Yesterday as Simon drove us back from his place to mine, I had one of those fleeting experiences where life was balanced on the knife-edge of perfection, where my template of ideal matched up with reality with no deviation. It was just ordinarily beautiful: we drove along the winding asphalt through fields and woods in the twilight, I glimpsed a distant deer, Simon sang happily along with his Waterboys CD, and I had everything I've ever wanted. I wasn't trying to do anything or be anything, I wasn't waiting for anything to happen or stop happening, it was just the present, and it was so powerfully gorgeous it made me weep a few tears. Existing that firmly in the moment may be too much to do on a daily basis. Simon asked, either diplomatically or obliviously, "Have you got something in your eye?" I laughed and replied that I did not.

Today I saw him off with a pot of tea and some whole-wheat toast with Marmite (it's $4 for 4 ounces over here) as well as a little travel kit I packed with hangover remedies. Later today he will leave from work for the airport, whereupon I will be Britless for the next ten days, as he is going on a hiking tour of Scotland with some friends from home. Personally, I think he's just trying to avoid being around on July 4th, since every year he hears the same lame joke at work: "You don't get the 4th of July off--you're English!" He will return just in time to be temporarily ignored by me, as it will be the day I am (likely) defending my thesis, and I imagine I will be frantic.

This absence means that I will have to find someone to hang out with next weekend. I love seeing the fireworks: I love 4th of July. It's the height of summer. If I weren't defending my thesis a few days later, I'd consider a last-minute trip out of town somewhere, if my credit card could take it…Hmmm….

We were checking out various travel possibilities online yesterday, including the train. I would love to ride around this country on a train as I did Europe last year. (Only maybe in less of a hurry.) The train is expensive, but not horribly expensive, unless you get a sleeper: then it's quite pricey. But I guess you would be saving on motel bills, so…it might even out. Even better would be to own one's own train car and hook it to Amtrak and ride around for a few weeks. Now that would be cool.