Pirates and the Good Life

One week from today.

Every time my brain thinks, "One week from today," my belly does a little somersault and every nerve in my body kinda goes bezerk for a second.

Then I calm down, get my mind back in the present...

And my brain says, "Hey, Michelle, ONE WEEK!" and all is lost again.

I would have run around the neighborhood about twenty times to get all my energy out, but since it was raining all morning I lit a candle, sat on the couch, and finished reading the second half of Treasure Island instead. Although I must admit I wasn't always 100% engaged in it and probably would have enjoyed it more if I were a 12 year old boy, by the end of it I decided Jim Hawkins is a pretty cool little kid. He struck out on an adventure and ended up encountering pirates and rescuing a ship of which he declared himself captain and uncovering buried treasure...it all makes me even more curious to see what will happen to me on my adventure! ;) Really, though, I like Long John Silver the best. Maybe because he kind of reminds me of Captain Jack Sparrow. No, he is not the handsome, mysterious and intriguing Johnny Depp; one of his legs is wooden and he is described as having a face like a ham. But he is pretty much looking out for number one the whole time-- himself-- and will be on whichever "side" (good or evil) he needs to be on to get the best results. (Ring any Pirates of the Caribbean bells?) Not exactly admirable I guess, but deep down you can tell he has a good heart. I think he really does like young, innocent Jim and in the end would do whatever it takes to protect him. Of course this is all speculation on my behalf-- I would have to ask Robert Louis Stevenson to find out for sure. But since Silver comes out all right in the end I think Stevenson had a soft spot for the wily pirate too.

Its also interesting to think that a lot of our common conceptions about pirates-- such as wooden legs, parrots on the shoulders, "x marks the spot", etc. -- originated with Treasure Island. Now all that's left is to go to Greenwich to see where Jim Hawkins set sail on the Hispaniola and to Scotland to see where Robert Louis Stevenson lived and wrote! All my life I have dreamed of stepping into a storybook...I can't believe this dream is about to come true :)

To celebrate my "One Week From Today" mile-marker, I am going to include a music video for a OneRepublic song that I have always associated with this trip. Just think about the first line, "Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in the city near Piccadilly..." and you can see why I love to listen to it so much :)

Oh, this has gotta be the good life!

One week, which means 7 days, or 168 hours, also known as 10,080 minutes, which is 604,800 seconds... :)