July 22
Just read “I’m OK - You’re OK” and you know what? I’m OK.
1966 (Mexico)
Went to Museo de Arte Moderno again. This time it was open. They had great exhibit: 2 paintings per artists, 1 was a self-portrait. Then we went to Belles Artes to meet Mr. D. I bought two books for 70 cents apiece. Expensive, yes.
Came home early to rest up. Juan and Raul are still at school, I guess.
Feeling poorly; I hope I am not getting sick. I hope we got to the club Monday. I hope Bob writes.
Raul came home. He showed me his Holbein prints. I showed him my yearbook.
Went to see “The Fall of the Roman Empire” with the Dorings and Jorge and Olga. Blood, blood, blood. Too much! Yech!
1976 (Rhode Island)
Just read “I’m OK - You’re OK” and you know what? I’m OK.
I was at RI Junior College waiting for Sue to be done with her class. In the library in a really fine chair. It was like this:
It was padded inside; very soft and copy and quiet. Great for reading.
I feel like doing handsprings. (Too much Olympics on TV.)
1979
One month to go before classes start. The countdown begins. I MUST finish one current task each week in order to be “pared down” to just my course and my dissertation by then. (I *will* do it.)
The tenant organization in for some rough times. We are going to move, although my heart isn’t always in the idea. It just doesn’t appear that the problems can be solved soon enough to lessen my responsibility, as hoped. The places we are looking at are both nice. Belcrest is nicer, but more expensive. We don’t need a place that fancy, and we certainly can’t afford it. I hate moving!
1984 (Norway)
On the train, a few minutes out of Oslo. I had a moderately restful night, despite waking up a couple of times. The train ride has been smooth and comfortable. I woke at 7:30, aware of the bright sun penetrating the curtains. After yesterday, the sun looked so good! Slipping out of the compartment door, I perched on the jump seat for my first glimpse of Norway. Farms, pine trees and water, small neat houses. No fjords, but still beautiful.
Next: change money, find hotel and leave bags, then find University. (3 pm meeting)
I still miss Jim and Kiddo, but they seem farther away, not in the corners of my mind, ready to leap out. Not that I’d mind if they could.
Later:
How I spent my first day in Oslo: LOST! They say English is widely spoken here. I say: not if it is Sunday morning and you are hopelessly lost. I got closer and closer to my hotel with every painful step (hungry, tired, weepy) until, after three hours I arrived and was shown to a small, neat room with a view of the city, the fjord, and the mountains beyond. Clean, cold air filled the room as I opened the windows. Norway! It feels like the top of the world.
Comment 2023
The problem is that the place I was staying was outside the city limits, at the very end of the trolley line, but had the same name as a location downtown. I showed people the address and just got shrugs, then misdirection, then more shrugs. I finally went back to the train station and found someone who knew the trolley lines. Being lost in a strange place is no fun at all.
1990
My first entry in four months. Life is like that these days. Kiddo 1 left for camp today. How strange it feels that she’s gone, not just across the street, but far away. I’ve been away, but that’s different. Kiddo 2 seems the most deeply affected. He wanted to go with her. I wish I could, too, but as my eight-year-old self! I hope she has a spectacular time.
1997
The summer is creeping by, and I am getting things done somehow. (Though not the book, not yet.) This is another “short” week, since we leave Thursday to visit Connie, Jack and kids. It’s also my 30th high school reunion, which I am looking forward to with joy, trepidation, and wonder.
2003 (On the eastbound Capitol Limited, 8:45 AM)
Coach wasn’t so bad, after all. I had an entire seat to myself. I started dozing around 9 or 9:30 and was awake at 12:30, 3, 4, 5:15 and 6. Between waking and rolling over I slept pretty comfortably. Now I am in the cafe car, somewhere south of Pittsburgh, I may not stay here long; it is chilly and the seats aren’t that great.
2:06 PM Rolling out of Harper’s Ferry, finally on the home stretch. Riding coach has ensured that I am eager to get home! I had a successful, productive ten days, with time to write, daydream, and plan. Just what I hoped for. Now to find a less expensive way to recharge my batteries. Can’t head out to Montana by train every time a project gets stalled.
Comment 2024
But wouldn’t that be nice?
Bonnie and I enjoyed visiting Norway very much in 1976. The people we met were humble, relaxed and most welcoming, and the scenery was magnificent, especially the fjords and coastal mountains.