“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I have been on retreat for the last few days with my dear sister/friend, Sue. I have also been struggling a little lately. Nothing major, just par for the course on the long road of life. A particularly bumpy spot but not totally unexpected given the stressors I’m working with.

The day I arrived, I walked through the midden pile and spotted a couple particularly beautiful painted potsherds on the ground. Even though I know better than to disturb them, I picked them up…marveling at the fact they were over 800 years old, hand built by the “Ancient Ones”. I slipped them in my pocket without thinking and at the end of the day, I found them resting on the counter of TOW-Wanda’s little kitchen.

“The Hot Springs at Pagosa Springs, Colorado”

Mr. Virgo and I lived in Pagosa Springs for a year. I’m sitting on the deck of my favorite Mexican restaurant enjoying a taco salad. What a beautiful place! You see mountains in every direction. This is a view of the hot springs pools across the river. The river is filled with tubers keeping cool. It’s the peak of tourist season here in Colorado. Perfect weather for summer fun!

“Conservatory”

I took the whole day to myself yesterday. I still was feeling under the weather so I spent the day resting and napping and dreaming of tiny home designs. This structure is actually a conservatory. What do you think? Do you think it could be converted into a tiny home?

I saw lots of beautiful, wild places on this last road trip! Here are a couple of photos.

“Wild Hot Springs - Reno, Colorado

It was nearly 100 degrees the day Sue and I stopped here. The water was almost too hot to get into. The spring has been dug out and lined with rocks and cement with a sandy bottom. It is deep enough to get down in up to your neck. It was SO hot, we couldn’t stay in long, but every time we got out, the horseflies came and bit us. It was awful! We didn’t stay there too long. I think it would be wonderful in the winter.

“Coming Unglued - Getting Unstuck”

I have so many dear friends. I’m blessed that way and I hope you are as well. When you are walking a grief journey, the right friend can make the difference between sorrowful handholding and “OK, this sucks. Now what?” Sue is the second kind of friend. She lives on 10 acres that is home to the Wild Kingdom. She has an outdoor shower. She has a labyrinth. She practices yoga and serves tea and snacks on a tray. She holds my hand without holding my hand, if you get that. She’s my cheerleader and my kick in the pants. She makes me laugh. She lets me cry. She is Mother Earth incarnate and I love her immensely. She always, always welcomes me as if we haven’t seen each other in years. She is divine.

“I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.” Anne Frank

I write every day. Once it became apparent this page was going to be more about my journey than my jewelry, I made a commitment to sit down and think about where I am in the moment and where I am on my journey. I made a commitment to be brutally honest, whether it was pretty or not. So I write…every single day. Except when I know I will be out of cell range. Then I write several days worth of posts ahead of time and schedule one to be published every day that I’m gone. I made a commitment. To you. To myself. I am proud to have this opportunity to share with so many loving, supportive people. I am touched that I have the opportunity to help others on their journey. It’s a blessing.

“On the road again!”

I found out Wednesday that I have the next two weeks off. It has been really hot and dry so I’m heading for the hills! While contemplating where to go, I made a rather rash decision thinking I might head for California. That would be epic! Alas, it was dusk before I made it 100 miles. It was still 90 degrees and I hadn’t even hit the desert yet. I filled up with gas and thought I should calculate mileage/price per gallon. When I discovered the trip would cost a month’s mortgage in gas alone, I quite quickly changed my mind and decided to stay in state. (So sorry, Patti!)

“Times have changed.”

A year ago, I wrote a post lamenting that I was having difficulty forcing myself to cook (and eat) a meal. I tried this and that…playing music, making the meal tasty and beautiful, setting a nice table, even buying fresh flowers to make dining alone seem somehow more palatable. I’m here to tell you I have failed…magnificently. And I couldn’t be happier!

Honestly, I pretty much hate cooking anymore, especially when it’s just for me. I try to eat foods that are good for me…doesn’t always happen, but I try. This time of year is my absolute favorite because the summer taste treat that I adore…ADORE…is starting to hit the produce section. Corn! We’re past that spring-corn-that-tastes-more-like-pig-fodder stage and heading into that glorious, albeit far too brief, time of succulent spears of gold that burst with flavor with each toothy bite! Yesssssss…with butter, REAL butter. And sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Oh, my….the gods swoon at the mere mention of these heavenly morsels! Oh, yes….I LOVE corn-on-the-cob (and fresh garden tomatoes…oh, and watermelon!) more than anything in the world! And the best thing? The very, VERY best thing? I cooked it and ate it over the kitchen sink as I watched the evening stroll of the resident deer coming down off the mountain behind my house. I let the juice and butter drip down my chin with abandon as I listened to the crickets and the big window fan upstairs that I brought from my mother’s house when she died. I grew up listening to that fan every day. It is the essence of summer to me. I stood there and let myself totally enjoy the moment…barefoot, tank top, cutoffs. Oh, my gosh…..life is so sweet and good…and so simple!

“Magic!”

Something magical is happening. Since I put the house on the market, I haven’t slept in it. The most I’ve “cooked” was making a bowl of cereal the other day. I use the shower and immediately clean the bathroom to showing perfection. It took a great deal of effort and a fair amount of money to get this place in tip-top shape and I’ll be darned if I’m going to mess it up when I have a perfectly good house on wheels to stay in.

“When I was young…”

I remember when this picture was taken. My senior portrait was taken in the summer of 1970. I had had my first date about six weeks before. My boyfriend (later, my first husband) bought me that pearl ring for my birthday. Pearl is my birthstone. I was fresh, young, athletic. I didn’t know anything about anything, but I had the world by the tail!