My last day of work at BuildingGreen arrived, and with it, a real understanding of this upcoming trip. It was a full day of work, so much so that at 4:30, when we were supposed to head up the hill to Nadav’s house for my send-off party, Ethan and I were still working frantically to create a CD copy of all of my files. I didn’t finish my timesheet or my list of accomplishments, and I had yet to apprise Jess of all of the loose ends that I was leaving behind in the High Performance Buildings database. Anyway, up the hill we went, and the party was lovely. A little wine, a little cheese, and Jerelyn’s homemade sushi made tasty snacks. Most of the staff of BuildingGreen was able to make it. The terrific news of the party is that they gave me (drum roll please) five years of the BuildingGreen Suite, which will carry me back out of grad school! They also presented me with a copy of Greenspec, and a lovely soft organic cotton shirt with the New Orleans Principles from the U.S. Green Building Council. Jim gave me a black shirt for grad school, so that I wouldn’t look so out of place in all of my pastels. We generally had a lovely time talking, and I stayed up there until about seven – it was hard to tear away from those people who have become friends as well as workmates.
At seven, though, I went back down the hill and into town, where I met with Jacob (my traveling companion) and Mark N. We completed the game of Cranium Mark and his friends were playing, then headed up to Mark’s cabin in Marlboro. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was dark (and really quite cold), but even in the dark we could tell how amazing the place is. Mark’s sleeping cabin is on the side of a hill, and a little way down from his cabin are the main cabin, with the kitchen, and his “roommate’s” cabin. Just below those, there’s a canoe and a little dock on South Pond. After we ate dinner by kerosene lamp and talked until about midnight, all three of us went down to the pond and shoved off into the still water. We floated for a while, then paddled about under the stars. Mark was right about the place – I suggested that the proper word for the experience was spiritual.
I was dead tired by the end of the canoe ride, and just couldn’t imagine hiking back to the car, riding down the treacherous mountain road, and making the trip back to my own bed. Jake could, so he took the car in, leaving Mark and I to snuggle up for warmth in his brass bed. Snuggling was just what I needed; it got me properly warm, and put me at peace. Although I never sleep that well when I’m cuddling, I think I crave that body-to-body contact. It must release all kinds of endorphins.
The other benefit of staying out there was waking up in the morning to really be able to see the majestic pines, the slope of the hill, the silver water on the pond, and the rustic cabins. We ate a quick breakfast, then pushed off again, this time exploring a little marsh area at the edge of the pond. As we swung out canoe into the reeds, a huge great blue heron took off about 40 feet in front of us, flying straight across our line of sight. We both gasped.
We wrapped up our visit to the cabin, and I felt like I had gained something tangible. Down the bumpy road and back to town we went, and I set about packing up all of my stuff. It was truly a transition from the inspiring to the prosaic, but I carried some of that feeling about with me all day.
Packing was packing, by which I mean that I need not describe it, suffice it to say, I didn’t finish on Tuesday because it was slow going. But, I did quickly check in at work, so I got to finish my timesheet (very important!) and pass on my projects to Jess. By 5:45 when it was time to leave the house for Frisbee, I felt ready despite not being totally packed. Frisbee was mediocre, unfortunately, and I think it was mostly because I was so tired. At the end, everyone wanted to play more, which we did, but finally I demanded that if we were going to dinner we better go. Colin and I had planned to go to Top of the Hill Grill, which was closed at that point, so we ended up at the Marina. Becca, Seth, Stephan, Colin, and I went, and it was a good time, but I was mostly focused on eating, so I felt a bit like I was missing out on the goings on about the table. Once fed, though, I was much happier, and the rest of the evening was better by a considerable margin.
Seth, Stephan and I made a cameo appearance at bowling (where I couldn’t hit the spares to save my life) and then we all headed into town to Flat Street, where the whole gang was assembled. It felt like a private party, since we were pretty much the only crowd in there, and it was a great setting to say goodbye to everyone. People trickled out, we kept drinking, and at the end of the evening we were down to a band of five, goofing around with my camera phone and playing dirty games outside the bar. Stephan and Colin dropped me off at home. The goodbye wasn’t tearful, but when I got upstairs, my housemate had left a note on my computer to say goodbye that instantly had me sobbing. All of the avoided tears came out at once. I dragged myself to bed on my stripped down futon with one wool blanket and shivered through the night.