Friday 20 May 2011

And so it ends.



















I’ve often wondered what I would choose for my last meal if I knew I was dying later that day, either by order of the state, (Socrates was un-ambitious sticking to a drink) or by more natural means. It felt like that as we hit Washington, the last day of our tour. In this case it was a bit of a set menu, but I dutifully revisited every monument, garden and statue, and remembered that this had been my first experience of America only a year before.

I hate anti-climaxes, the neither-here-nor-there interludes between major events. If I could have done a ‘cut and paste’ job I’d have zipped back to the inevitable in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately there was another night to endure in New York.

What a strange thing to say. But it wasn’t much fun, packing, looking round Ron’s apartment for one final time, saying goodbye to Bob and Tom and everyone else who’d made me so welcome. I met up with Roland at a similar loose-end, and together we crawled the bars of Greenwich village with Carol Bezvidenhoot. I said goodbye to her with a chaste kiss and walked from the Village to Jackson Heights. New York at night is always an interesting experience.

America was a great adventure, but there was a bigger one to come.



One Adventure ends, another begins. I hope this has proved interesting to my beautiful daughter

5 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Ref: America was a great adventure, but there was a bigger one to come.


Color me curious. Did you get married? Or is that too much adventure? lol.

Veronica Sicoe said...

Totally agree on anti-climaxes, Mike. I find the last day of any trip to be just plain awful! It feels like you have to soak everything up again, afraid you'd forget it as soon as you're off. Packing is like trying to gather your impressions and stuff them into a pongy bag -- which doesn't do them justice, and you already feel like a jerk.
But hooray for the next adventure! It's what keeps the blood pumping; even if it might sometimes be just a metaphorical trip. :)

Mike Keyton said...

Maria and Vero - too late for years past but I think adventure depends on outlook. Too often you drift on automatic and only see a pattern in retrospect. Sometimes you cringe at what you didn't do, and sometimes you pat yourself on the back for what you did. Though that last manouvre is a damn sight more difficult than the phrase.
Vero, I love that image 'stuff them into a pongy bag'. It's what happens to us all in the end :)

Frances said...

Love you Dad!
X

Mike Keyton said...

Love you, too, princess.