Point A to Point B
I think I will keep this blog thing going. It is good for me and I think a good way for people to keep up with my goings-ons, as my mother would say. I am in the market for a new blog name since Marie in Wien and Marie in Paris are no longer apt, as lovely as their assonances are…
This weekend, I will make my way up to Vermont for my second summer at the wonderful Marlboro Music School and Festival. I am so excited for all of the chamber music and fun to begin!
But first things first, I have to transition my way back to life in the US and make my way from place to place, picking up my stuff (which continues to be splayed from the Midwest to the East Coast) and visiting friends and family along the way.
I flew directly from Paris to Newark, where my dear friend Joan generously picked me up from the airport and let me spend the night at her place in Jersey before returning to Newark 10 hours later to fly to Kansas City. There, I met my dad and stepmom, Kendra, who were in town for a significant Mennonite conference weekend. It was my luck to see faces from various facets of my life at the conference: family friends from my childhood in VA, coworkers from camp in NE OH, the pastor from my Mennonite church in Manhattan and, of course, a healthy dose of folks from Kansas. It was quite the homecoming! It was also quite intense, as the topics being discussed at the conference have been a point of great contention for many years and the conversations thereof had been put off also for many years. While I am delighted that Mennonite Church USA is taking progressive steps towards love and inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks, I am sad to see the narrow margins of majority that serve to create greater polarity between people and will likely cause more conservative brothers and sisters to leave the table of conversation, and thus, leave the denomination.
Dad, Kendra and I drove back to Newton, KS thereafter and that evening, my step brother, Ethan, returned home to announce that he had been in a car all day with a friend whose mom had just tested positive for Covid. Two days later, Ethan is down for the count. Two days after that, Kendra is down. Two days after that, Dad and I took home tests after feeling potential symptoms, and with the scantest line, these appeared to be positive as well. We took follow up tests at the pharmacy later that day that declared us negative. Oh boy. Let’s just say, my time in Kansas was not particularly social.
But it was wonderful! I went for lots of walks and really enjoyed alone time in nature for the first time in a while. I got to dig into my first week’s repertoire assignments for Marlboro. I taught a bit. I got to have wonderful, meaningful conversations with Kendra and Dad as I started to process my time and relationships in France. I got to go kayaking with Dad one day.
I had intended to spend my birthday on June 11th with my cousin in Illinois, but because of the Covid questions, I adjusted my travel plans and spent my third birthday in a row in Newton. I told the family that this would only work if we got to spend the whole day playing games (mostly outdoor) and enjoying good food. This we did! Because my birthday was on a Saturday this year, fresh pastries were available for pick-up from the local bakery in the morning. Then Natalie, my stepsister, and I began setting up an obstacle course in the backyard that served as the base for two Survivor Style race challenges: a rope-carabiner race and a blind-folded/water-carry/partner-trust race. These were certainly some of the best events of the day, but we also played a mean game of Chubby Bunny, some Settlers of Catan, Pin-the-Bullet-Hole-on-the-Brad-Pitt (this is nothing against Brad, but we noticed that he gets shot out of nowhere in several of his films and we were joking about that all week. Plus, Natalie drew up a fabulous caricature of Mr. Pitt), and several others games. We had a lot of fun and it was an excellent birthday!
The following Monday, I left for Peoria, Illinois, with a car full of stuff for my move back East. To my father’s dismay, I could not take everything, but I appreciate his willingness to support me in my bohemian neediness for a little while longer, nevertheless. I made it to my cousin Joanna’s house that evening to find her working flour into egg to create beautiful fresh pasta, and my fake birthday celebration commenced! Time with Joanna is always so special and we managed to squeeze in good conversations, a very sweaty run, a grilled caesar salad unlike any salad I had ever eaten, and a strawberry spoon cake! Yeehaw!
Next stop: Chicago! I had not been back to the Second City in five years and was delighted anew by the gorgeous architecture, the cleanliness of the city and the wonderful summer art happening all around. I had planned to spend several days there and revisit my alma mater in Evanston, see old friends and mentors, but because of the Covid hooplah, the trip was quite short. My main goal was to reconnect with my friend Mitchell since meeting a year ago at Marlboro and becoming fast friends. Mitchell won the principal oboe job with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra so my first night in Chicago, I already got to enjoy amazing music from the beautiful Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. And thanks to the second oboist’s plus one having had a long day convicting people of murder on jury duty, I got to assume his name and attend the concert afterparty. Afterwards, we went to get Lou Malnati’s deep-dish pizza before calling it a night.
Day two, I attended an orchestra rehearsal before heading to the Art Institute, which has to be one of the greatest art museums in the US. I don’t think I realized how fantastic it was when I had gone as an NU student (back in the day). Their Impressionist collection rivals the Musée d’Orsay!! We walked around, taking in the architecture, taking pictures and eating Indian food. It was too short of a time to be in Chicago, but it was a great trip.
Then I was off to Lancaster County, PA to visit my sister and her family for the weekend. I arrived quite late on Friday night, and was up early Saturday morning to get a haircut before Grace and I headed out to find matching bridesmaid’s dresses for our sister Anna’s American wedding in August (she got married in Japan in May). We had a lot of fun revisiting this activity that we had so enjoyed when we were in high school preparing for fancy school dances. I also unloaded my car in PA to do a big “stuff-swap” between all the stuff I had left there last summer and all the stuff I had rediscovered and brought with me from Kansas. I loaded up what I would need for the summer and then shoved the rest back into the closet under the basement staircase. No room for Harry Potter to sleep in there!
It was fun to see Grace’s kids again after being away for 9 months. I love when kids get older and you can start having better conversations with them :-) We all made marshmallows together on Sunday in preparation for my nephew’s birthday party the following day.
Next stop: New York. From second city to first, I suppose! I spent the first evening with my relatives uptown and then set out for a full day catching up with friends the next. I got lots of walking in and even spotted a French pastry chef, whom I follow on Instagram, in Madison Square Park with his family. The irony is that I had just finished eating a pasty from his workshop in that very park…
Paris does seem to be following me, because the next morning, I got to have a delicious coffee (Abraço is the name of the spot, in case you are in the area) and an amazing connection with my teacher from Paris, Susan Manoff, whose sister lives in the East Village, not far from the Menno House where I lived during grad school. What a gift to reconnect so soon and on a different continent!
My next stop is New Jersey, to actually spend some time with Joan (since the 10 hours upon arrival just didn’t quite cut it!). And then it is off to the Green Mountain State until mid-August!
Marie
