Delectable Enjoyments of the Best Kind...or, Is a Theme Forthcoming?

We are nearing the four week mark of our travels...adventure...journey...exploratory transition phase. It's still challenging for us to describe, without some hesitation, just what we're doing, but we sure are having a blast, whatever the overarching theme. Since selling our house in Fayetteville, leaving behind the office/college life, unloading many of our possessions, storing what little remained, housing our dear kitty Zooey with Liam's parents, the reality is well underway. In this beginning trajectory, we are allowing the conception of our journey to materialize...hence, a title in process.

So, to begin, we thought of addressing our forming "theme." At various points over the past four weeks we've had conversations, privately and with friends, about a theme for these blog entries, and of course for the journey as a whole. And we've all thrown out some promising ideas. But how do you assign a theme to something that is in the process of unfolding, on a day to day basis? Part of the allure of travel, as we discover, is the physical and emotional experience of embracing the unexpected. It's a process that we affect and are affected by. And we've already butted up against many preconceived expectations, ill-formed plans, disappointments, and, best of all, enduring beautiful surprises. Like the thrill of blasting an old Ice-T album as we tore down the unfamiliar roads along the Blue Ridge Mountains, or the double rainbow that beamed out of the rainy sky over Bowie, MD, or the huge harvest moon that rose over the NY skyline as we picnicked in Central Park....this could go on and on. And as we all know, any little disappointments fade in memory and relevance.

Some of our most unforgettable moments along this journey have revolved around food and music shared with friends and family. Home cooked meals, restaurant delicacies, street side vendors... friends' aged CD collections, iTunes selections ready for download, street musicians serenading subway riders, and a jazz trio in a dark bar on the upper east side. Delectable enjoyments of the best kind! Beginning in Fayetteville with dinners straight from summer gardens and a delicious send-off feast, we have been overwhelmed with kindness and loving hospitality along the way, welcomed into the homes of close family, distant relatives, dogs, cats, babies and dear friends alike. Our journey is becoming a thread of experiences, of good meals, conversations and music, shared with all of YOU. Literally, we often look at each other and repeat the same feelings again and again: we are so very lucky to have a wonderful family and treasured friends who show us such kindness. We only hope to return the good energy....and to to keep it going.

With love,

Jessie & Liam

Coming soon: Recounted memories of delectable goodness from the past four weeks....from Arkansas to Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York & Massachusetts. Off now to catch a train up to Beverly, Mass....and so it goes!