I was in New York again a month ago.  This trip was important in a different clarifying way.  It happened in a moment with gelato.

Mom and I originally planned to get ramen.  I was going to write a final entry about immersing myself in a fragrant bowl, to the exclusion of all else…about how important real life is.

But it didn’t end up that way.  She and I couldn’t get a cab downtown on that busy Saturday.  We had gone to New York for her to see the Met.  And for me to see the other Met.  Lucia di Lammermoor was the opera of the afternoon.

So there I was on Broadway, a little grumpy.  I spotted Grom and bought a dark chocolate and caramel combo.

I’ve been sick for the last six weeks.  And detached.  Sitting there in the clear cold, nothing was particularly important.  Pedestrians and cabs streamed by in the background. 

This blog has been experiment, a way of growth.  It’s been a creation which has run its course.  An exercise in self-reflection…and self-importance.  The story I’ve told myself.  And you.  It was true and honest when it was happening.  But I’ve come to the end of its tether.

I detached from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn too.  I don’t have the energy to keep up.  I don’t have the patience to put up with virtual drama anymore.  Those platforms are disconnects.  So I disconnected from them.  

In the midst of the prolonged winter, I came to the conclusion that life is simply what it is.  It’s nothing more than what it is, it’s nothing less.

Maybe this is cryptic and vague, but I’ve come to the middle.  I make nothing more than what is, I make nothing less.  It’s not apathy, just calm detachment.  It’s a good place to be in. 

I’ve cooked and baked.  It’s the usual story of Marie.  A mixed bag. Still an ego-neutralizer.

A Ritz cracker pie from an Amish cookbook which baked up cookie-ish.

The recipe for Grandma H’s sugar cookies found its way to me over email.  They turned out lackluster and flat.

Torn popovers.  I exiled the pans.

Delectable delicate citrus muffins. 

Spring is now springing.

I’m focusing directly and clearly forward, in the balance of growth and acceptance.

Thanks for reading, my friends.