Get 'er Done

Tasks.

A list of items encountered, tasks completed, and things remaining to be done in the twelfth of fourteen weeks spent on the road. In no particular order.

Car registration, two months old, still in receiving envelope. Found in pile of crumpled tax receipts.

Odor, unknown, coming from the empty bottom drawer of the refrigerator.

Emptying, of every waste basket in the house.

Professional registered geologist survey, completed, but not returned.

Bird feeder, empty, giant blue jays, angry.

Towels, 15, cleaned, folded, and stacked at foot of bed, presumably in case of towel emergency.

Litter box, cleaned, emptied, refilled, still stinking, so tossed out entirely.

Birthday cards, two weeks past and mostly of owls, scattered on every available surface.

23 voice mails, waiting.

Boarding passes, printed in duplicate.

3 empty bottles of sunscreen, two broken pairs of sunglasses, and one, still wet, swimsuit, in beach bag.

Tomatoes, 2, the last of the season.

Out of Towner

Away.

It's been a long summer. The trees are browning, the ferns are fading from the thirst, and everything, everything, is covered in dust. My long ago tomato starts and I have faithfully stood in our pots, and even produced some fruit. But mostly, I have been away. Of the last twelve weeks, I have spent most of ten of them adventuring, visiting friends, working away, and on the road. This week, I arrived half an hour before turning around and heading to work, and will leave again today as soon as I get off. My cat is pissed at me. My luggage is never unpacked. I have not see 'that' YouTube video. I have not seen anything you, or anyone else has posted on Facebook. People greet me like a long-lost friend. There is something to be said for stepping away, trusting that the things you need the most will be there when you return, and the things that fade were going to anyway. Being gone does a lot of good for sorting your priorities, forcing you to make choices, and teaching you to let things slide. 

 Where are you going?

Flash In The Pan

Fiction.

Sometimes I write flash fiction. I like the confines of the form, the necessary brevity of meeting a tiny word count, and the satisfaction of a complete story in a small package. This story one first place in Bang! magazines flash fiction contest a couple of years ago. The theme was travel and beer in 300 words. Enjoy.

Even Girls Drink Beer

Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter if it was the typewriter or his suitcase that she threw out the window first. But at the time, it seemed like an important decision. She chose the typewriter, though witnesses wouldn’t recall its shattering to the ground. It was the suitcase they would remember. The suitcase, opening as it left her hands, the contents catching fire as they passed the burning curtains. She stopped short of chucking his beer. Instead, she grabbed a bottle and carried it across the street to wait for the trucks. He was right, she thought, it was damn good beer.

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Photograph:
www.rubygonewild.com

Lao Tzu to Voodoo

Faith.

There is nothing like leaving your familiar context to gain some perspective. From a distance it is easier to see pettiness, proportion, and what is really important. Travel is a great opportunity not only to rediscover selflessness and what you can let go of but also what things you really need and the importance of self care. Self compassion as a path to peace and the end of suffering is taught in one way or another by almost every faith system, but it takes recognition of the self as important, and an understanding of what we actually need for happiness versus what are just the trappings of our daily lives to be able to implement it for ourselves.  Self care and mindfulness come so easily when we are outside the pressing and pulling of daily life. Things and people that pull on us, press their own sense of import, obligation, and correctness on us are abundant from within our own small worlds but nearly disappear entirely when viewed from the horizon. The trick is to keep them there.

Photograph:

http://www.steveseay.com/mindfulness-act-pain-suffering/

Sweet Silence

Quiet.

The world woke up cold today. The pines were still snuggled under their blanket of fog as we headed back towards town. For the first 36 miles we did not pass even a single car or speak more than a few words. Instead, we took the time be take in the bright blue of the sky, the gentle lilt of the trees, and the newly snow capped peaks. We held the silence between us, glad to share the morning with each other and a thermos of hot coffee. We looked forward, down the road, each of us mulling the tasks of our week, grateful for the time to think, grateful for each other. Sometimes the best thing we have to gift each other is silence; take some for yourself today.

Photograph:

www.rubygonewild.com