Maintenance - taking care of friends and business 1/21/2015

Wow there are so many loose details to attend to, we will be leaving in late February and even though we are retired we've had to resort to a calendar to keep track of events that must be done.  

Deb & I are in the midst of all the health checkups we feel we need to have done prior to leaving.  We don't want any surprises when we get there, even though we have a health insurance policy specifically for the trip.  Since there are no guarantees one can only hope that the next year will find our friends healthy and happy for our return.

Along with that we have friends that we want to see and do our best to communicate the details of our sojourn.  They fall into two camps; Why ever would you want to do something like this? and Wow what a wonderful adventure!    For the first, the response is that "this is fulfillment of a 30+ year dream"  and for the second, it's the same answer but with the additional comment of  " and we can't wait".

To quote Judith Thurman;

 

"Every dreamer knows that it entirely possible

to be homesick for a place you've never

been to, perhaps more homesick

than for familiar ground"

 

Now honestly that isn't us because of our prior trips to Paris and France, but there is a component that says how can you appreciate your own culture without the experience of others cultures.  And besides there are many parts of France to which we've never been, and those have to count.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.