Monday 8 July 2013

Holiday Road

Natural at this time of year to think about holidays - summer holidays, to be exact. When I was a kid and time seemed to pass much more slowly, the anticipation of summer was always palpable. I imagined myself like an inmate waiting to be released after a long, torturous sentence.
I think the best part of a holiday is the day you actually set off - the feeling of relief at leaving something stressful behind (like your job) and the anticipation of being in another place that may or not be new to you - but different from the daily routine we all trudge through that constitutes making a living, getting by.  The feeling of escape is potent - riding up the ramp of a ferry or wandering through those cubicle-like hallways to your plane - boarding pass clutched firmly in hand - one can imagine a different life, a different you - once you land at your destination. A more patient, yet adventurous being with a devil-may-care attitude, ready to (in the borrowed words of Auntie Mame) live, live, live. As her movie dialogue goes, "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" - a line that gives me pause every time I hear it. Yet along with our suitcases, we seem to inevitably carry with us all the baggage of our lives, from place to place, town to town - from that, there is no holiday, no escape. Still the idea of it, the sweet illusion, can carry you a long way. And there are moments I remember where the escape was possible, wading in water warmed by the sun at Sauble Beach in Ontario, bare feet on sand - when I could be anyone and no one - just a figure in the lapping waves with no deadline to find the shore.

3 comments:

  1. I am transported by your last sentence... I think that is exactly what we need sometimes. And if that kind of real escape is not possible, then I am grateful to be taken away by the words of someone as talented as you are at evoking that feeling and stirring that kind of memory. Thank you, wading one. :)

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  2. Dear Michelle,
    I'm Bess. (Can you believe it?) I stumbled upon your blog by trying to find my own new blog, becomingbess.blogspot. I have just sat here and read all of your posts, and I want to thank you for being so open and candid. I was having a "Parade passing by" kind of day, and connecting with you through reading your blog seemed the best thing to do to lift me out of this cloud. Especially, since (at least based on your title) it's as if you are blogging for me :)
    My very best to you, kind soul.
    Bess

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    1. Why Bess...how lovely to meet you and I am grateful if anything I wrote helped to chase the clouds away. So appreciate that you took the time to send such a lovely note. All my best to you as well!

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