Yesterday, Today

After two weeks of a full house, including my husband at home on vacation and my daughter back from New Orleans in her last week before school, and my son and friends over and my cousin from Trinidad here for her niece's freshman installation (we make it a big event in our family), I am home alone today, and I relish it. I loved having everyone around, and who knows why it feels lonely when they leave sometimes and at other times it feels peaceful, but today, it's the latter. Maybe it has something to do with talking to my daughter by phone first thing this morning. She sounded, in a word, happy.

My cousin, who I grew up with more like a sister, left for the airport early this morning. We had a lovely time roaming the city together yesterday. We went down to see the reflecting pools at Ground Zero, then ate mussels and crab cakes at a restaurant that used to be a parking garage and now boasts an indoor park, and then we walked a bit of the High Line, a park in the sky built on an old elevated railway line. It was crowded as usual, and my head was spinning a bit from the two glasses of Malbec I'd had with lunch, so we came home after a while and I took a nap. I am not a very good day drinker! I loved having my cousin here for the week though, and we talked deeply over lunch yesterday, sharing never before shared heart things without judgment, and that felt freeing.

The house is quiet now. I have just cleaned up the hurricane that hit the kitchen in which my husband cooked jambalaya last night, and tidied up my daughter's room where she and my cousin stayed. The living room still needs my attention; cushions are tossed everywhere, but I'll do that later. I have just made myself breakfast of a cheddar and onion omelet and matcha green tea, and I'm about to get back to work on my book project, which feels deliciously like spending time with a very grand lady of 97 years, the good doctor, my subject. I do have a concurrent assignment, but I am waiting for two stories to come in for that, so today is all mine to spend with the good doctor.

In other news, since March when my mom died, I have gained back half of the weight I lost. This depresses me no end, but I am climbing back onto the wagon now, trying to turn it around. It's a clear blue day out there, not a touch of humidity in the air. I hope you are all doing well with the inevitable transitions that come at this time of year.