Sunny Monday Morning

I am thinking of taking it easy today. For some reason I have had the feeling that I have been doing a lot, thought it hasn’t actually seemed too taxing. But I have been keeping up on my daily walks, going off-island for appointments, having my parents over for dinner, going to the dump and teaching children at the Quaker Gathering as of late. All has been supplemented and surrounded by relaxing moments sitting in my yard or soaking in my mother’s hot tub. The sun is out and the dew is heavy. It feels like a late morning though I awoke at the semi-usual time of 9:30 am. I suppose this is the latest I tend to rise. I have washed my face but the grogginess is still dissolving away from my presence. 

Thanksgiving is a couple days away and we even sang Christmas jingles yesterday at Quakers with the kids. I am listening to music, and behind my laptop is a picture that is new to my desk. It is a picture of two small birds on a flowering plant with a mustard background and gold frame. My father delivered this coveted picture to me last week. I remember purchasing this painting with my family when I was just eight years old in Bali, Indonesia, and I have savored and coveted this small picture that was hanging in my Father’s farmhouse for many years. I actually remember being in the small store and choosing this exact picture on our travels. The year before we had been to Japan when I was seven, and this trip to Bali was our second ever international trip with us kids. There would be many to follow over the next decade of my developmental years.

Travel was an essential part of my upbringing. The smell of diesel in the many airports, and the feeling of hot humid air entering your lungs for the first time as you exited the plane after being high above the clouds for the many many hours on international flights. In my adult years, since I was nineteen, I have only been to Hawaii (though four or five times) and one trip to Minnesota on a plane to visit my Grandmother and cousins. My nuclear family has continued to travel, to India, Japan, Hungary, Italy and other places, and I have been invited to join. Mostly, my reason for declining is that it is too stressful to travel. I also hate to leave my pets and my man, Steve. I suppose, for the last two decades, living with Steve, I have settled in to our way of life and our attachment to each other. Today, since I had issues in 2016, even traveling to Hawaii for six nights seems too difficult. I almost made it to India in 2015, but am glad I didn’t, as a difficult episode was close on the horizon. It was good I was home close to doctors, and that I didn’t lose reality or control in a foreign country with few resources.

The light is shining into the window and the music of David Grisman is plucking into my ears. Jerry Garcia’s voice brings solace and comfort as well. This has been a journey in its own these last twenty years on the ground with my husband and dogs and cats. I have seen many forests and rivers, and had many experiences near and around my home nestled in the Puget Sound area. Seattle has been my home, and Mazama in the Methow Valley over the mountains. Now I reside in the San Juan Islands and have for over a decade. Life is truly blessed, and there are so many ways to travel and learn without leaving the ground. I revel in my memories, however, and I am so grateful for my childhood experiences overseas. Maybe today I will have an experience where I surprise myself, and though I am home, nestled in my comfort, I am still astounded and able to learn from this vast and complex world.