Always Walk on the Bright Side of Life

I have to admit that there has been a bit of a pity party in my head as I have undertaken this trip. Worries about jobs, worries about money, worries about family have cast a greater shadow than the storm clouds that have followed me from Lyon. What if's rain down like a monsoon and inventories of my failings blow about me like a newspaper in a windstorm. Not that I haven't had fun (thanks again Erik for your comments on changing your narrative!), not that I haven't enjoyed every day I have spent on this adventure. Still, and still.

Yesterday I had given in a bit to the PP, I was out wandering around the city kind of grouchy, kind of irritated with the world (damn kids, watch where you're going!) when I happened down a side street. Intermittent rain had driven most of the tourist hordes inside, but at an outdoor table under a little awning sat an elderly couple. They had to be in their 80's. She was dressed in a bright red dress with a matching jacket, he was nicely turned out in a dark suit with a gorgeous dark wood walking stick. A voice from behind me cheerfully called "Mary, there you are! And how are you today?" to which the elderly woman answered quite cheerfully "Grand, darling, just grand - and yourself?" the reply was "Aye, I'm grand." At which point a young woman, maybe 25, came around and sat at the table with these two. I went on my way, thinking of that greeting. Just grand.

Sure, it is easy to be down and worried and depressed and all of that. It is easy to play that endless loop of how bad things are at the moment (and easier to follow that down the rabbit hole of how much worse they are going to get in the future). But right now, at this moment, I'm just grand. I am in Ireland with all of its rich green grandeur. I have meandered the streets of Paris and Lyon. I have seen a stunning Celtic cross from the 11th century standing in the middle of a field. I have been to mass at Notre Dame and walked around breathtaking sculptures in the Petite Palais.

Soon I am heading towards London, and then home. And more grand experiences to follow both here, and there, and wherever I end up landing. This has been an amazing trip, and more over an amazing journey. Oddly, I don't feel like it is coming to an end, even though I will be back in the States in a little more than a week. I actually feel like it is just beginning. And that is just grand.