Henry Moore sculptures in the Garden…and to explore the inside of the Hirshhorn. Which I DID – except for the second floor…but that will have to be on the next trip. For this one…I needed to take time to just revel, soak, marinate, exist…in the present. Just NOW. Nothing else needed to exist. My daughter Kate, praise God!, is healthy now and was at home, attending her classes. My wonderful son Rhys was housesitting and keeping Kate company…my wonderful husband Paul was attending his business conference and enjoying it hugely….and me? I just got to do WHAT I WANTED…at MY PACE…oh, my friends…I am a NEW woman. With that, I will leave you these images of the Sublime and the Ridiculous…

First the Sublime…