Every now and then, when my dad was working away, my grandfather came over from Ireland to stay with us. He brought a black holdall containing his only suit, a clean shirt, some vests and underpants and a bottle of home-brewed poitín. My mother slept with me in my single bed, so my granddad could have her room. ‘I envy him, a bit, you know,’ she said to me, squashed against my army of teddy bears. ‘He moves through his life so lightly. Just packs a bag and goes, without thinking twice.’
~ Jessica Andrews, Saltwater: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January 14, 2020)
Notes:
- Prior blog post and Reviews of Saltwater: A Novel
- Grandfather probably wasn’t carrying this black leather holdall from Lotuff
- Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”
Live & Learn 
Perfect…
LikeLiked by 2 people
I second Mimi – it’s the essence and it’s perfect.
(Maybe HH is a relative of her granddad – while I take everything apart from the shower on my trips – he goes with a mini suitcase and doesn’t worry about missing underpants or socks!)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Smiling. Still.
LikeLike
Distilled perfectly
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have always admired those who can travel lightly. It’s a skill I am still working to perfect (though it sounds like I am further along on my journey than Kiki 😂). And that holdall? To die for….
LikeLiked by 2 people
And for a mere $1200, that holdall can be yours.
LikeLiked by 3 people
🤔 Valentine’s Day *is* tomorrow…
LikeLiked by 3 people
OMG. Totally forgot. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lori, it’s now or never! Grab your darling by his collar and show him Dave’s post…. Or maybe not if he sees what we are plodding 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Touching little Story. Funny, for as many years as i’ve been following this Blog, Quite a few; i’d been seeing ‘Lightly Child Lightly’ lately without recalling where the source of the Quote was, and just this morning, i read far enough to see the source of the Quote, and the context.
Got it !
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad someone reads the footnotes! Thank you….
LikeLike
I ALWAYS read the footnotes 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
You get so many Extra points.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Woot!
LikeLike
So do I – how else could I go back to so many other posts, find new ‘writers’, cross-check and reply….. Now you’re just fishing for compliments, Dave!
LikeLiked by 2 people
LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
Travelling light is a skill that I’ve been working on. One suitcase for three weeks in Tuscany, plus a backpack and my camera bag – not bad…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow. Not Bad? Amazing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was a rather BIG suitcase, but still…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok, hold on. Like a Trunk?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha! No, no. Just a Suitcase 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
made me laugh…. when I went for my longest ever ‘in one go’ hols, for 3 weeks, to Florence for 2wks of learning hard this wonderful language of Dante and one week to travel about with my friend, I had a HUGE suitcase I borrowed from an elderly family member. When I tried to heave it in the luggage rack above our heads, an elderly gent helped me and said to me:
Vi trasferite in una casa? (or similar!!!) – When I told him in rather bad Italian that no, it wasn’t a single-handed international move but a 3 weeks holiday, he just chuckled and offered me a bit of his lunch…. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
funny!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have envied my dogs for that same reason. They leave the house with nothing additional save for maybe a bone or toy in their mouths.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, to be a Dog.
LikeLike
Would that we could live like that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agree!
LikeLike
We arrive without; we leave without; and in between we carry too much!! Beautiful reminder DK 🥰
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow Karen, so deep!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your funny 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
And I have no plans to leave without. I’m bringing it ALL with me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good for you DK.. All the best with that ha! 👏👏
LikeLike
It is easier for men, physically to travel lighter…women have some needs men will never have… Such a beautiful, holdall…/// on the rare occasion I get out of the house, I put a zip case in my jeans pocket,it is maybe 3″ by 5″ it holds money (sometimes), cards in a Ziploc portion pak, receipts,emergency meds, tweezers, my tiny cell phone, sometimes a spare key, sometimes a tiny vial of perfume, used to carry a tiny but mighty cross – charm size , must have misplaced that when I changed to a different zip case…usually keys rest in my other pocket, along with a pocket camera, dh wears cargp pants -sometimes he keeps track of the camera…overnight ugh…a cpap machine w/its bag, a bag with personal care & meds…and then one for shoes, including shower thongs, one for clothes…must always be prepared…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not sure Christie. Men have to bring their gadgets!
LikeLike
we moved to Singapore for two and a half months, and I packed everything I needed in just one backpack. (a $49 Target backpack at that…) 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. I read this 3x Jim. Still don’t believe it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
the nature of my job allows me to get buy with a minimal wardrobe, which the students get to know pretty well after just a few classes! Plus the warm weather here means shorts and t-shirts…
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are truly blessed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
it is one of the perks of the job…
LikeLiked by 1 person
DK I thought you’d be amazed at my little wallet case! Today, first time out of the house in a week he drove me to the store and before we left I said do I even need my wallet case? Na, left it at home…he had the keys and his wallet…and his old school flip cell phone…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Total throwback!
LikeLike