Over the River and through the Woods

A view of Cos Cob in the summer.

Life has taken me and my shaggy white Sug to Cos Cob in Greenwich, CT., to visit Sis and Don for a couple of days. It's only an hour from home but feels like I've really gotten away.

Driving over the Tappan Zee Bridge helps--it carries me, formally, from my ordinary world to a patch of my beloved New England. [I can't drive over the Tap without remembering the many times I took that route to the Cape with Dad and Figgy for a short break.]

I used to stay at Sis's apartment at 232 East 82nd Street in NYC a lot before I married--as often as once a week. I loved going there. I'd get a good night's sleep on her pullout sofa and see my sister, who usually took the opportunity to instill some culture into me, whether the opera, theater or museum. She took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, Broadway.....all over.

Sis, Sug and I walked by the marina today. So pretty. The river, the boats, all wrapped up snugly for winter. The narrow winding village road. The two graceful swans I glimpsed--swanning in water as I coasted on Route 95N toward exit 5.

I talked to Sis about Dad, and about death. About what she thinks happens when a person dies, where that person goes. She believes that the spirit lives on. But also that we have to do good and be good now, while we are here and have the chance.

I am at a scary juncture in my life--as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a writer. As a person. A woman. I can't blog about all of it here. That's the thing about blogging--it's public, too public for some very private things. Suffice it to say that life has been throwing me one curve after another.

But there are some good swings still, and I prefer to keep my eye on the ball. The sofa bed here is not the same one Sis had in NYC, but it's open and made with clean sheets. Sis put a glass of ice water on the bedside table for me. I will surely get a good night's sleep.

Good night.