Thursday, April 27, 2006

Making Time

Lately my job has been roiling along pretty slowly. There just hasn’t been a lot of work that needs to be done. While it’s frustrating to be at work during this time, it has given me the opportunity to use a little vacation time and try to re-center myself.

Yesterday I got to take one of those days and get out of Virginia. I headed up to Pennsylvania, Selinsgrove to be exact, to spend some time with my friend Abby. The drive up and back was uneventful and relaxing. I just get so relaxed by watching the landscape around me turn from urban sprawl to small towns to trees and finally mountains on every side. The East coast is great at getting you almost every sort of land mass you could want (besides desert, but who wants that anyway) within a 3 hour drive.

I do admit that it can get boring (that’s why I have audiobooks). I also sometimes wish I had more time to just stop and walk around in those trees or look out from the top of that mountain. I only had about 4 hours in PA before I had to head back, so I tried to soak in as much as I could at 75 miles per hour.

Having the day in PA helped as well. I got to Abby’s farm house and was easily taken in by the sheer nature around me. Now, Selinsgrove sure it’s not the most exciting place in the world. There just isn’t much to do when you compare it to Northern Virginia. While it may not be a beehive of activity, I got the chance to just sit and talk. I can’t tell you the last time I talked to people without having to worry about what was coming up next or what I was going to be late for.

I met Abby at her house and just chatted for a few minutes. Since I’d only really talked to her face to face three times, it seems a bit awkward whenever we first get together. We soon headed down to Selinsgrove University and I got to have lunch with her mom. Yeah, it may sound a little weird, but it worked out. I got treated to lunch, and got to have a great conversation about work, life and anything with Abby’s mom (I think we left Abby out of the conversation a bit, but it was fine).

After that we grabbed ice cream at Rita’s (or is it custard) and splurged for the rainbow sprinkles (since they taste better than chocolate ones). Over ice cream Abby and I really got to start talking more comfortably. We got to talk about relationships (man am I glad I’m past those days), about lecherous truckers ogling me from the side of the road (ok, they may have been ogling Abby but I was closer to their age so it’s just disgusting in a different way).

Over ice cream and in the warm sun I really just enjoyed talking. I listened to what was going on in her life and got to talk a little about some of the things going on now and about my own past. Even though I did have something of a deadline (to leave by 2 to get back to church) I didn’t even worry about the clock (yeah, I left at 3, but was still only 10 minutes late… The pizza brought forgiveness).

I don’t really want Rachel growing up in a small town; I have just seen what so many teenagers get into when there aren’t many safe things to do. At the same time it does feel good to go someplace where the world just slows down. A place where you can relax and spend time with friends without to worries of what needs to be done next.

Vacations are good, but we tend to spend them with the same people we see every day. It’s good to make some time to just sit with a friend and talk. Maybe I just need more day trips for friend visits.

In any case, when is the last time you made plans to spend time with someone and didn’t worry about the schedules you needed to keep? Often I’ll have lunch or dinner with someone. These are some good times, but there is always the thought that we’ll need to end soon so that we don’t tie up a table or that the person needs to get back to work.

I can only hope that you are able to make more time for those things that are truly valuable to you. Even if it takes a few hours drive to get away, the people you’ll reconnect with will be worth it. Want to join me for a time-insensitive talk sometime?

Peace,
+Tom/Bob

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