A farewell party and a good question

Realized that I missed posting this back a few weeks ago... just now catching up on the old notes that I kept in the computer.

(MAY 16) It's been an exhausting weekend of festivities. Tonight was the 'work soiree' which was a general 'good-time-had-by-all' affair (at a local restaurant named Toscana West, appropriately!), complete with limericks and poetry presented from the multi-talented government relations team. Hysterically funny. Here's a slightly edited snippet (courtesy of the Old Soul):

... and she wonders in life, is there more?
She's decided to search a far shore
A peninsula boot-like
on her new Vespa scoot-bike
Lush green hills and old towns she'll explore.

She's leaving behind a new flat
And her office and friends and all that
For chianti and figs,
in her ancient stone digs,
As a charming and witty ex-pat!

She's always been one known to plan -
Plot her next seven moves if she can ...
But this time is diff'rent,
And I'm feeling quite prescient,
She'll return with a big strapping man!

And with luck this one man will like ladies,
tho' she probably won't settle in to make babies.
So please now raise your glass
To our own Irish lass
To Italy, come high water or Hades!

Admittedly, I got a little 'mosh' -- just a touch.

In addition to the extended office family, I was relieved that the White Robe Club was able to make an appearance and pick up my robe for safekeeping until the next meeting in the meadow. (Not THAT white robe club, sillies - what year do you think this is?!?! They're spa robes. yeesh!) And as for the good question... to swing from poetry to philosophy, I was thrilled that ole' college buddy BDK stopped by to say farewell. One of the most genuinely wonderful people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Brilliant, sensitive, intuitive. I'm sure that I never gave him the credit he deserved in college (not an intentional slight - just the idiocy of youth), but somehow many years hence we have salvaged a piece of a friendship borne out of shared history. It was good to see him, albeit briefly. He cornered me for a moment and asked what is thus far the most pointed and poignant question of this entire experience:

"are you running to something, or away from something?"

I'm not sure of the answer, really. Neither? Both? Hmmmmmm. There's a nugget of a soul search buried in there. This one deserves much pondering over a glass of Chianti, looking out at the sunset.