on the road. again. and again.

Well. The much anticipated, much dreaded trip is finally behind us. I am both glad and sad.

Over a period of six days we traveled approximately 2329 miles. Two days to get to Middlebury, VT for my nephew's graduation from Middlebury College. A day to attend the graduation and travel from Middlebury to CT. A day to rent a U-Haul trailer and load the family piano that had been at my dad's for about 30 years, and inter dad's ashes at the base of his beloved apple tree. Two more days to travel home with trailer in tow. It was break-neck, and rough on two aging bodies to spend so much time in the car. But we did it. Jesse is now a graduate (you rock, Jess!), and the piano on which I learned to play is now in our living room. Ken and I actually got it out of the trailer and into the house ourselves. Phew!

There was never any question that I would be at Jesse's graduation. After pricing the cost of moving the piano through professional means there was also never any question that we would be transporting the piano ourselves on this trip. The great sadness is that an opportunity to travel through beautiful and historic country, putting us in the vicinity of friends and family, had to be squandered. The cost of lodging, gas, boarding the dogs, and renting the trailer was shoved up against time away from work (no work = no pay), making this a very expensive trip. It broke my heart to know that we would be so close to so many opportunities to see friends, or stop to take in an historic site, but it was not to be. I console myself with the glimpses we had of gorgeous lake views driving through the Adirondacks, and spectacular vistas in Vermont and Virginia as we logged the necessary miles to get from place to place. We were fortunate to have great weather during most of the trip, and the delight of a ferry crossing (x2) that allowed for a pause to be out of the car and feel the almost-summer breeze in my hair. I carry in my mind a host of images that brought peace to my soul and reconnected me to long-forgotten memories of earlier travels. All is not lost.

Down the road, literally and figuratively, we will find a way to make a trip that overflows with fulfilling stops at places along the way, and lingering visits with people who matter to us. I am reminded that spending time in such ways is the stuff of life, and the wind that fills our sails.

Until then, there's a piano to tune and music to make. For that I am most grateful.