Dearest Rachel –
I’ve been busy every so often with tying up the odd loose end here and there – clearing my schedule and the like – in preparation for our flight to Tokyo at the end of the week. For all that I might wish that I could be perfectly nonchalant about such travels, I’m nowhere near that desired point just yet. I’m still fully aware that I’m not used to the process, nor am I sufficiently familiar with the places we’re going that I can quite manage to be properly ‘ho-hum’ about it all.
That having been said, as I proceed to get this or that duck in a row, I’m occasionally asked about whether I’m excited about the upcoming trip, and I wonder if they’re not a little disappointed about my less-than-sufficiently (in their eyes) enthusiastic reaction. While I’m fairly certain that I’ve shaken off Basel Syndrome (no one even bothers to check about things like Covid anymore), and I’m not to the point where travel doesn’t still my soul, there are still plenty of down-to-earth things that need to be taken care of in the next few days, and those do more than their share in diverting my attention from this upcoming adventure.
Most of them, of course, are just that much more mundane than I would ever want travel to actually be for myself. There’s the fact that I have to do at least one (well, two, unless I want my whites to absorb any of the many colors from the rest of my wardrobe) load of laundry before I even begin to pack. There’s also trying to squeeze in my usual weekly routine up through to the last minute; I’ll be walking with Lars tomorrow, and we’ll probably be going to bed on Thursday night with full bellies after visiting with the folks just before we take off the next morning. It’s not a matter of procrastination, but more about prioritization, and preoccupation.
Speaking of which… I’d scheduled a dentist visit this week, to make sure I had that taken care of before heading out – and then was so wrapped up in my standard morning routine that I forgot all about it this morning. It took a text from Jill, who serves as reception for her husband’s practice, to remind me just as I was fixing an old transistor radio for the folks, that I needed to be over there fifteen minutes ago. It’s a little bit embarrassing to show up late like that, but it had completely slipped my mind from the confirmation notice I’d gotten from her on Thursday. That’s how preoccupied I was with just going about my day; forget about getting myself put together for Friday and thereafter.
And while I’m on the subject, I probably need to get my hair cut some time between now and then, too. As much as I don’t like to bother with it, since there’s nothing to speak of on the top of my head, the sides are starting to curl up around my ears, and it’s getting annoying to keep in place. Best to get this taken care of before meeting a group of strangers – to say nothing of an entire country of them. Besides, while I’ve gotten my hair cut over there, it’s less expensive (and less of a gamble) to deal with it here, where they sort of know me and what I tend to want. It’s just a matter of getting around to it, either today or tomorrow, most likely.
But there’s one more thing that’s been keeping me preoccupied lately that I’m a bit reluctant to go into detail about, because I’m not even sure where I am with it, and until I can turn out a reasonably finished product, I don’t want to try to explain it to you, or anyone reading over your shoulder. If nothing else, I don’t quite know what I can do with this idea, and if I can create what I’m picturing in my mind. I’ll go so far as to let you know that I’ve set up a separate channel for these ideas, so as to keep them separate from the videos that I create while traveling, as this could be a whole separate thing going forward.
Is it weird to acknowledge that this has even been getting in the way of my writing to you? Because it has, along with distracting me from the actual ‘work’ that I occasionally spend time on at the ‘office.’ In any case, you might be able to guess what I have in mind; as to how to bring it to fruition… well, that would keep anyone preoccupied, trip or no trip.
At the same time, the trip really precludes my being able to do anything meaningful with this before we leave, so why spend time on this at all? Well, between the torrent of instructional videos about the topic (and there are more coming out all the time) and the many ideas, however homespun and mundane they might seem in anyone else’s eyes that come to mind, I have to get these things committed, at least in writing, so that when I do have time to really give this a try, I have everything laid out for me to set up. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself as ideas keep coming to me.
But it does mean that I’ve having issues making sure I’m fully put together before we take off, because this preoccupation is leading to procrastination. I’d ask you for advice, but I know you better than that, so I’ll just ask you to keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 