Time Out

Sometimes the Universe forces you to slow down and sometimes that is exactly what you need. Case in point: instead of the whirlwind research 2-days away I had planned I sat in a hospital room with my friend while tests were done and she desperately tried for a few moments of rest. On the way to the hospital I grabbed a book my mother had just read and enjoyed - it haunted her, I could tell. I do not remember the last time I had hours to do nothing but read, drink tea, and knit the occasional row on a project that may never end. The sun came in and warmed my back where I sat in the window seat of her room. I even napped a few times - ah bliss!
My friend is home and safe and the book is completed. This is a great novel - a truly haunting novel. All is well.

Takin' a Chance on Life...

"To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself." ~Soren Kierkegaard

I did something wildly exciting today - I applied for a job that I really, really want! How scary is that?

When I was about 14 I lived in the Philippines on a Naval base. To keep the teens entertained and out of the local bars they had lots of activities for us. My favorite was when we all went out on a launch to one of the hundred or more islands in the area. Generally these were small islands with perfect white beachs and aqua water covering colorful coral reefs. O Paradise! And I knew it even then. But a couple of times we went to Corregedor - this was long before it became a park with a museum and tours for the tourists. We teens had the run of the place. At the end of the day our ritual was the daring dive off the high pier. Now, I am one of the world's most beautiful swimmers but I never learned how to do a proper dive. But I was not going to let the pier win the day and off I went only to do the world's biggest belly flop. It hurt. It knocked the wind out of me. But I did it! I overcame my fears and inhibitions and leapt...

So, I've done it again. Only this time the warm ocean is the cold void of a major career change...gulp. A life lived in fear is no life at all. I've learned that lesson ~ and so I jump!

Jeffers, John Muir, Carmel and British Columbia

Connecting...connections. From the great northwest came a man to talk of Jeffers and John Muir and Nature. Fate denied me a seat for the lecture so I will pursue this clue on my own with books ordered, etc...Ron Dart in pursuit of a copy of Jeffers' Hungerfield poem brings me words of understanding and comfort and makes the ordinary Friday extraordinary. The Spiral turns once again for Nature is wonderful, mighty, and frightening ~ but She is our guide and our ultimate teacher. It is moments like Friday that remind me even as I am awed by Her work that this is the source of my lifeblood.

Peter, Peter...we should have gone to the mountain. Such a simple act. All we needed to do was follow the River...