Escape

Not much excitement in the blogosphere today. The boys have a dentist appointment this morning which they both appear to be dreading with every fiber of their beings. It's drizzling again this morning, but there is some hope for sun this afternoon. If the temperature breaks 80, we will go to the pool. Only 3 days left until the pool closes, and I want to get as much time in there as possible.

This rain has given us lots of time for movies and books. I did pick up "Emma," but found myself uninterested in Austen right now. I was able to find an interesting looking book at the library called "The Piano Tuner," by Daniel Mason. It's about a British piano tuner in the late 19th century who is commissioned by the Army to go to Burma to tune a piano belonging to an Army officer. It's an excellent read, so far. I've enjoyed the descriptions of the tuner's journey to Burma and look forward to reading more of his adventure in the jungle, and how his experience changes him and encourages his growth as a man.

I have few regrets about my life. I went to an excellent college. I have a beautiful home and the most loving family a woman could desire. I do wish that, as an adolescent, I had been less scared of failure. I gave up on things that got too hard, particularly when I was no longer going to be at the top of the game. This fear deprived me of trying new things. For example, I never studied abroad. How great it would have been to immerse myself in another culture, to learn a different language, establish life long friendships with people in other parts of the world. Instead, I stayed planted in the Midwest, doing nothing more exotic than eating at a Vietnamese restaurant adjacent to our campus.

Books like "The Piano Tuner" help me overcome these regrets. And there are always the children through whom I can live vicariously. My hope for my boys is that they will be more adventurous then their father and I were in our youth. Our oldest is quite a good cellist. I hope he has an opportunity to study with some cello master in Europe come day. Our youngest is very brave and outgoing. He has a remarkable interest in anatomy and the way our bodies work. He enjoys trying medical instruments when he visits the doctor, and we're lucky to have doctors who let him do this. I hope he ends up in a medical field and takes the opportunity to use his skills to help people around the world.

I can still travel abroad. Of course, it's not the same traveling as a 40 year old with 2 kids as it would have been as a 20 year old with no responsibility. The most important thing I can do is cling to my spirit of adventure and not settle into a mundane life.