take off

Let me explain the trip that begins for me today. Because it's not one of my usual "I just want so much to travel!" events. There's more to it, so it's best to give some hint to the reasons behind it.

Some of you may remember that my father passed away last March. And, too, maybe you followed my slow progress at clarifying my Polish citizenship status afterwards. Perhaps you thought all these matters were resolved -- that many of the difficulties of last spring fell to the wayside.

Well not entirely. For any number of reasons it is not easy to have a parent die in a country across the ocean from where you live. It is at once an event of such finality and at the same time an event that leads you down a maze of complicated new twists and turns. One such twist takes place in Warsaw this Friday: it's the date set for a court hearing in the matter of my father's various and sundry possessions. Small stuff, yet, as perhaps always in situations of scattered family and allegiances, not easy to reshuffle now.

At first I wasn't going to attend. My sister has been on board with handling all things that require a Polish presence. And yet, quite recently, I decided I should be there.

The hearing is perhaps only a pretext. I haven't been in Poland since my dad died. The annual visits have lapsed. And, as per his wishes, there was no funeral, no commemorative service to attend.

And so I think of this as a time for me to go back and take stock of all of my Polishness as it exists now that I no longer have a parent living there.

I'll be in Warsaw for three days, staying with my sister. And then, she'll return to her home in Sweden and I'll take a little pause, outside of Poland. In places where I can take some good long walks, where I can read books and maybe do some writing. And then I'll be back in Warsaw, for another set of three days -- ones that will be less about transitions and more about just being in Warsaw again. There are friends to see, parks to walk through, solitary moments to be had. That's my book-end stay. My other slice of bread that is this sandwich of a trip.

So that's my next three weeks for you. Poland, then not Poland, then Poland again.

I have, of course, travel today and tomorrow. Right after breakfast. Bye, Ed. Sniff.





As always -- I apologize in advance for any blogging disruptions. Despite our growing connectedness, it still can be a challenge to find a line to the Internet.

Onwards and upwards! I'm off!