Penoptic

After bidding goodbye to K&J at the totally reasonable hour of 6:30 a.m. Monday (I mean, honestly, probably the only good thing about being unemployed is being able to sleep in--something I really don't think anyone can appreciate until after you've gotten up at 4:30 a.m. every weekday for months for a 90-minute commute each way, and especially during one of the worst New York winters on record), I packed up (and forgot a pair of pajama pants) and got on the road. But first, a pit stop--at the old alma mater. Bryn Mawr was my home for four beautiful years, and has never left my heart. I went around the campus, cataloguing the things that have changed (my old dorm has been gutted and renovated; there are hammocks outside the library) and the things that have stayed the same (my mail box still has the same stickers I put on it 13 years ago! Result!) Most of my coworkers from Canaday Library were sick and not in the office, but one, Beth, was around and generously off...

I thought yesterday, leaving my home and beginning this trip to California, would be the most difficult part of the trip. Today seemed even harder. It's probably a sign of the company I've kept today that that last line is causing a few giggles. But, moving on. Today (or rather, yesterday--Saturday, Oct. 4) was my first full day of this trip to California. I spent it in Narberth, Pa., and Philadelphia. The weather today was lousy, and I took the opportunity of it being both rainy and a Saturday to sleep in quite late. When I finally did wake, it was in fits and false starts before finally being tempted with K's delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and sourdough toast. I have to admit, that was even enough of a bribe to face the two voracious dogs (who, it must be admitted, stole quite a bit of my share of bacon from directly off my plate.) Eventually I found the willpower to shower and take the train to Philadelphia to meet S, another dear friend. I considered S somethi...

Just over 13 years ago, I got into my parents' car to drive to a motel near LAX airport. It was August 2001, and the ultimate destination for my parents and I was Bryn Mawr College outside of Philadelphia, Penn., where I was about to start college. There are many things I remember about the days that followed, but the first night of my trip to the east coast? That night itself is mostly a blur. The only thing I really remember about the trip to the airport that August night is fear. I don't really know where that fear came from--I'd started packing for college about five months earlier, and planning for it at about 8 years of age. Now the day was finally here, and all I could feel was fear mixed with sadness. I was 17 years old, so ready for the chance for a little independence from my overbearing family and from classmates who, like most teenagers, thought they knew who I was without hardly speaking a word to me. I only had one or two really close friends, and they were ...