We’ve started the trip back to NC, where we will be by August 7 for the Pollard baptism on Sunday the 8th. We’ll be there a week before heading out to Boston and Chicago, arriving home sometime after Labor Day. For now our 7-week Western Sojourn continues.
I was a bit apprehensive this Western trip; at times I just did not want to come. I had been weak for a couple of months, relying more and more on my wheelchair. Was I really up to the trip?? Was I strong enough to do the fun things I might. Ugh. Daniel and I sometimes don’t get along too well when we drive (I try to navigate even when he doesn't want to need me to). The trip could be a nightmare “Family Vacation”: what if the car breaks down? And our plans staying with friends weren’t confirmed. Being homeless is one thing; being homeless with no temporary home is another for me (though not for Daniel). I worried about how much time we’d have to work on our book. I’d just settled into a writing rhythm when it was time to start packing. As I had my worry fantasies about what might happen on the trip, I had to work beyond my energy to get out stuff ready for summer storage in the POD. Worry, worry.
The “move out” of our very personal stuff from the beach house was intensive again this year. Though it was much easier than last year when we were still “moving in” from Cambridge AND moving out for the summer. The actual work to ready inside the house wasn’t so bad for me: it only took about a week and lots&lots of plastic boxes. Daniel had the big job. We’ve accumulated stuff on the downstairs deck that had to be sorted and cleared; the POD was already crammed, even with unpacked stuff from Cambridge. Those of you who move every few years know the problem: it is often easier to leave stuff packed, and that is what we’ve been doing since 2008. (We have had a few priorities like learning to live and walk again and dealing with all the post trauma of my health.) I can’t say that we really unpacked this time, but the downstairs closets are well organized and the POD moderately so. It was a big, hot job for Daniel even with some great help from highschoolers. At one point the situation looked so hopeless that Daniel suggested that we just cancel the trip.
Eric and Ashley came to see us at the beach the day before we left. We were relaxed seeing that once again we would meet our packing deadline and be able to turn over the house to weekly renters as per our contract. The great joy of that day was just being with Eric and Ashley whom we considered our own children. We discussed our book concepts with them and got the best insight and advice. They helped us see how to vastly simplify our task and get it done sooner. They showed us how to make it more focused on a market and more coherent. I slept better that night than I had in months, and since I have experienced only joy when thinking about/working on the book. Alleluia.
We left on Saturday, June 19 with all goals accomplished and pretty much on time. We met Jen and the Kiddos at Zac’s baseball tournament in Raleigh, mostly so that I could get Zac’s iPhone to replace temporarily the one I dropped in apple juice. The best part of ruining my phone is that we had to see them in Raleigh. Our time there was some of the best of a most enjoyable trip. I got to play with the kiddos, especially the little ones, in the pool where I am strong and can throw them around and wrestle with them. What fun, and what a way to start a trip.
We traveled to Chicago where we spent almost a week near Daniel’s mom, Margery. She is doing fine; most of all she is really enjoying her life. Despite her disabilities, she is living the life she wants to live right now. It is an inspiration to see. She was the age I am now when I first met her. I want to be as fit as she is if I make it to 89. Daniel and I are transforming our diet and exercise in an effort to do just that (though right now we are closer to Mom’s current level of fit than we are to who she was 23 years ago).
The saga of “replacing Bonnie’s iPhone” dominated our early trip: first with getting a temporary phone, then lining up to get an iPhone4 in Chicago (at Apple) then again in Denver (at ATT). It’s a funny story that I will post before this log so that it appears just after it. You’ll have to read that account to learn the outcome of our adventures in iPhone4 Land.
We pushed on to see Larry Browning in Crestone, CO. Crestone is home to 55 spiritual communities of many kinds: from Carmelite nuns to 3 different Buddhist sects. It’s a magical place below the towering rockies. We went twice for hot springs and massage and decided to plan our travel west to have more mineral soaks. Larry was on a deadline to complete authorship of his third book. Most of the week we were there we sat at our various computers and wrote. But we had camaraderie in the evenings and at times during the day. I got a good rewrite of the book intro done; that rewrite proved quite valuable as we solicited input from others about what we are doing.
We were then onto Utah. Our first excursion to a Utah hot springs was futile... I just could not get up the steep path. We did score on the one just outside of Zion It is one of the most mineral rich of American springs. It did indeed have that mineral effect that changed our moods and aches more that one could expect from temperature alone. We didn’t get to spend as much time in Zion park as we’d hoped, and so we are now back here again. This time we are staying near the park entrance and plan to have some good time there -- soon. Zion has a “wheelchair” path that goes right to the canyon “narrows.” I’ve become quite adept at pedaling my wheelchair with my feet. I’m looking forward to the adventure of the day.
I could go on and on about our incredible time with friends in CA. I spent most of a week in Santa Rosa with Betsy. We’ve been friends for thirty years; time to simply be together has always been short though. She introduced me to her (highly successful) dieting style and took me to her YMCA everyday to walk in the warm pool. Wow. We were in almost constant conversation (also with her M.D. husband Gene) about the book and Betsy’r experiences over a decade of working with cancer support groups/ Gene’s experiences with patients. Daniel and I are grateful to have friends whose diverse experience addresses so directly many fields we need to understand as we do this project.
Daniel stayed more with Glenn Edens in his fine home overlooking the SF Bay. I don’t think I’ve missed living in CA as much as I did when at Glenn’s. I was reminded of what our daily life was like in CA -- a ongoing conversation about technology, design and business strategy. I’m in many fine conversations in NC, but none is quite as satisfying as those were to me. Oh, the life left behind. How good to be able to drop in and glimpse at it once in a while, to celebrate who we were and who we are.
Laura Dimario and others organized the Interval Research ten years since closing reunion. About a hundred people came. Can you imagine it? Ten years after the demise of a corporation, we are still family. I’d say more than half of the ex-Intervalians came. I sat on a picnic table and “held forth”; Daniel circulated. Wow. I think every person there was grateful for the unique experience of Interval. David, the president, said a “few words” in celebration for us and also Paul Allen who formed the company.
We had so many wonderful conversations with friends beyond the picnic. I won’t name or describe all the people we saw, the joy of being with them, the help they gave us in thinking about our book, or the hospitality they showed us in opening their homes to us. Just know that we are feeling truly blessed by our continuing community over time and distance.
By the time we got to CA all my anxieties about the trip had melted. I dwell on the feeling of those anxieties -- gained and lost -- each day in my prayers. How fortunate we are to have the money and the time to take a trip like this. We’d (well, I’D) had considered staying in NC next summer. NOT anymore. I’m already beginning to dream about next year’s trip.
The culmination of our time in CA was a stay with my son, his sweetie, and Landen her 6 year old in LA. Ron rented out his tiny castle in Tapanga Cyn and the three (with Murphy the dog) have moved to a big house 4 blocks from the beach at Playa del Ray. Ron and Amber took me for a wheel chair walk along the ocean. Of course the weather there was just perfect. Oh heaven.
In this post I’ve mentioned many of joys that have overwhelmed me in our 7 week sojourn; none is quite so satisfying as seeing my son happily in love. Parents reading this will know exactly what I mean. I’m not saying that now I can “die happy,” but my feelings are close to that. I’m feeling blessed to have lived to have a close, loving relationship with my children and to have lived long enough to appreciate the adults they are. The focus of my life over the expanse of my 66 years has been on my career, not my family. I’m happy to have the book as a continuing career focus for me now. Yet my love for my family is the best surprise of my existence. I realize this is a bit trite. People confronting death typically put family as their joy and priority. I know why.
After a leisurely time at Zion, we are off for a drive by of Bryce Canyon, then back to Crestone. Larry won’t be there this time, but Daniel has some business in town with people he met there (Daniel makes friends wherever he goes.) On Sunday we travel east on i70 to see Jay, my precious stem cell donor and his family (now our family).
I’ll soon be posting an album of our trip pictures. Remember that I take pictures to remember where I was; they will not be beautiful photography though our sites and friends have been just that.
Enjoying the view from our patio.
Bonnie for BanD
Ah.....I just wrote asking where you are...and now I know. Great description of trip so far...thanks for all the nice things you say and us!!! (all lies of course) lovinandmissin you! betts
Posted by: Betsy | July 31, 2010 at 10:35 PM
Think you will arrive at Beanie's any day now. Hope you continue to have a great trip. I miss you SO MUCH!!!!!! love, betts
Posted by: Betsy | August 08, 2010 at 12:33 PM
And it was so fun to see you! I realized after you left that we had not taken any photos....travel safely!
Posted by: Rosemary Remacle | August 09, 2010 at 05:11 PM
Hey you guys....it's time for the next installment!!! It's almost Labor Day. betts
Posted by: Betsy Hall | August 25, 2010 at 11:33 PM