Dear Friend,
What is new in your life, anything fun? Maybe you know of someone about to graduate from high school or college, or maybe you’ve been invited to celebrate some other life-changing benchmark… What about your life… think for a moment… what should we celebrate?
There’s always something to be grateful for, something worth celebrating, (that’s stuff I learned from my Labrador Retriever). As the weather improves, people feel more like having parties. It’s also a good time to embrace newness, like spring leaves and baby creatures, and students of all ages are nearing the end of a school year.
Do you remember your last few weeks of elementary school? Jr. High? High School? College? Do you have fond memories? Graduation. I remember being in band, sitting front and center, playing Pomp and Circumstance, harmonizing, off-roading just for fun. Our director, Mr. Mohr, didn’t seem to notice. The poor guy, 346 rounds of Pomp and Circumstance is enough to drive anyone crazy but he just stood there, year after year, and kept the band from falling apart … My last day on campus, it was a warm day, much like today.
Now, this day, Sunday, is at a close. It’s past 11:00 pm pacific time. I’m sitting near a window opened just enough to let in cool night freshness. It’s dark, outside and in, except for the glow from my laptop. Out there in the night, a gentle breeze is playing through the wind-chimes sounding barely-audible harmonies over the chorus of tree frogs. If I wasn’t so late in getting this letter to you, I’d try to record it all.
Across the floor from my feet, the doggy, Miss B, is curled up on her big round pillow-bed. She has grown accustomed to our housesitting routine. It isn’t that much work for her to watch over us, she doesn’t seem to mind.
We’ll reorganize the storage area in our truck while we are here. It will be nice to start out on the next leg of the journey with less clutter. Yes, we found that we still had too much with us when we left in March, but were able to work around it. At our campsites along the way, I have been practicing my flute, sitting in the driver’s seat, out of the wind.
But the guitar is an issue. We don’t want to leave it behind but it takes up a lot of room and it is too fragile to handle the temperatures, winds and dirt.. None of the weather apps are accurate when it comes to predicting the wind … and those gusts are no joke. When the wind is steadily between 20 and 30 m.p.h. and gusting over 40, the guitar (and its player) can get weird.
Two of the four milk-crates that have been riding along in the back of the truck are now just messy junk-drawers. How many maps of Arizona do we really need? Why do we have 6 heavy-metal flashlights? Bananas should never ride with canned food. I’m pretty much over the idea of having things just in case we need them: I’ve used the scotch tape, duct tape, scissors, band aids, watercolor paint, envelopes, drawing paper, Swiss army knife and sewing kit. The rest of the stationary store that I brought is staying behind. The only thing that I don’t have, that I do need, is a sturdy container for tortillas.
Tortillas are handy, nutritious, and can be delicious, but the packages find themselves folded into origami on the floor of the truck between the toolbox and the guitar. Eat them anyway, yes, but with regret.
Well, as much as I wish I had processed some photos to add to this letter, I will bid you good night and thank you for, once again, checking in to read Tracks by the Post.
Please know that we appreciate the time and energy that you expend as you participate in our journey by being here along with us! It is easy to acknowledge that nature’s energy is a powerful gift, we believe that your prayers and focused intentions are part of that power. Thank you for choosing to share with us.
On that note, please contact me whenever you would like, about whatever you might deem worth the stamp, (ha, silly Leslie, no stamp needed), and I will reply as soon as I can!
Sending gratitude to you and wishes for a happy week ahead!
Gently Be,
Leslie
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