I tend to think that when I travel a long distance or someone comes a long way to see me (ie: my mom coming 4000 miles from Nova Scotia), every minute has to count. Has to be full to brimming with delicious conversation and meaningful events. But tonight before dinner, I was doing some busy work, Dan was curled up on the couch nestled in a comforter being sick and also reading my newborn novel, and my mother and Damian were sitting at the dining table playing on their recorders. My mom was practicing, Damian was noodling. Not a huge, intense moment chock full of meaning, but a small one. Companionable.
And in a way this is just as important, this peaceable coexisting, people together in the same house, circling around and among each other. It doesn't always have to be verbal or even larger than life to be memorable. Sometimes daily life itself is enough. Someone comes into your house, fits into your world, fits your world into her psyche, and when she leaves, you feel the gap where she was. That, really, is why we travel so far. Not just for the conversation, which we can have by phone, but so we can fuel up on moment-by-moment proximity. Cooking, playing, listening, reading, being.
Posted by Tamar at December 23, 2004 09:30 PM