I'm off to the airport to see what I imagine is a very
different Asia. Will write when I get a chance.
Meg
Wow! My first blog of the New Year and what a lovely year it is…so far. I’ve just returned from a whirlwind trip to Pinkham Notch at the base of Mt. Washington in Gorham, NH, where I gave a slide presentation to 60 local enthusiasts who attended the International Dinner of the Appalachian Mountain Club. This year it was Cuisine of Nepal, so I was a logical speaker. But the food, itself, was worth the trip—never did I eat that well in Nepal—as was the sight of a sunrise over snow-capped Mt. Washington and weather crisp and clear, though not snowy enough to satisfy the skiers and ice climbers. I’m indebted to Lynne Warrin, with whom I co-authored the play, Thank You, Dear, and who stepped in to act as projectionist at the last minute. But she’s a nature lover, too, so it wasn’t too big a sacrifice!
On the return trip I visited the family cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee, usually covered with snow and the lake totally frozen, but now looking like the summer without leaves—complete with rippling water and pine needles. How can that be? We also stopped to see my sister, Anne Magill, and husband, Frank, who have just moved into a spacious condo in the woods of Keene, NH. from their home in Peterborough. It’s laughable that all these New Englanders, who have groaned about the snow and the shoveling over the years are now worried to death that global warming is destroying their winter wonderland. I’m sorry it’s so mild as well, for I was looking forward to a blessed contrast when I hit Myanmar and the tropical forests. Who wants to leave a spring-like New Jersey when the crocuses are poking up their heads to see what’s going on?
The year is coming to an end and I’m frantically pulling together loose ends in preparation for my departure for Asia on January 11, 2007. I haven’t a clue where I’ll end up, since I haven’t had time to do anything but scan books on Burmese history, some of Aung San Suu Kyi’s writings during her house arrest in the years before and after she won the Nobel Prize for Peace (1991), and a cursory glance at three travel guides—Myanmar, India, and the Indian Himalaya. I think paper will be the heaviest item in my pack. After years of collecting clippings about these countries I’m hoping to see as many sites as three months will allow. Do follow this blog as I report my adventures. I may have to wait a month until I leave Myanmar, however, since it is a repressive dictatorship and there may not be many internet cafes. But I shall see….
Christmas would not be so festive without the annual gingerbread-house-making party at daughter Martha’s home, enjoyed by neighborhood friends and family. This year it was on December 23, later than usual, which kept several families from making the trip to Maplewood. But we still have some fabulous specimens to show you.
(click here for pictures)
I just received a call from son Robert and his wife, Gwen, who are excited to see the fruits of their labors (and Tom’s) with the almostGOLF ball over the past two years. It has resulted in rapid growth this holiday season and an expansion of sales into stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods. All you golfers, catch their website at: www.almostgolfball.com
Tomorrow is the opening of the new HannaSomatics office at 89 Franklin St. in Tribeca between Broadway and Church, which will be managed by daughter Martha Peterson, a certified Somatics therapist. I’m excited about attending the first movement workshop, co-led by Martha and Steve Aronstein, the founding Director and President of the Somatics Systems Institute. For more information on this revolutionary therapy visit www.somaticsnj.com
Over the past year I’ve given many slide presentations and readings about “Madam,” which are not mentioned in this blog, but can be viewed on my website under “Meg on Tour.” I could not have done this without the help of a dear friend, Paul Sharar, who became my “projectionist” and advisor during these sessions. In the future I intend to expand these lectures to include past trips to Prague, Tibet, Indochina, and Southeast Asia, areas not covered in my most recent book.
I finally met Beth Whitman, a charming fellow adventurer from Seattle who has just completed her book, Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo. Beth has been an inspiration to me and even put one of my anecdotes in her book. Do check out her very informative blog and website at www.forwomentravelingsolo.com Like me, she will be traveling in Asia this January.
I was privileged to play in two concerts of the Plainfield Symphony (Brahms’ Second Symphony and a night of stunning opera music being two of my favorites) in which I’ve been a member of the violin section for forty-six years. Hard to believe! We’re still going strong and will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our present maestro, Sabin Pautza, this coming May. Just playing under such an exciting, innovative conductor makes all the practicing worthwhile!
I also kept up my theater diet with such excellent productions as Tina Howe’s Birth and After Birth, Bhutan, My Name Is Rachel Corrie, Butley (with Nathan Lane), The Little Dog Laughed, Dai, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Spelling Bee, The Times They Are A’Changin.’ Grey Gardens, and Heartbreak House There were a couple of turkeys, which will remain nameless. And there was some good opera, thanks to my niece, Margaret Magill, who plays with the Met orchestra. And, as always, excellent chamber music.
On September 2 my second daughter, Martha, was married to Gary Shippy in the garden of her home in Maplewood, NJ. Martha had been tending her extensive garden and adding plants and flowers guaranteed to be in bloom at just the right time. And then came the hurricane. I can’t remember which one, but it brought several days of rain, abating only on Sept. 3, the day after the wedding. Fortunately, Martha has two industrious brothers, Robert and Tom, and a tent was quickly erected, which, I thought, made the wedding even more cozy and intimate. It certainly was a gala affair, punctuated by thunder and lightening and the hypnotic drone of water—a small wedding with members of the immediate family, but with just the Shippy and Peterson clans combined, it was anything but small! After the reception there was music and dancing. Gary’s band, Walk The Dog, performed, as well as several other combos, all friends of the bride and groom, and all excellent. I demolished the lawn dancing with Joe Buck as the guitars wailed and Gary tore into the drums. What a day! What an evening! A truly happy time.(click here for pictures)
I was honored to read at the wedding of my dear friend, Anne Quarles, and her partner Trudi Williams, at St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue in New York City. What a gala two-day affair it was, ending with dinner and dancing at the Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
This past summer I spent in my two favorite places—Washington State, climbing in the Olympics, and New Hampshire, climbing in the White Mountains and swimming in beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee at the Noble family’s summer cottage near Alton, NH. I did my traditional climbs up to Crag Camp on the Randolph side of the Presidentials, with my niece, Rebecca Magill, staying overnight and going to Madison Hut the next day and down the Airline Trail to Appalachia. I also climbed with my daughter, Martha, up Falling Waters Trail and across the Franconia Ridge, coming down Mt. Lafayette to Greenleaf Hut and descending to Lafayette campground on the Bridal Trail. But the most exciting trip was with son Tom, who persuaded me to go four miles straight up on Lion’s Head Trail to the top of Mt. Washington, a stupendous trip. Returning at sunset down the auto road, we were picked up by two wonderful people, Jami and Tom Filiault, who run The Sunderland Center for Positive Change in Sunderland, Mass. They moved two dogs from the back seat to make space for us, and saved the day! A joyful and caring couple. This was a week after I’d been privileged to do a reading from my book at Pinkham Notch, the AMC headquarters in Gorham, NH. An appreciative, receptive crowd. I was surprised that it was the young people who seemed most excited about the concept of backpacking around the world alone.
After Martha’s wedding, I returned for a week at the cottage, and, while climbing Mt. Major, another staple in our family tradition, I met a young woman, Nan Rogers, who lives and works on “The Ice” in Antarctica every winter and travels in Alaska and the Midwest in the summer. She also is an expert on hydroponic gardening, one of her many talents and something she may pursue if the ice gets too cold and monotonous. We spent a delightful evening together at the cottage and she has promised to fill me in on her adventures in this most unusual of occupations.
