Packing

For weeks, friends have been asking us if we are packing.  The answer, "yes, we started weeks ago".

We are as ready as we are going to be, evidenced by the two large, opened suitcases that take up a whole lot of valuable space in our bedroom and den at the moment.  It's a routine that I know well.  Fill up with what you think you need, items that you believe you can't live without, and then remove most of them lest the suitcase will exceed the fifty pound limit. In, out, in, out.  The drill.

Preparing for a long trip always reminds me of a writing exercise.  The art of packing a suitcase for a five week jaunt across the ocean is so much like the art of preparing for life itself.  I used to use the metaphor when my son was a newly graduated young man, floundering around, trying to get his life started on his own.  My motherly defense guard would spring into action during those moments of weakness when we questioned whether he would ever get going in the "right" direction. My self-medicating answer always was "it's hard to pack for a trip if you don't know where you're going".....

Good shoes, suitable for walking over unknown terrains, as well as known.  Ups and downs, twists and turns.  Hiking poles are the first items to go into the suitcase.  They lie on the bottom.  We don't carry them.  The can't be mistaken for weaponry.  We wear our hiking shoes, the heavy ones.  We've already lived in those shoes and know they are capable and strong so they never stay home.

Comfortable clothing makes the cut over "fancy dress".   We've learned that with good "basics", appearances can be manipulated.  Scarves weigh practically nothing and totally change the look.  Black, black and more black.  If you're good on the inside, it doesn't take much to tweak the outside.

I used to drag cosmetics along but over the years and after many trips, I have come to realize that most items weigh too much and most of them are totally un-necessary.  Italian supermarkets are up to speed on their selection of "health and beauty" products and what we need, we can easily purchase.
That is, if we "need" anything.  Here again, it's what's inside that counts.  If one wants to feel "well", a large bottle of shampoo isn't the answer.  My beauty was packed a long time before those hiking poles and will last me the duration of this trip.

So, our bags are packed.  We just have to zip them up.  After we throw in a few "cold remedies" and muscle creams.

Life is filled with unknowns.  It's too hard to pack a bag if you don't really know where you're headed but it's also hard to pack when you do know where you're headed.  There comes a day when you just have to trust that you really do have all that you need, that you are capable of making do with less and trusting that each day will work out just fine with what you brought.

Wheels Up in two more days.  Joe has a cold.  This should be very interesting..........

Re-Connection

"Is it our age?"  She wrote.

Last week, I popped a quick note off to my friend Janet.  I don't use the word "friend" loosely here. Janet and I have shared the gift since our days as Brownie scouts.  Our gift has spread itself out over the span of almost seventy years.  We, and our friends Lori and Kel, have proven that one does not have to see one's friends regularly to know of their existence.  When we do get together, we know that we have been blessed many times over.  Following the exchange of emails, we decided to actually have a phone conversation.  Remember those? And so, the following morning, we did just that and we caught up on life since our last conversation.

During our phone call, we talked about re-connections that each of us has made recently.  Other friends with whom we are once again in contact after long gaps and various activities we have done, alone or with others, highlighting those done with the newly-reconnected.  We also spent a lot of time discussing books we have read, something that we hadn't done in forever.

The book discussion in itself reminded us of our bond.  We discovered that our reading choices were similar and our interests identical.  I don't know why this struck me as a revelation.  After all, aren't similar interests part of the fabric that glues friendships?  In our case, it was glorious to find the affirmation, to then follow up with sharing lists of suggestions for future reading and future discussions.

Yesterday, a group of newer "old" friends gathered.  This group of twelve first met six years ago. Our bonding material was "creativity".  Every month, we got together and presented our interpretation of a simple word.  Our first word was "sunset".  Unfortunately, due to time and other commitments, we stopped meeting and a few years passed since our first. So, it was time to re-connect and like magic,
most of the members were able to attend and over lunch we revelled in just being together and finding out what each has been doing in her life.  Naturally, we had many laughs and naturally, the consensus was that another get-together was needed some time soon.

Is it our age?  More than likely. I think of life as a gift.  One that surely keeps on giving. Maybe life is a fire, one that constantly needs fuel to stay alive.  We keep connecting and, fortunately, reconnecting as we are presented with the gift over and over again.  We watch the sparks spring out of the fire and catch them, one by one.  The kindle, long having been burned, we throw larger logs into that fire and we sure as hell can't let it die.

If you haven't re-connected with someone, it's not too late.  Don't let your fire burn out and don't forget to say thank you to your Higher Power today.

THE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN OF THE CREATIVE CHATTERS GROUP

Shoulder Season

On a wall in the hall that enters my bedroom hangs a favorite photo.  It's so beautiful in its simplicity. A black and white, taken behind a row of modest cottages bordering the sea somewhere on the beautiful Prince Edward Island, sometime in the fifties.

The photo captures a strong and handsome young father.  Seated high on his capable right shoulder is a little girl with windswept hair falling down over her face. Both appear to be happy and proud of each other.  A father and a daughter on a carefree holiday at the beach.  A Summer season day that they thought surely would never end. A moment in time that now remains frozen in that photo for ever and ever.

So many seasons have come and gone.  I scarcely know those people in the photo any longer. Time swept in and like the wind that blew my hair over my face, took with it our youth and replaced it with days that have grown longer and years, shorter.

Seasons come and go swiftly but for me and my dad, it will always be shoulder season.