You've done it. You've dreamt it for years, planned it down to the last detail. And now it's happening. You're moving to Bora Bora! The South Pacific baby!!
You've painstakingly made a packing list of all of the essentials ...
Your job? Reading all day, in your hammock, in the shade...cooling off in the beautiful blue water.
Your flight to your life in paradise has been booked and paid for.
The waiting is over.
Today's the day.
You arrive at the airport to board your comfortably scheduled mid-day flight.
You've been upgraded to First Class!! Whaatt??
Settling into your seat with your book, an icy drink close by, with noise-canceling headphones securely placed on your head. It's really happening!
An hour or so into your flight you feel the plane start to turn. Not a subtle, barely effected kind, but enough to make you wonder.
Whatever. Back to your book.
Then it happens.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Please fasten your seat belts. We're experiencing some turbulence as we prepare to land ... at JFK."
New York? Are you kidding me?
That turning of the airplane mid-flight had you wondering, but this? It can't be. It doesn't make sense. It's not what you planned. Someone's gonna pay for this. Yet no one seems to even notice or care.
On top of it all, it's January for goodness sake! What good is my stupid bikini and spray-fan-thingy in the middle of New York in the middle of the winter?
Life.
Maybe your life.
Definitely mine.
You dream, you plan, you imagine.
And then the plane turns and you land in New York.
You've packed wrong.
You've dreamt, wrong!
You don't need bikinis and suntan lotion.
You need boots and coats, and scarves and mittens.
I hate boots and coats, and scarves and mittens.
But in Life, time moves on.
Your new home. You can't seem to see the beauty in the quaint Brownstone in the Village. It takes days, weeks, months, maybe years in this Life You Never Planned or imagined, to get the picture of your Floating Home on the Ocean out of your mind.
But it happens (or you go crazy).
You begin to accept your new place, your new how-it's-done,
You go shopping for cute boots. With a coat, scarves and mittens to match.
Instead of lying on a hammock in the shade, you step outside into that frigid air, grab a hot coffee, strap on your skates, and twirl around an ice rink to the rhythm of the City.
Instead of swimming with dolphins or drinking milk out of a coconut, you take a carriage ride through Central Park, or catch a Broadway show.
And at some point you realize that, during that seemingly unending season of winter, Spring does come .. and oh it is sweet.
Ya, Summer follows that, with it's humidity and heat.
Maybe there's no tropical ocean breeze,
but you can pack a gourmet lunch and take in a live concert in an outdoor amphitheater.
Yes, Summer is much shorter here then you had dreamt it would be. So you have to learn to relish every single moment you possibly can.
Alfresco dining, warm summer evenings, the sound of an ice cream truck ringing it's bell as it slowly meanders down your street.
You never take beautiful for granted, ever again.
And on this adventure, The New Normal, you make friends.
You find others who's lives were diverted, just like yours.
You meet other families who never could figure out who to blame
or why it happened
or what they might have done wrong
or could have done right.
Instead of Bora Bora they landed in stormy, cold New York City, in the middle of winter!
It's not the life of coconuts, sandy beaches and sea turtles. But it is what it is.
The beautiful moments are there.
Life is good and exciting.
And the winter passes... and the sun shines.
And you take a bike ride through Central Park in the warm, summer rain.
You've painstakingly made a packing list of all of the essentials ...
- bikini
- suntan lotion
- spray-fan-thingy
- sunglasses and hat
Your job? Reading all day, in your hammock, in the shade...cooling off in the beautiful blue water.
 |
| Kathy's Bucket List |
The waiting is over.
Today's the day.
You arrive at the airport to board your comfortably scheduled mid-day flight.
You've been upgraded to First Class!! Whaatt??
Settling into your seat with your book, an icy drink close by, with noise-canceling headphones securely placed on your head. It's really happening!
An hour or so into your flight you feel the plane start to turn. Not a subtle, barely effected kind, but enough to make you wonder.
Whatever. Back to your book.
Then it happens.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Please fasten your seat belts. We're experiencing some turbulence as we prepare to land ... at JFK."
New York? Are you kidding me?
That turning of the airplane mid-flight had you wondering, but this? It can't be. It doesn't make sense. It's not what you planned. Someone's gonna pay for this. Yet no one seems to even notice or care.
On top of it all, it's January for goodness sake! What good is my stupid bikini and spray-fan-thingy in the middle of New York in the middle of the winter?
Life.
Maybe your life.
Definitely mine.
You dream, you plan, you imagine.
And then the plane turns and you land in New York.
You've packed wrong.
You've dreamt, wrong!
You don't need bikinis and suntan lotion.
You need boots and coats, and scarves and mittens.
I hate boots and coats, and scarves and mittens.
But in Life, time moves on.
Your new home. You can't seem to see the beauty in the quaint Brownstone in the Village. It takes days, weeks, months, maybe years in this Life You Never Planned or imagined, to get the picture of your Floating Home on the Ocean out of your mind.
But it happens (or you go crazy).
You begin to accept your new place, your new how-it's-done,
You go shopping for cute boots. With a coat, scarves and mittens to match.
Instead of lying on a hammock in the shade, you step outside into that frigid air, grab a hot coffee, strap on your skates, and twirl around an ice rink to the rhythm of the City.
Instead of swimming with dolphins or drinking milk out of a coconut, you take a carriage ride through Central Park, or catch a Broadway show.
And at some point you realize that, during that seemingly unending season of winter, Spring does come .. and oh it is sweet.
Ya, Summer follows that, with it's humidity and heat.
Maybe there's no tropical ocean breeze,
but you can pack a gourmet lunch and take in a live concert in an outdoor amphitheater.
Yes, Summer is much shorter here then you had dreamt it would be. So you have to learn to relish every single moment you possibly can.
Alfresco dining, warm summer evenings, the sound of an ice cream truck ringing it's bell as it slowly meanders down your street.
You never take beautiful for granted, ever again.
And on this adventure, The New Normal, you make friends.
You find others who's lives were diverted, just like yours.
You meet other families who never could figure out who to blame
or why it happened
or what they might have done wrong
or could have done right.
Instead of Bora Bora they landed in stormy, cold New York City, in the middle of winter!
It's not the life of coconuts, sandy beaches and sea turtles. But it is what it is.
The beautiful moments are there.
Life is good and exciting.
And the winter passes... and the sun shines.
And you take a bike ride through Central Park in the warm, summer rain.
 |
| Riding in Central Park in the "hot" summer rain! NYC 2012 |
