Sunday, March 30, 2008

Quick trip to TN and back (via Dallas and Chicago)

"`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice."
~Alice in Wonderland

It was a crazy busy week last week, not leaving me much time for anything but work. I was supposed to go to Tennessee Thursday morning for interviews for new staff positions, but just as I was leaving for the airport, I got a call saying my flight was canceled because of bad weather in Chicago, but that I had been rescheduled to leave at 6:50 a.m. on Friday instead.

That meant that I was up at 4:30 Friday in order to make my plane. It also meant that I had to cancel one interview and reschedule the other. The trip was mostly smooth, but we got out of Dallas (instead of Chicago) late, so I was late to my rescheduled appointment. Brother!

Tennessee is far ahead of us as far as spring goes. Redbud, magnolias, Bedford pear trees were all in full bloom. The grass was nice and green. Birds are already nesting, and I saw some baby ducklings crossing the road with their mother. It rained quite a bit, too.

But I got in on an orchestra rehearsal of my niece's (my meetings were all at her university) and heard the orchestra play the next day. I saw a lot of old friends, former students, and former classmates, and made a presentation at the inaugural meeting of a new alumni chapter for our school. Unfortunately, I also got sick during my presentation and had to step away for several minutes to recover. My niece and her friend ended up taking me back to my hotel where I promptly went to sleep for the next 5 hours.

I had to get up at 4 this morning to catch my flight back home. I left so early that I saw the sun rise...from above the clouds...I was on the western wing, so the other side was more vivid. Still, it was beautiful. I also saw lake Michigan, full of ice patches, and, at long last, Boston, my favorite US city =)

It was good to get home. I enjoyed spending time with my niece and friends, but it wasn't long enough to really relish it. I would love to have had the time to go up to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, for example. But the glimpse of spring reminded me that good things are soon to come our way, too.

Photos: Teddy all packed and ready to travel; flowering tree and weeping willows; Bedford Pears line the street in Collegedale; a duck (no idea what kind) crosses the street in the rain; my friend Laurie conducts the Southern orchestra, my niece is playing the cello to her right; sunrise above the clouds; an icy Lake Michigan; Boston from the air

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My cats always get mad when I go on trips and they always seem to find the suitcases! Love that first photo!

La Tea Dah said...

What a whirlwind trip! I'm so glad your niece was there --- it made all that effort worth it, I'm sure. I'm really sorry you got sick and hope you are feeling much better now. Spring will be here soon. . .right? We had snow again last week-end but it's gone now (replaced with a thick layer of frost that's still on the grass).

LaTeaDah

Patty said...

made me tired just reading about your trip !
Spring will arrive in boston, at some point...before July at least : )

Heidi said...

Boston and Collegedale. Two of my favorite places. Well, my list of favorite places is kinda long. So maybe that's not too good of a distinction! :-)