Stand In The Place Where You Live
This post inspired by my friend and partner in movie quote crime, Home Sweet Sarah.
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Some of the most memorable places I have stood, in no particular order:
On The Great Wall of China.
Next to my sister as she took her wedding vows.
In front of the Kremlin in Moscow.
Next to my favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Priest Lake. Specifically, my family’s Priest Lake dock spot.
On Mt. Seorak, South Korea.
Poolside for countless summers with friends, and cousins, and awesome(ly ridiculous) bikinis.
At the base of Mother Russia in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).
On a surfboard in Oahu, Hawaii (for a few exhilarating seconds, anyway).
In Sunriver, Oregon as one of my oldest friends married her best friend, after reading vows I wrote for them.
On Cannon Beach, myriad times.
Almost directly across the Pacific from Cannon Beach, in Naksan, South Korea.
In front of a small house I helped build in Rosarito, Mexico.
In front of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.
In an upstairs room of a house outside of L.A. with a writer/family member I had just met (Hi! Karen), swapping stories.
On Navy Pier in Chicago.
In front of professors and peers while I read essays prepared for a literature symposium, twice.
In a freezing cold Pacific Ocean at midnight on the very first day of this year.
In front of the stretch of river that took my father’s life.
In the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, post Hurricane Katrina.
A few rows in front of Ray LaMontagne as he sang himself out of breath performing one of my all-time favorite songs.
On curvaceous Lombard Street in San Francisco.
On a snowy mountainside with Hans at 3am one morning, realizing we were going to trek two miles uphill to a cabin.
In front of my grandfather in his hospital room, just a few hours before he succumbed to cancer.
On a bridge with an adventurous friend, before we jumped off it. (Into water; we are only mildly crazy.)
Underneath the biggest LED light display in the world (in Beijing).
Next to my dad as he carried my sister on his shoulders while we explored what is now Colbert, Washington.
With Kali at the finish line of the Shamrock 5k this past March.
In Vancouver, B.C. after a hilarious weekend with some of my best friends.
Outside after my first Dance Dance Party Party, feeling completely uninhibited for the first time in a long time.
Close enough to see Tom Petty perspire.
On a rolling walkway surrounded on all sides by tanks filled with sharks at Sea World: Orlando.
On Naito Parkway as my sister ran by amidst a churning sea of other dedicated bodies on her way to 26.2 miles.
In front of my parents as I took the first picture I ever loved.
On a wakeboard in Malibu, Canada.
In front of Big Eddy this weekend, a string of class 3/class 4 rapids on the Deschutes river, before doing this:
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Your turn! Tell me some of the most memorable places you’ve stood.
Love that I made your list.
Love you more than words. Even your really brilliant words.
LOVE THIS!
Two of mine would be standing in the hospital room and the birth of my two nieces. (I lived in SF when my nephews were born, so it was a BIG DEAL for Auntie to be there when it all happened!)
Standing in the bleachers at Pac Bell Park when the Giants were in the World Series.
Standing on the streets of Wrigleyville when the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.
Standing on my bleacher seat in the Rose Bowl, in one of the most heartwrenching football games EVER!
(Mine involve a lot of sporting events!)
Standing in the SF airport waiting to meet Ali for the first time before my first BlogHer.
(I should really just do my own post!!)
Excellent! Inside the Great Pyramid at Giza would probably make my list.
Love this. You are brilliant. I am going to have to think about it for a while. A few would be: standing next to my husband in a Church in Austin saying our vows; standing on a beach trying to say good-bye to my friend who died; Standing next to the judge I clerked for to be sworn in as an attorney; Standing at the Rose Bowl watching my team ALMOST win the game that WE SHOULD HAVE WON except Stupid Alabama plays dirty…
Ok so this is inspiring me to write my own post. Thank you!
I’m touched that I was standing with you in two of these on the list. Maybe we weren’t exactly standing on NYE but I was there, screaming into the whipping wind with you!
This post is brilliant. BRILLIANT, I say.
I just may need to do my own post… :)
Wow. What an inspiring list!
Aaaaand now I have that song in my head.
I LOVE this! I’m going to copy it … and that song is one of my all-time faves!
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love this! I am saving my places for my own post :)
Great list! I’ve always wanted to visit The Great Wall!
On the edge of a canyon overlooking the Lower Falls at Yellowstone National Park under the moonlight after all the visitors had left or gone to sleep. (I worked there.)
Just had to comment to say how much I love this entry. I will be thinking about my own list for a while now…
Well, now that you put it THAT way . . . :)
What an awesome list. What an awesome life!
I was going to put some thought into this, but then I forgot so now I’m just going to do it off the top of my head:
on the sod at Lambeau Field
at the top of the Eiffel Tower with my two backpacking buddies
next to my sister and best friend as their maid of honor
in front of countless students I was teaching
at the edge of the Grand Canyon (though not so near the edge as my friend Holly, who was freaking me out with her closeness to the edge!)
in the Mediterranean Sea, taking pictures of our feet
on several beautiful beaches in Hawaii with one handsome sailor
in the Pacific Ocean at Canon Beach while my friends took pictures of me making a distinct “holy crap it’s cold!” face
at the open door of a plane before jumping out
And coming soon: on the far side of a half-marathon finish line!