How I spent my Summer Vacation

It seems like I haven’t been home much at all this summer. And my feline, Pi, is more than eager to point out that I haven’t been home. I wouldn’t be surprised if he packed his bags and moved down the street to Ruth’s house. Ruth has been taking care of him while I’ve been away. I don’t know what I would have done without her.


Pi

I don’t usually travel that much in the summer (besides last year's walk about), but this summer I felt a real push to get out and see people. Each destination had necessary experiences to reveal, and people to connect with.

The summer started with Memorial Day weekend, as I drove a rental mini-van with poor fuel economy to Texas to attend the Kerrville Folk Festival. I put a blog entry in a while ago about that trip. The important features of that trip were to see my Thanksgiving crew after missing the Thanksgiving festivities in Arkansas last year, and to introduce Jenna to the singer songwriter world that I believe she has a future in. I enjoyed watching her immerse herself in the music and community. I was pleased to find that she had a great time.

After the Texas trip I stayed home for a few weeks. Jenna went off to spend the summer in New Hampshire, to get to know her fiancé a bit better. After she left I started on the project of cleaning out the room that we want to be a studio. I got really far before I ran out of steam. It’s been difficult, to say the least, to sort through Mike’s things and make hard decisions about throwing things out or even just giving them away. There is an urge to hang on to anything that Mike has touched or worn. It’s as if there is still part of him in those things. The reality is that I have enough of my own stuff, and most of the stuff we are sorting through is just stuff, nothing really personal, though because Mike had an interest it, it holds power. I am still not close to the end of that project, though close to being able to do yoga in that room. I still have to sell a bunch of equipment on Ebay and find a bookcase for the books I want to keep. I can’t wait for the new Ikea store to open in Sunrise, so I can get a bookcase that matches the others I have. I also had the pleasure of going to the Rapids water park in West Palm with some of my Opera friends. We had a great time cooling off in the water, and followed it with dinner at my house and a surprise birthday cake for Aniela. What fun!


Aniela's Birthday!

At the end of June, I went to North Carolina to throw a small birthday party for my Mom. She turned 73 on the 29th. Normally she doesn’t exactly like to celebrate her birthday, but we all felt thankful that she was still here to celebrate. It was a low key event with close friends, good food and plenty of laughter. (I guess I was too busy cooking and having fun to take any pictures. Oh well.)

I made that short trip to NC even more special by connecting with my friends Allison and John in Charlotte and my friends Erik and Allen in Asheville. Allison and I have been friends since first grade, John and I have known each other for over 20 years, and Erik and I went to college together, so we’ve known each other a long time too. I have known Allen since I was 14. That was a long time ago! Allison and I shared a lot in that last visit, though it was only an overnight stay for me. There is an easiness we have together, that can only come from knowing each other from a very young age. We are absolutely accepting of one another. Of course we have managed to keep pretty much similar political, social, and religious views, so that helps! John and I had breakfast together. It was short, but sweet. I always feel comfortable with John. After I saw my mom I drove to Asheville and went hiking on Mount Mitchell with Erik. Another great friend, Erik is always an easy person to hang out with. And he didn’t make me feel like I was totally out of shape on the mountain. 6000 feet is difficult to breathe at if you live at sea level! Allen and I had breakfast before I left to go back to Florida. Allen is such a sweet soul. (I didn't get a pic though)


Smoky Mountains, NC


Allison and Me (2006) Photo by Dan Bennett


Erik and Me (E & E)


John Slechta (Photo by John?)

I got home from North Carolina on July 2nd. I stayed in Florida for a few days, worked the July 4th Celebration at FAU in Boca Raton, and then left for California on July 6th.

I had two weeks in California. I stayed with the Goods in Willits for a week. Keena was my roommate in college. I lost her for a few years, but since I found her again I won't let go. We were like two peas in a pod in school, and it's almost like we never left when we get back together. She lives with her folks, Bill and Emmy, two very special people, on a mountaintop with a beautiful view. I spent a lot of time walking around their property, playing with the dogs and reading out on the deck. We took a day trip with the dogs (Jaxon and Josie) to Mendocino to see the arboretum there and we had lunch downtown. I took a day trip up to Eureka to see Dave Carter. Unfortunately his wife, my friend Beth, and their three kids were in Pennsylvania at the time. I officiated their wedding. I miss them lots. It was good to hang out with Dave though. We had a good dinner and then saw the movie “Sicko.” On my way to Eureka and on my way back, I drove along the Avenue of the Giants. It is a road that generally parallels 101 along the Eel River. There are many groves of Old Growth Coastal Redwoods there. They are beautiful and inspiring places.


Bill, Myself, Keena (she's gonna kick my butt for this) and Emmy


Jaxon and Josie


Carter and Me


Visiting the big ass trees on the Avenue of the Giants

The day I was to leave Willits, I learned my mother landed in the hospital with a bad infection. I spoke to her on the phone and realized that even though I thought I had prepared myself for her inevitable demise, I was not ready at all. I had a bit of a panic attack. I got my senses together after I called on Meg to check Mom out at the hospital. She told me Mom would be ok, so I did not change my flight plans and go to North Carolina. I continued south to San Francisco to see Maria and Celeste.

Maria, Celeste and I went to art school in high school together. I had not seen them since 1990 and 1986, respectively. Maria is battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma right now. She is doing really well after completing a shortened regimen of chemo. She is undergoing radiation now. It was so good to see them both and to see how we haven’t changed all that much. Older and wiser maybe…. San Francisco was cool. Well, cold actually. I had not spent much time there at all before, and Maria gave me a good walking tour. Maria shaved her head while I was there. Her hair had been falling out a lot and was really thin. It made her sad to do it, but she’s sporting it pretty well. I was relieved to find her so healthy. Mike was never that healthy after he was diagnosed. But his illness was very different.


Celeste, Myself, Maria in a snazzy wig that looks a lot like her real hair


Would you believe she's being treated for cancer?

I left San Fran to see my cousin Sarah on the Monterey Peninsula via a hike at Muir Woods. Sarah had to work a lot while I was there, but that left me to wander around the area and take in the amazing beauty there. I drove up to Santa Cruz, took pictures along the coast, vegged in Sarah’s hillside home, went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and vegged. (Did I say I vegged?) It was nice. In the evenings Sarah and I did dinner, sometimes with her beau, Bob. We stayed up late and talked a lot. It was good, though I felt sort of bad since I didn’t really have to get up and go do something productive the next day. Sarah took the day off one day and we went on a 4-hour hike at Julia Pheiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur. At the top of the mountain, overlooking the top of the fog, I spun Poi. It seemed like the thing to do.


At peace in Muir Woods


Muir Woods


Sarah and Myself atop Big Sur


Poi above the clouds, Big Sur, CA (Photo by Sarah Joplin)

On July 20 I flew home, enduring a frustrating airline issue of a late, then mechanically damaged plane. Eventually we got off the ground in Atlanta four hours late. I got home at three in the morning.

My Uncle Paul was waiting at my house when I got home. He was there to pick up Mike's tools, which he had purchased to help Jenna live here in West Palm and stay in school. We had to get a flat bed tow truck to haul the tools up and then slide the tools into the rental truck. It was a bit challenging, but we managed to get it all done in about an hour or so, dodging rain drops as it stormed around us. We rewarded ourselves with cuban food for dinner that night. Yummy!

Five days later I was in Philadelphia. I went there primarily to do some spirit and energy work with a Shaman I know there. I brought along my friend JC and showed him the city. JC and I met working at the Florida Grand Opera last season. He has turned out to be a good friend, and he is very special to me. He had never been to Philadelphia, but had seen it on TV with coverage of the US Pro Championship bike race there. I showed him the route the cyclists take, driving up most of the “Manayunk Wall.” There was construction on the street, so we couldn’t continue all the way up. We walked through the woods in Wissahickon Park, did the “Rocky Thing” at the Art Museum, saw a lot of my friends, went to the Mutter Museum, checked out South Street and ate Cheese Steaks. He’s not convinced that he can’t get a decent cheese steak in Florida. I guess it takes time to become a snob about cheese steaks. I spent 13 years in Philly, and I don't think you can get a decent cheese steak in Florida, unless you order it without the bread. We stayed with my friend Mitzie, who was a gracious and generous hostess.


JC and Myself in Chinatown, Philly



Mitzie, JC and Myself along the Skuylkill River

Now I find myself at home again. Aaaahhhhh. Laundry is done, the cat is fed, the weather is hot and my bed is comfortable. It has been a long, strange summer full of good times and community. I am slowly working out the grief like a massage therapist works out the knots in my back, with care and caution. I take time to breathe. I just registered for my first classes in my pursuit of a new career: Nursing. Classes start next week. I have to figure out how to balance work and school. If they don’t balance, school will have to take precedence.

I now embark on a new adventure. The last couple of years have been leading me up to this. Wish me luck!

P.S. I just heard from Maria last night. (8-3-07) She said her radiation is done and treatment is over! Yay for Maria! She is a brave woman and has weathered this storm with grace. Blessings to her.