Virginia - Setting Up Home, PART II

After a near miss of our flight at the Las Vegas airport, the rest of our journey was as smooth as worn leather. My sister (Kristi) and her friend, Lou, picked us up at the airport. The two-hour drive to Charlottesville was full of catching up and laughter.

We stayed at my brother Jordan’s house, a beautiful skip and a jump through the dense woods from Kristi’s. To access the woods from Jordan’s side, we walked into his old metal shed and out the 'secret' back door.





Emerging from the shed into the thicket, I half expected Mr. Beaver to appear and take us to Aslan.


Kristi had just moved from NYC to begin anesthesia residency at the University of Virginia. Earlier that day, Lou, a baseball diehard and kindness connoisseur, unloaded the boxes from the moving pod. So while Kristi went to work at her new job, we spent the first day unpacking and setting up Kristi’s house.

Mom organized the kitchen. Janna and I worked on putting away Kristi's clothes. We would finish unpacking a box we were certain was the last, only to find another one. With MORE clothes. She had work clothes, camping clothes, casual clothes, fancy clothes, pants for Peru and pants for Broadway. My sister's wardrobe is like a dreamy investment portfolio: diversified, dependable, uncomplicated, and padded with plenty of surplus. Speaking of excess, I think a good motto to live by is this: Surplus is for Siblings!

Later that evening, we ate the maiden meal in Kristi’s house of roasted red pepper hummus with pita bread, strawberry spinach salad (with bleu cheese and bacon) and fresh bruschetta on a toasted baguette. I repeat. The first meal in her house included bacon!! This has got to be some sort of good omen.

The day ended visiting on the front porch in the Virginia air: our eyes enjoying the magic of fireflies and the conversation lilting with the comfort of familial familiarity.