Fresh as a Falcon; 30 Cities in my 30th Year

This post is part of a “blog carnival” on the word Fresh. Do click here to read many other interpretations of the word, in blog form.  Big thanks to Regina for organizing this.

Not long ago I turned thirty.  There were more than 3 celebrations.  We celebrated big.  I made us 8 dozen Portuguese and Italian pastries.  I asked people to help me commemorate my 30th with ideas for something I could do that was (1) memorable and (2) meaningful.  Elise threw down the best challenge: 30 cities.  And I thought, yes, yes.  (If not now, when?)

When I think of the word fresh I think of newness, color, and the earth.  I also think of sass, possibility, and pushing-the-envelope.  I think of a handful of the wild and an armful of the rooted, of the organic.  I am thinking of a poem that I’m dead sure I’ve quoted before.

I live my life in widening circles

that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one

but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.

I’ve been circling for thousands of years

and I still don’t know: am I a falcon,

a storm, or a great song?

~Rainer Maria Rilke

In this my thirtieth year, I would like to be as fresh as a falcon.  You will have to let me live myself into what that means.  (Did you know that the Peregrine falcon is said to be the fastest moving creature in the air?  And that falcons are known for their uncanny vision?)

I will do my best to explore 30 new cities in this year, and to document the fresh discoveries in short blog posts.  More importantly, I will do my best to land softly, to learn from the land/locals, and to sample their best coffees and cuisines.  As I’m sure falcons do when we humans are not watching.

My feet just recently landed in Cidade 1 of 30.  First up in the Falcon Diaries: Charlotte, North Carolina.

[ Gorgeous multiple exposure I did not take:  “LAX and feet” by david callaghan ]