on vacation - day two,early
Day two, God morning. The sun rises almost an hour earlier here in Maine and not quite as abruptly as it does in the Keys. As I look out over New Meadows River (a salt-water estuary) there is an early calm and peace that exists only when surrounded by conifers and birch trees. The early morning “gooney birds” (the cormorants) are already hard at work. The sky is a deep, deep blue and reflected in this tidal river. We are located in a shallow cove along the southern shore. There is a very faint breeze – not even zephyr-like, that brings a ripple to the open part of the river. The inlets are calm and glassy. Many different songbirds are waking with the sound a far different cry from the doves and wild parrots of Key West.
Yesterday was spent in getting familiar with where I am. Familiar is not quite correct; rather re-awakening a part of the soul which has lain dormant for many, many years. The experience of family (at this point, aunt and uncle) is very comforting.
I went to a noontime meeting in a church basement in Brunswick and experienced stories of hope, despair, and then hope again – very similar to the stories heard in Key West, and why wouldn’t they be? Same disease, different place is all. I think that this was the very first time that I have gone “on my own” to a strange meeting and not been fearful of not being accepted. Of course, what I really understand is that today I really do nothing “on my own”. I have invited God to share of this journey and he has accepted the invitation.
Relationships, family and otherwise, were not really a part of yesterday’s experience. Polly and Roger are remarkable people who (as I see it) don’t actually know about their own very special relationship with God, though it actually exists in everything they do – everything! They are, indeed, activists yet they also seem to know of the important personal parts of life to be focused on. Years ago, I used to think that they lived in a world apart from others. The ‘apart’ is still there, but the ‘part of’ is there in ways that I have never seen before. They love each other, those around them, and life very much. In some ways it would seem that they have been short-changed but, in reality, I think not.
The day was spent in hiking around the property and such; discovering pine, spruce, and larch trees that I planted as seedlings perhaps ten or twelve years ago. They are now strong young saplings of twelve to fifteen feet high and on their way to ‘majesticness’. There was also time spent with Roger in his workshop, where everything has a place and everything is actually in the place where it belongs. We packed tools and supplies for a couple of projects to be done on the Island, - remembering that when a project is at a location a mile and a half over open water in the bay there are no quick trips ‘to the hardware store’. We are ready.
Polly went off to deliver a lecture and then to a celebration of Women’s Emancipation (the right to vote). She is very active (not a large enough word) in Women’s History. She has established Women’s Heritage Trails all over the world. She has taught extensively over the years, courses on Women in History. She is also a highly respected author and has published several books dealing with Women in History. She teaches, not only locally, but has lectured all over the world – most recently in Norway.
An aside here, if I may… Though Polly has authored and published many books, I know that her very first published was a children’s story. It was a story that existed on our Island and featured Kathy (who later became Katharine) and me!! Yes, that was the very first one – so long ago that it is barely remembered – probably nearly forty years ago. (I just learned that it appeared in Jack and Jill Magazine in 1965.)
A large book could e written on Polly and Roger’s lives – they are both well into their seventies and are still as active as any young person in the world today… Amazing people of strong stock and generous heart and spirit, they have long been inspirations for me.
Today we travel to our beloved Island; described by memory in another writing. We’ll see how memory compares to reality when I get there, -pretty favorably I would imagine. We will return on Friday morning. I will write more of this Island as time goes by. It was a magical time in my youth and I suspect that it has remained so throughout my life. Sometime I will write about the Summer of Dan. It amazes me, as I sit here at sunrise, to realize how much there is left or re-gained of and through these memories.
I am so very grateful to God and those he works through that I am alive, sober, and free of daemons. The daemons of self-doubt, of self-centered pride, fear of the unknown, and much more no longer exist in my life today. Today there is hope and the beginnings of understanding. Today there is a relationship with myself as a part of the whole picture. It’s not simply Chris’ world, although that certainly exists and is important, but Chris’ contributions and the ability to still learn and share and grow. The roads traveled to get this far have been diverse and sometimes sad and difficult. They have been adventuresome enough, without having to resort to exaggerations or adventures made up. There exists, today, a peace, an understanding, an almost completeness, and a real sense of purpose – a freshness of spirit.
Others are rising now and so the day begins. Thank-you Lord for this time of reflection, this time of regeneration of the soul, this time of peace and understanding. The seeds have been planted.
Love and peace from Key West – though first written in Maine
Yesterday was spent in getting familiar with where I am. Familiar is not quite correct; rather re-awakening a part of the soul which has lain dormant for many, many years. The experience of family (at this point, aunt and uncle) is very comforting.
I went to a noontime meeting in a church basement in Brunswick and experienced stories of hope, despair, and then hope again – very similar to the stories heard in Key West, and why wouldn’t they be? Same disease, different place is all. I think that this was the very first time that I have gone “on my own” to a strange meeting and not been fearful of not being accepted. Of course, what I really understand is that today I really do nothing “on my own”. I have invited God to share of this journey and he has accepted the invitation.
Relationships, family and otherwise, were not really a part of yesterday’s experience. Polly and Roger are remarkable people who (as I see it) don’t actually know about their own very special relationship with God, though it actually exists in everything they do – everything! They are, indeed, activists yet they also seem to know of the important personal parts of life to be focused on. Years ago, I used to think that they lived in a world apart from others. The ‘apart’ is still there, but the ‘part of’ is there in ways that I have never seen before. They love each other, those around them, and life very much. In some ways it would seem that they have been short-changed but, in reality, I think not.
The day was spent in hiking around the property and such; discovering pine, spruce, and larch trees that I planted as seedlings perhaps ten or twelve years ago. They are now strong young saplings of twelve to fifteen feet high and on their way to ‘majesticness’. There was also time spent with Roger in his workshop, where everything has a place and everything is actually in the place where it belongs. We packed tools and supplies for a couple of projects to be done on the Island, - remembering that when a project is at a location a mile and a half over open water in the bay there are no quick trips ‘to the hardware store’. We are ready.
Polly went off to deliver a lecture and then to a celebration of Women’s Emancipation (the right to vote). She is very active (not a large enough word) in Women’s History. She has established Women’s Heritage Trails all over the world. She has taught extensively over the years, courses on Women in History. She is also a highly respected author and has published several books dealing with Women in History. She teaches, not only locally, but has lectured all over the world – most recently in Norway.
An aside here, if I may… Though Polly has authored and published many books, I know that her very first published was a children’s story. It was a story that existed on our Island and featured Kathy (who later became Katharine) and me!! Yes, that was the very first one – so long ago that it is barely remembered – probably nearly forty years ago. (I just learned that it appeared in Jack and Jill Magazine in 1965.)
A large book could e written on Polly and Roger’s lives – they are both well into their seventies and are still as active as any young person in the world today… Amazing people of strong stock and generous heart and spirit, they have long been inspirations for me.
Today we travel to our beloved Island; described by memory in another writing. We’ll see how memory compares to reality when I get there, -pretty favorably I would imagine. We will return on Friday morning. I will write more of this Island as time goes by. It was a magical time in my youth and I suspect that it has remained so throughout my life. Sometime I will write about the Summer of Dan. It amazes me, as I sit here at sunrise, to realize how much there is left or re-gained of and through these memories.
I am so very grateful to God and those he works through that I am alive, sober, and free of daemons. The daemons of self-doubt, of self-centered pride, fear of the unknown, and much more no longer exist in my life today. Today there is hope and the beginnings of understanding. Today there is a relationship with myself as a part of the whole picture. It’s not simply Chris’ world, although that certainly exists and is important, but Chris’ contributions and the ability to still learn and share and grow. The roads traveled to get this far have been diverse and sometimes sad and difficult. They have been adventuresome enough, without having to resort to exaggerations or adventures made up. There exists, today, a peace, an understanding, an almost completeness, and a real sense of purpose – a freshness of spirit.
Others are rising now and so the day begins. Thank-you Lord for this time of reflection, this time of regeneration of the soul, this time of peace and understanding. The seeds have been planted.
Love and peace from Key West – though first written in Maine
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