South of the Border

Within one and a half hours, if all goes well, Papa, Mama, T., Gi., Ge. J. and I — in short, the whole family — will be en route to northwestern Austria for a family reunion. Yesterday evening I wrote up a list, which I normally like to do a day or two before the journey starts so that there's enough time to think of and add items that didn't come to mind at once, and began packing, and now all that's missing is the toothpaste and toothbrush. Besides that, I've disposed of the sock collection that has been lurking under my bed for weeks (thanks to my habit of going barefoot in hot weather, there weren't too many of them), changed my bedsheets, and heroically disposed of much of the perishable food in the kitchen.

Normally when a major journey lies before me I'm too excited to go to sleep at a reasonable time, but the heightened nervous state brought on by this excitement means that I can tell myself to wake up at a certain hour, for instance 4:15 a.m., and I will. Last night, however, I wasn't sleepy, and therefore didn't put the body clock to a test. My schedule has been unorthodox anyway, and even though a glass of red wine (we have an open bottle and it seemed wise to finish it before it turns sour) made me lethargic, I promptly developed a toothache which thoroughly counteracted the lethargy. So, after taking an aspirin, then lying in the dark and vainly trying to be sleepy for quarter of an hour or more, I decided to ditch that approach and instead read an online book or two until everyone else woke up. The toothache vanished. Now I'm in the wired mood that usually follows a sleepless night, and grumpy.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the trip a great deal. Most of the people at the reunion will be strangers, though Uncle Pu and Aunt L. will be there, and we're at least acquainted with the two organizers. The North American branch of my father's family is the most familiar, but the States-siders at least are, we gather, staying home because of the financial crisis. Honestly, what makes me most cheerful is, first of all, the opportunity to see something of Austria and especially a corner of it that meant a lot to Opapa, secondly, the opportunity to swim and climb mountains, and thirdly, the road trip itself. Besides, I look forward to taking detailed notes about everything.