Virginia is looking at a map and thinking about planning a trip to Shenandoah National Park. It's our thing, of course. Started ruminating about it because we had friends nearby and thought maybe we could do both. We could go camp and walk part of the AT, which is one of the things I kind of really like, and then stop by and say hello.
It never happened. Everything changed.
Virginia feels like plans that change or fall through.
It's like when I was pregnant the first time. We didn't have a girl name yet, but we knew if we had a boy, he would be Raphael. And if later we had a second boy, he would be Gabriel. We were young.
That pregnancy ended in miscarriage, and when I got pregnant again, I knew again, Raphael. We debated girl names, but Raphael was the boy name. And then I had a girl.
So Brooklyn was not Raphael. When I got pregnant with London, we kept the name choice. But London was not Raphael.
I got pregnant with Niles.
It felt like I'd already had Raphael. Been there, done that. So he was Niles.
That's how I feel about Virginia. I had these plans to go, to visit and be friends and do something to show that.
And now it feels like I've already been there, done that. And frankly I like Tennessee and Montana and Texas and California way more than to try that again. I have other new things to try and old things I love to visit again.
Sorry, Virginia.
But not really.
Have I been to Virginia? No.
I get that moment-has-past thing. But Shenandoah IS your thing, it seems. Someday, maybe.
ReplyDeleteI have the moment-has-past thing for various travel destinations too. But I have been to Shenandoah National Park and drove my husband crazy singing the John Denver song all day (yes, we only had a day there), but spent several other days exploring Monticello, Natural Bridge, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Put it back on your list. It'll rise to the top when the time is right.
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