Thankfulness. It's snowing this Thanksgiving morning, the second snow since we arrived. I'm sitting in the kitchen of my new home, most of the way unpacked, and feeling so deeply grateful. It was an amazing journey driving cross country. Amazing in so many ways.
I had to check the last couple of posts because so much has happened and I didn't remember where I left off.
In the last few days before the scheduled departure date of Monday, Nov. 8th, everything seemed to come together with such synchronicity. Vaughn, a young man I know slightly from town came by to pick up some office furniture I was donating to the county's new Agricultural and Community Development Center. He made two trips, the second time accompanied by a man I'd not met before. In conversation it turned out this man had lived most of his life in Bellingham, the city I've moved to. Coincidence? Never. He gave me a list of names and numbers of people to contact who could connect me with anything I might possibly need. The conversation turned to driving across country towing a car. Not good news about the gas mileage there. Then Vaughn said, "I'd be willing to drive the truck for you." Music of the Angels to my ears!
Vaughn was such a gift, a wonderful traveling companion. He looked after me, checking tire pressure, walking the dogs, carrying my bags into each hotel. I felt very safe and protected throughout the journey. There's more much more that emerged in sharing this adventure across the country, which I'll share in a separate post immediately following this one. It's a story I want to record.
We got off much later than planned because it took longer to get the truck packed and all the odds and ends taken care of, like last minute car repair because my driver's side window went down and wouldn't come up. Our first stop was to get dinner at the Burger King three miles from my old house. (I never eat junk like this except when moving and traveling somewhere long-distance by car. It's hard to avoid fast food in these situations.) We stayed overnight in Nashville, Kansas City, Cheyenne, Boise, and then Bellingham. Four and a half long days of driving. The truck did not go over 72 mph, even on the flat lands of Wyoming with a 75 mph speed limit. Max speed up the steep mountain passes was about 35 miles per hour. We stayed together along the way.
The terrain and vistas from Cheyenne, WY onward were so striking. It snowed about four inches overnight in Cheyenne. I wished I could have just stopped along the road to photograph all that inspired me, but ti would have added about two weeks to the journey. I'll try to hold those scenes in my mind's eye, and perhaps someday travel that route again with a really good camera and no time constraints.
My energy stayed high the whole trip, which surprised me because with packing, the long days on the road, and all the time changes, I didn't get more than four or five hours sleep a night. We were able to spend the first night in the house on air mattresses. This was Saturday, November 14th. That evening Vaughn made a wonderful potato, celery root soup with chanterelle and lobster mushrooms and blue kale that we'd picked up in the farmers' market that day. We had to wing everything with a sauce pan, knife, and plastic silverware I'd bought that afternoon, as everything was still on the truck. It was a perfect meal for the first night in my new home, however temporary. The next morning I drove Vaughn to the airport in Seattle and on the way home, the exhaustion finally hit. I slept a lot the first week here. Unpacked, slept, drove to the hardware store, the usual just moved in routine.
I so love it here. The people everywhere I go are so welcoming and friendly. Very down to earth with none of the east coast pretension I've so outgrown. The predominant culture here is Locavor. They support their local businesses and local farms. They recycle all numbers of plastic, as well as food scraps for those not wanting to do their own composting. The forests are filled with huge Madrona pines and enormous ferns. The forests hold such deep, old wisdom. You can't miss it, it's so powerful. I'm looking forward to spending time in the forests, I sense the interaction will have a profound effect within me. And sitting on the rocks at the edge of the Puget Sound. It's about 5 minutes from my house to the state park with paths down to the water's edge. Vaughn and I took the dogs there that first Saturday. There is something so powerful about the energy of the sound. Water of such depth and the wooded islands, a view so breathtaking. I feel a steadiness, a grounded, immensely powerful Earth energy I've never felt anywhere else before, that's the best I can describe it at this point. I will come to understand it's intricacies over time, that my intent.
It's Thanksgiving Day. Actually, I try to make all my days days of thanks giving. On this day I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to make this journey to this wonderful new hometown. I'm grateful for all the people who showed up to assist when I needed them. Grateful for the support and encouragement I received from my daughter, step-daughter, sisters, close friends and on-line friends to make this big transition. Grateful for my intuition which led me here to this wonderful place at this perfect time. Grateful, deeply grateful, for all that led me to be who I am now and grateful for all that awaits me.
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