Monday, December 31, 2007
The Year's Final Message
To all who read and care :
HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR! MAY 2008 BE THE BEST YEAR OF YOUR LIVES, FILLED WITH SUCCESS (HOWEVER YOU DEFINE IT), ROBUST HEALTH, ABUNDANCE AND LOVE....
Peter and I send heart-felt best wishes to all our friends and dear family...we've so many tales to tell of this move back to beautiful Abingdon, and forthcoming pages of this blog will be filled with those tales....for now, simply know: we are happy, busy, creative and challenged in all the best ways. This Barter community is the best gathering of human souls and aspirations we could have ever asked for in our lives, and the sheer beauty of the surroundings, the kind hearts of the town's people, the hearty vision of Rick Rose and his beloved Amanda Aldridge, fill our lives with joy and hope for a better world in the days to come. If theater can ever be considered part , an important part, of the world community, and if it can ever make a difference in the ways people view their lives, then it is here, with this wonderful Barter Theatre, that Peter and I hope to contribute our part to it all.
Indeed, joy to the world, and Happy New Year in 2008!
HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR! MAY 2008 BE THE BEST YEAR OF YOUR LIVES, FILLED WITH SUCCESS (HOWEVER YOU DEFINE IT), ROBUST HEALTH, ABUNDANCE AND LOVE....
Peter and I send heart-felt best wishes to all our friends and dear family...we've so many tales to tell of this move back to beautiful Abingdon, and forthcoming pages of this blog will be filled with those tales....for now, simply know: we are happy, busy, creative and challenged in all the best ways. This Barter community is the best gathering of human souls and aspirations we could have ever asked for in our lives, and the sheer beauty of the surroundings, the kind hearts of the town's people, the hearty vision of Rick Rose and his beloved Amanda Aldridge, fill our lives with joy and hope for a better world in the days to come. If theater can ever be considered part , an important part, of the world community, and if it can ever make a difference in the ways people view their lives, then it is here, with this wonderful Barter Theatre, that Peter and I hope to contribute our part to it all.
Indeed, joy to the world, and Happy New Year in 2008!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
THE PIANO FIT INTO THE HOUSE!!!!!
...and all is well with the world. Thanks be to Buddha and God! We are now at home (millions of unpacked boxes and all) at 216 Stonewall Heights, ABINGDON,Virginia!!!! And, you know what: it feels like home..... so very much to write about, but, for now, suffice it to say: we are amazedly, wondrously happy to have gotten through the last three days relatively unscathed, unbroken and safe, and if anyone is to be thanked for that (besides our good karma from many peripatetic lifetimes) and God, it is the moving men from North American Van Lines: Apollo Moving Company, located in New Jersey!!!! Bravo to Alex, Joe, Helsin,Julio and all their minions...and an extra BRAVO to all people everywhere who actually do their jobs well!!!!
THANK YOU GUYS!!!!
We spent all day on the 17th helping the moving people pack up 890 West End ,Apartment 9B, and that was some day,thoroughly deserving of its own blog entry. So full of contradictory feelings, observations both emotional and practical, concerning the sheer act of packing up two lives into a large truck...etc. But for now, for all who are kind enough to read this blog, I simply wanted to say "thank you" as well, for all your kind words of support, all your warmth and welcoming sentiments about our move back to Abingdon...thank you all who have sent love our way. We have felt it, and I do believe, in no small meansure, that love helped this enormous move go as well as it did.
Now, I must continue to unpack all the boxes we so recently packed, so we can get on with settling into this wonderful house we are renting. I am now sitting in the small sun-filled basement office I have begun to make for myself. It overlooks the backyard garden and it is so nice. So quiet. So, already, mine in feeling and intention. The sun pours in. What more can I say? More soon.
THANK YOU GUYS!!!!
We spent all day on the 17th helping the moving people pack up 890 West End ,Apartment 9B, and that was some day,thoroughly deserving of its own blog entry. So full of contradictory feelings, observations both emotional and practical, concerning the sheer act of packing up two lives into a large truck...etc. But for now, for all who are kind enough to read this blog, I simply wanted to say "thank you" as well, for all your kind words of support, all your warmth and welcoming sentiments about our move back to Abingdon...thank you all who have sent love our way. We have felt it, and I do believe, in no small meansure, that love helped this enormous move go as well as it did.
Now, I must continue to unpack all the boxes we so recently packed, so we can get on with settling into this wonderful house we are renting. I am now sitting in the small sun-filled basement office I have begun to make for myself. It overlooks the backyard garden and it is so nice. So quiet. So, already, mine in feeling and intention. The sun pours in. What more can I say? More soon.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A Room and a Rug!
Our new living room in Abingdon! With its sweet gas fireplace and the stunning new Persian rug .....the rocking chair is from Ann and Chris J., who put it there to welcome us when we drove down last time....giving us an immediate sense of "home", as they always do: dear dear friends. The gorgeous Persian rug is a direct result of a short couple of hours of rug-buying education i delighted in with Ann as my thrilling professor! She has stunningly good taste, and will brook nothing less for her "students", so I was on the receiving end of some great learning! The very very pretty terra cotta colored Persian rug is the happy result of our short semester at Abingdon Rug Outlet!!! It totally warms the room into life and we are so proud of it...it will look especially lovely with our dark brown leather sofa and easy chair, and the black baby grand piano at the near end of the room (to your left as you are looking at the photo) will look swell too! More pics to come, of course, but right now: BACK TO PACKING BOXES!!!!Peter, Stephen,Paul and I went to see the new movie version of THE GOLDEN COMPASS last night and had a good time, with dinner afterward at Lemongrass...tonight we are all going to hear the Paul Winter Consort up at The Cathedral of St.John The Divine, in their Winter Solstice Concert...a wonderful and festive suggestion made by our darling Stephen...so lovely.
A family outing, to prove that even though Peter and I are off to an adventure in the mountains of SW Virginia, our family is still strong, loving and good. Stephen even has looked into a Janis Ian Concert we can all go to in Johnson City,TN! In January! THANK YOU STEPHEN!!!
There is so much to enjoy and be grateful for!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Home, At Last
Well, that is how it feels to be back in Abingdon: Home. Actually, at this very moment, I am sitting back at my NYC desk, with students arriving in a matter of hours, all intent on squeezing in one more hour of work with me before we really leave again on the 17th. I will be glad to see each and every one...BUT.....we do have a lot still to pack.
BUT FIRST: a short rhapsody on the theme: ABGINDON, VIRGINIA, its beauties, its people, its caring, its goodness: I had forgotten...how could I?...I had forgotten how comfortable I have always felt there. I had forgotten how genuinely kind and warm the people there are, and how willingly they come forth with their expressions of affection and care. I had forgotten how honestly beautiful the entire town is, since we do tend to take for granted a place we spend so much time working in around the clock.....being away has enabled me to see it all with fresh eyes, and the very sight of that town, its lovely houses and livable scale of buildings...well...it simply was a constant reminder to relax and take it more simply and easily....though there is always much to do there, since the Barter is a wonder of organization and activity on all levels, there is a graciousness about Abingdon....a fresh breath to it all that makes Barter's hard work even more do-able and more wanting-to-do-it-able...both Peter and i were so glad to be back. And so glad that so many people seemed glad that we were.
The house at 216 could not be more terrific for us. Stonewall Heights is always a street we loved, and now we have the right house on it, at least for a while. It is spacious, well-cared for, open, clean, interesting in its spatial organization, plenty of room for us to live in well. Peter took some photos, of the pretty front living room, with its fireplace alit, etc.....and the back garden is amazing, pond and all, which was gurgling sweetly to welcome us when we arrived last week.....I love the entire lay-out of that garden, and suspect, from what I can observe, that the sprintime will show itself gorgeously there. I love what our landlords have done with this house and gardens. I will post a photo or two as soon as I can. We unpacked the few boxes of delicate things we brought with us, untied bundles of some art we drove down and placed it in possible rooms...all this added to the wonderful small feast that Ann and Chris Johnson had left for us to enjoy on our late Friday arrival!
Hot tomato pumpkin soup, grilled cheese and ham sandwiches, a coffee pot, coffee, eggs,baked goods,orange joice,etc. They stocked us with all we needed to snuggle in for a few days, which was typical of their goodness to us. We also had countless meals with them, and with our dear Rick and Amanda who not only entertained us as they always do with style and warmth, but also refused to let us pick up a check...again, typical of their generosity...we adored meeting Judy Neal our efficient and caring realtor, who went over the house with us , jotting down all we requested to be looked at and fixed....she is so good at what she does, and we are grateful to her for all her help. In fact, with everything Rick, Amanda, Ann, Chris, Judy, and everyone has done for us, we could not be more grateful, and it makes both Peter and me want to work even harder on behalf of the theater that is such an important part of that community. We can hardly wait to get back, in a week or so...YIKES!
So we have much packing to get done. But, on Rick's advice, I will just BREATHE and somehow it will all get done. More on all this soon.
BUT FIRST: a short rhapsody on the theme: ABGINDON, VIRGINIA, its beauties, its people, its caring, its goodness: I had forgotten...how could I?...I had forgotten how comfortable I have always felt there. I had forgotten how genuinely kind and warm the people there are, and how willingly they come forth with their expressions of affection and care. I had forgotten how honestly beautiful the entire town is, since we do tend to take for granted a place we spend so much time working in around the clock.....being away has enabled me to see it all with fresh eyes, and the very sight of that town, its lovely houses and livable scale of buildings...well...it simply was a constant reminder to relax and take it more simply and easily....though there is always much to do there, since the Barter is a wonder of organization and activity on all levels, there is a graciousness about Abingdon....a fresh breath to it all that makes Barter's hard work even more do-able and more wanting-to-do-it-able...both Peter and i were so glad to be back. And so glad that so many people seemed glad that we were.
The house at 216 could not be more terrific for us. Stonewall Heights is always a street we loved, and now we have the right house on it, at least for a while. It is spacious, well-cared for, open, clean, interesting in its spatial organization, plenty of room for us to live in well. Peter took some photos, of the pretty front living room, with its fireplace alit, etc.....and the back garden is amazing, pond and all, which was gurgling sweetly to welcome us when we arrived last week.....I love the entire lay-out of that garden, and suspect, from what I can observe, that the sprintime will show itself gorgeously there. I love what our landlords have done with this house and gardens. I will post a photo or two as soon as I can. We unpacked the few boxes of delicate things we brought with us, untied bundles of some art we drove down and placed it in possible rooms...all this added to the wonderful small feast that Ann and Chris Johnson had left for us to enjoy on our late Friday arrival!
Hot tomato pumpkin soup, grilled cheese and ham sandwiches, a coffee pot, coffee, eggs,baked goods,orange joice,etc. They stocked us with all we needed to snuggle in for a few days, which was typical of their goodness to us. We also had countless meals with them, and with our dear Rick and Amanda who not only entertained us as they always do with style and warmth, but also refused to let us pick up a check...again, typical of their generosity...we adored meeting Judy Neal our efficient and caring realtor, who went over the house with us , jotting down all we requested to be looked at and fixed....she is so good at what she does, and we are grateful to her for all her help. In fact, with everything Rick, Amanda, Ann, Chris, Judy, and everyone has done for us, we could not be more grateful, and it makes both Peter and me want to work even harder on behalf of the theater that is such an important part of that community. We can hardly wait to get back, in a week or so...YIKES!
So we have much packing to get done. But, on Rick's advice, I will just BREATHE and somehow it will all get done. More on all this soon.
