Here I am (left). I made it back to Lopez Island, WA just in time for a very special solstice celebration. If there's any solstice to do something spiritual, ceremonial or special for I think this one is the one to do it on. The ceremony starts at 5 pm today and will last until 4 am tomorrow (which is when the actual physical solstice happens). Part of the deal is that everyone stays up all night singing, dancing, and letting go. A lot of thing will be on my mind as we enter a new year and new season. Things in my life to let go or keep close and everything in between.
I hope solstice is powerful for everyone today, tomorrow, and beyond. Even if its just a ceremony with yourself, it is still special if you give it the power to be so. Happy Solstice! May peace be with you.
Lopez is a very different place in winter (so far). I just put up these 2 photos because the one on the right is from this exact spot about 5 months ago. Just an ode to a special spot. I'm staying with the wonderfully warm and awesome duo, Pamela and Suzanne. They are so great to be open and welcoming all the time.
As I write this I'm still in shock. Smeagol, my beloved friend of 14 years, will be sorely missed.
Less than 2 hours ago I was looking into his eyes and holding his hand as he died. And less than 3 hours ago he was happy as a lark while I brushed him.
He had a heart attack, he couldn't breath, he was in the only distress I'd seen him ever be in. We rushed him to the hospital as he was gasping for air and within 10 minutes we were making the decision to temporarily treat a terminal illness or kill him.
He was gasping until the last second.
I kissed him, looked into his eyes and told him I loved him and that everything was going to be okay.
I watched him die.
My heart hurts.
Ah....San Fran Bay Area, how many times shall I visit you and always have a great time? Hung out in the Inner Sunset for a couple days, crossed over to Oakland for a night (in the 18 hours I was there I managed to lock myself out of my Hannah's place AND successfully break back in- Score!), chilled at Claire's place right on Haight St. for a few nights, and finally moseyed over to Santa Cruz to do some best friend time with Ms. Fallin. Claire and I were able to catch a free admission day to -drum roll- The Exploratorium!!!! That was so so fun. I wanna work there some time and come up with fun experiments for kids/people. The last time i was there I was 19 and with Mat and Natalie......we had plenty of fun as well, but it wasn't free :) Oh speaking of Mat, we had a dinner meeting that was very enjoyable and figured out that sometimes friends just need a 2 year hiatus. right? Santa Cruz was perfect and sunny and lovely. I hung out on the train tracks, journaled, read, drew, and drank lots of beer. Fallin's bf, Tommy, is a head brewer at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company so there was a lot of beer and beer enthusiasts. On Saturday night we went to a great Channukah party. Appearances were made by the usual delicious characters: latkes, brisket, matzo ball soup, sour cream, apple sauce, and adult beverages. All of the people there were high school teachers. It's been so interesting getting older in a way that partying with my peers often mean partying with teachers. It's a funny switch up of perceived roles and stuff. That night I felt a burning sensation on my thigh as we were sitting down to play a raunchy version of Apples to Apples. I figured it was just my pants catching a leg hair or something. So i forgot about my leg for about an hour and as Fallin and I were getting up to go outside I remembered my leg was still on fire. We went to the bathroom and I dropped trou and wouldn't ya know??--it was a HUGE tick with it's head encysted in my thigh. AHhh! wtf! Its legs were moving as I watched it feast on my blood. Fallin's friend helped me get it out and my leg has continued to hurt for the last 2 days. 1) I thought tick season was over, 2) it wasn't a Lyme disease kind of tick, 3) F ticks. Then the next night I met 3 new friends and we roamed this one part of SC until 3 am. I ate fresh butchered, smoked, and cured meat. Tons of it! I was lucky enough to make friends with 2 local butchers. It was awesome! I'd never seen/touched a beef carcass in real life before [not even in fake life]. I think I wanna try my hand at butchering. Pictured below is Fallin: we have been best buddies since 1st grade.
Oh yeah! In SF I hung out at this great neighborhood coffee shop called Trouble Coffee. I met this cool cat there named Nolan who invited me [shortly after our meeting] to his place around the corner to draw and make quarter sized legit buttons. So we button made for a few hours, chilled out, and generally had fun making a new buddy. The next morning after waking up at Claire's Nolan invited me to join him in a breakfast quesadilla on my way out of town. This was delicious, fun, and I put banana in my spicy cheese quesadilla----soooo good! (NISWA!!) Haha!
After my bay area adventure and generally being "homeless" for the last month and living out of a backpack on people couches I'm finally ready to get all moved in and situated to my new spot in Arcata. The attic space at Brett's place with some rockin other people living there. I can't wait to be settled again and create a really homey thing for myself and my roomies.
Through all of my adventures in the past 9 months I have made so so many new friends and I have made so so many pen pals. Most people who I correspond with are so fantastically great at getting back to me and making me smile. I love this aspect of life so much. It's an immediate creativity outlet. I highly recommend doing this with anyone and everyone. Sometimes I don't even write a letter I'll just send some doodles, it's all about the surprise and effort.
Cheers to friends, travel, and going Home.
Sprout Out!
Someone once said I remind them of this lil' being:
Editing to add a slough of Michael Franti songs (3:17am music)..
Ah....San Fran Bay Area, how many times shall I visit you and always have a great time? Hung out in the Inner Sunset for a couple days, crossed over to Oakland for a night (in the 18 hours I was there I managed to lock myself out of my Hannah's place AND successfully break back in- Score!), chilled at Claire's place right on Haight St. for a few nights, and finally moseyed over to Santa Cruz to do some best friend time with Ms. Fallin. Claire and I were able to catch a free admission day to -drum roll- The Exploratorium!!!! That was so so fun. I wanna work there some time and come up with fun experiments for kids/people. The last time i was there I was 19 and with Mat and Natalie......we had plenty of fun as well, but it wasn't free :) Oh speaking of Mat, we had a dinner meeting that was very enjoyable and figured out that sometimes friends just need a 2 year hiatus. right? Santa Cruz was perfect and sunny and lovely. I hung out on the train tracks, journaled, read, drew, and drank lots of beer. Fallin's bf, Tommy, is a head brewer at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company so there was a lot of beer and beer enthusiasts. On Saturday night we went to a great Channukah party. Appearances were made by the usual delicious characters: latkes, brisket, matzo ball soup, sour cream, apple sauce, and adult beverages. All of the people there were high school teachers. It's been so interesting getting older in a way that partying with my peers often mean partying with teachers. It's a funny switch up of perceived roles and stuff. That night I felt a burning sensation on my thigh as we were sitting down to play a raunchy version of Apples to Apples. I figured it was just my pants catching a leg hair or something. So i forgot about my leg for about an hour and as Fallin and I were getting up to go outside I remembered my leg was still on fire. We went to the bathroom and I dropped trou and wouldn't ya know??--it was a HUGE tick with it's head encysted in my thigh. AHhh! wtf! Its legs were moving as I watched it feast on my blood. Fallin's friend helped me get it out and my leg has continued to hurt for the last 2 days. 1) I thought tick season was over, 2) it wasn't a Lyme disease kind of tick, 3) F ticks. Then the next night I met 3 new friends and we roamed this one part of SC until 3 am. I ate fresh butchered, smoked, and cured meat. Tons of it! I was lucky enough to make friends with 2 local butchers. It was awesome! I'd never seen/touched a beef carcass in real life before [not even in fake life]. I think I wanna try my hand at butchering. Pictured below is Fallin: we have been best buddies since 1st grade.
