Last night in England

The packing is almost complete. We have eaten the weirdest dinner ever (frozen pizza, one small frozen chicken breast, the last of the fruit and veggies (not all of them pretty), and some yummy fresh pasta I got at the store yesterday with the milk). The rental house is relatively tidy. And as hard as it is to believe, we are ready to head home.

We leave our crooked little house in Ely tomorrow morning at 8:45 a.m., England time. We're scheduled to arrive in Denver at 6:25 p.m., mountain time, and hope to walk into my parents' lovely home a mere 20 or 21 hours after we lock the door here.

What an adventure it's been -- not just the time in England, but the whole trip. It was five months ago yesterday that we set off, worrying about storms and strikes and beaucoup de baggage. We are heading back now worrying a bit about volcanoes and strikes and beaucoup de baggage. But despite these similarities, it seems so much has changed.

To start with, the kids have become such amazing travelers (and they were already pretty good at it to begin with). But I remember back to our first "big trip" to Japan, and how I had asked our friends to write little cards and notes for them to open on the plane, and how I wondered and worried how we would pass all of that time. Now, I know the kids will love everything about the plane (especially the HUGE 777 we are scheduled to fly on from Heathrow to Denver). They will love the individual video screens, of course, but they also will love their coloring or activity books (which they can access in their own backpacks) and their wax sticks to play with and their blank notebooks which have become invaluable in restaurants or on long trips (to be used for tic-tac-toe, or to practice math, or to draw pictures).

They understand about security, dutifully taking off their shoes and walking through the scanner one at a time. They understand about customs and immigration, and smile nicely and say nothing unless asked at the different border guards and customs agents. They can pull a small rolling suitcase and hop on and off escalators. They know how to hurry, and they are not nearly as grumpy as I am if we have to wait.

Do you think these lessons will stick with them? Will they go off to university with a small suitcase and a passport, ready to fly away at a moment's notice? Will they want to stay rooted for years and years, looking for the comfort of the familiar and feeling like there truly is no place like home? It will be interesting to see how all of these experiences influence who they become and how they will live their lives.

One of many unexpected blessings of these last months -- and one of the many things I will miss when we leave -- has been all of the time together with just the five of us (although, to be honest, it was perhaps TOO much togetherness here in Ely, without school or friends or many other adults to talk to). I am a little sad to know we will soon give up all of this time where we turn first to each other, where there have been so few other commitments, where the kids have had so much fun playing together. We hope to take some of the calm of Villers-la-Faye back with us, but I imagine it will be a challenge when we hear the siren's call of ballet and baseball and birthday parties.

Other experiences I hope will translate back to our life in Lethbridge:

* Spending lots and lots of time just hanging out with friends and family, baking and eating and drinking wine and watching the kids play. We already did a good deal of this in Lethbridge, but I hope to do it more. The fun and ease and joy of our seven-hour-lunch with Geraldine and Thomas is something I hope to replicate regularly with good friends back home (even if we have to forgo the Burgundian escargots).

* Speaking French. I don't want to lose the improvements I made in my French, and hope to find different ways to practice. We have a neighbor who is from Quebec (she helped proofread some letters before we left) and I would love to have more chances to talk with her. Lots of our Lethbridge friends speak French, too, so I may organize "French nights" (like the "English nights" in Burgundy to give all of us a chance to practice (questionable accents and all). I also want to start reading more in French again. I didn't do as much of that these last months, but thought it'd be a good way to keep up while we are in Canada.

* Buying local food, and from small local producers, as much as possible. I had a funny revelation at the market once strawberries came into season. I discovered, at first to my dismay, that if we didn't eat them the day of the market, or maybe the next day, they would turn moldy. At first I was upset -- the strawberries I get in the Lethbridge supermarket (from California usually) NEVER turned moldy this quickly. But then I realized that the California strawberries eaten in Canada had probably been picked way too early, sprayed with who knows what to endure the transit and time in the store, and didn't have any real flavor to speak of. The French strawberries tasted like strawberries. And if we needed to eat them quickly -- well, that's just what we'd have to do when strawberries were in season.

* Continuing to pack lighter all of the time. This trip was such an improvement from Japan, which was such an improvement from our Cambridge trip in 1996, which was an improvement from my first trip to Dijon in 1993. But there was not one thing we left at home that we wished we had brought with us (once I got a portable coffee mug, of course!). And there were quite a few things we could have left at home and not missed at all. One other thing to keep in mind for the next trip (and for anyone considering extended travel abroad) -- we will try to bring suitcases that match the size restrictions for the cheap airlines like EasyJet and Ryan Air. With such strict limitations, it would help to have the sizes they list to avoid facing fines and to allow us to take advantage of every inch they give their passengers (and they don't give a lot!).

There are probably a dozen other things that will come to mind as the plane takes off tomorrow. And maybe I'll find a bit more poetry to write about all of this then, too. But for now, I'll simply say bon soir and merci. Having people read these stories of our travels has been such a thrill for me, and I valued every single reader, and every comment, email, and question. I am hoping to do something with these stories one day -- pitch a feature to a magazine? write a short story? a book? -- but for now, I am simply glad the feelings and images and responses and emotions are all written down, right as it happened.

I am thankful that the kids will have this to look back on, to remember this incredible experience. And I am pleased for myself, to have gotten back in the habit of writing. And most of all, I am thankful for you, for joining along in our journey -- and for John, who had this whole crazy idea to begin with. The last five months have been quite a love letter, I'd say.

I'll try to post from Colorado, but internet access there it sketchy. And thanks for any good travel vibes you can send our way during the huge trip tomorrow!