The Way Virginia Rolls

Jefferson was obsessed with French Culture and columns.
He built this house himself, so says the legend.

Just another road we roamed.

We used to make this face at the lunch table.

I finally got a break from DC this weekend and road tripped my way down to Monticello & Richmond VA to visit Jefferson's remains and Kelly (one of my BFF's from SOTA!)

Despite the rain and traffic along I-95, Robert and I made it to Monticello in our hip MiniCooper (courtesy of ZipCar). Thanks to the scenic route provided by iPhone, we drove along obscure highways for a strong 3 hours admiring the brown-spotted bovine, autumn colored trees, and plain beauty of the rural 'burbs. Monticello was very pleasant to us and we were delighted by our tour of the home and particularly kitchen. Jefferson was a man of maps, clocks, and Native American artifacts - compliments of Lewis & Clark. I love history. He also kept portraits of his great friends Ben Franklin, A. Hamilton, etc. and busts of Napoleon Bonaparte around the living room to remind him of his greatness. A man with an ego.

Tripping along I-64 we wandered straight into Richmond where destiny landed my old friend Kelly. After maybe 3 years of no physical contact, not by law, we were happily reunited and enjoyed an evening of clumsy laughter and non-sensical past memories. Now that we only live two hours apart, I am hoping that she will visit me in DC for Halloween, and I'll visit her for Thanksgiving, etc. I cannot emphasize how refreshing it was to see her. Putting into perspective how far we've come since being 15 yr old pseudo-punk/gothics from T-town, I'm reassured that we can still fall into the same patterns of dysfunctional conversation.

I started reading East of Eden again. I think I read 100 pages today, when I should have been studying something cool like Metathesis Reactions. I'm obsessed with this book. The fact that this man, born to a different time and place in the world, can construe a story that writes itself into your heart and touches your mind simply puts me in my place.