Wednesday 12 January 2011

Paradise

I left my copy of 'On the Road' in New Mexico. Which I regret, because I'm on a travel moratorium until Chaos and Destruction learn to wear seatbelts for more than five minutes without screaming.

Off the road. 
And yet my feet itch, so I'm glad Kate Takes 5 brought up the subject of places. Although Johnny Cash is the master in this regard, here are mine:
  1. Monterey, California
  2. Taos, New Mexico
  3. Berlin, Germany
  4. Cozumel, Mexico
My mind is in Monterey, gazing out at the big blue Pacific (where the tide pools teem with life), searching for the ghost of Steinbeck's Cannery Row. My spirit is in Berlin, running through the Tiergarten in autumn, giggling at nude sunbathers, drinking pils with my sister. All of me pines for snow on yellow aspen leaves in Taos. And for a pair of coronas on a shoddy Cozumel balcony at sunset, after a day of dodging barracudas at Chankanaab reef.
The beaten track.
In body, I am a sidekick and food-flinging target to a pair of short people. Funny how this makes my memories of paradise seem all the more vivid. 
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10 comments:

  1. A Farmer's Wife12 January 2011 at 23:48

    I really loved that post Manana Mama. Eventually short people grow enough that you can take them with you. Or so I have been told...

    I was proof reading my list thinking it is the people I was with, or met, that often made the memories as special as the places themselves.

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  2. Kate13 January 2011 at 10:19

    What a lovely post. It brings it all back when you actually have to sit and write about it doesn't it? Thanks so much for linking up. x

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  3. Unknown13 January 2011 at 16:53

    Beautiful post, loved it....makes me want to pack my bag right now :)

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  4. Rose13 January 2011 at 19:28

    Great post, wonderful writing, Mrs. Mama. Nice choice of places too. Prost!

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  5. Rachel13 January 2011 at 22:24

    Prost to all our many adventures together Tanta, past and future.

    A Farmer's Wife - what a lovely thought, it certainly is the people that make the places.

    Lovely to have an excuse to reminisce Kate and SAHMlovingit, even if I am not so lucky as to be packing my bags at the moment!
    ~M

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  6. Michelloui14 January 2011 at 10:55

    I have New Mexico on my list too! I couldn't decide between Taos or other places so I just said the whole state. When I first visited I was a child with my family, then I went back as a poor student. Now, I cant wait to take my family there.

    Love this blog! Im now a follower :)

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  7. Mummysquared14 January 2011 at 12:43

    Nowt wrong with a bit of global Chaos and Destruction... go on - book your flights! Loved this post - Monterey and Mexico 2 of my faves M2

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  8. Rachel14 January 2011 at 18:54

    Globalised Chaos and Destruction, now there's a terrifyingly tempting thought...

    Glad to hear that NM, that obscure dusty old land of enchantment, made someone else's list too!
    ~M

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  9. Mummysquared10 June 2011 at 18:44

    Nowt wrong with a bit of global Chaos and Destruction... go on - book your flights! Loved this post - Monterey and Mexico 2 of my faves M2

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  10. Rose10 June 2011 at 18:44

    Great post, wonderful writing, Mrs. Mama. Nice choice of places too. Prost!

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