In which we are indolent
After I travel, no matter how short and easy a trip, I like to decline. I come home and instantly unpack, take a hot bath, and take to my bed with a pot of tea and some good chocolate and my loved ones. Even if it's still mid-afternoon, I don't feel like I have properly returned unless I spend the first day back in my nightgown with my husband and daughter snuggled up next to me while we watch old movies. It is nesting at its most extreme, and I usually extend it into the following day. That's when I shove my travel clothes into the washer and take to the sofa with more tea and more movies. I might answer a few e-mails, but nothing strenuous is permitted, and I prefer not to go out.
It feels luxurious and wicked to be so indolent, but I've learned through trial and error that there is a crucial period of decompression after travel. If I rush back into everyday life, I make mistakes. I lose concentration, and I feel harried and breathless. Much better for me to slide gently back in. I might read something thought-provoking and delicious, like Isabel Allende's Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses or watch Chocolat. I might roast a chicken because it's comforting without being at all difficult. And if I decide to peruse the web, Fortuna Bella's blog, The Courtesan's Corner, is just the sort of thing I would like to read. There are only a few entries, and regrettably, she seems to have stopped updating in 2006, but the archives are well worth reading. They are sensual and diverting--the perfect reading for a lazy afternoon.
(I am home safe and sound from Malice Domestic, and a very good time was had by all! I did not win, but everyone was so gracious and complimentary about my work, I felt as if I had! Lindsey Davis and Charlaine Harris were hilarious, and I gushed over Katherine Hall Page so badly I think I frightened her. My table at the banquet was hosted by the very delightful Kathryn Wall, and my panel was moderated by my new guru, Margaret Maron. There, I'm done dropping names. I promise! And major score at IKEA on the way home, as well as Target where I bought only a bikini bottom which I realized on the way out of the store looked VERY curious indeed.)
