Wherever you go, there you are.

Where do I begin?  It's been nearly a year since my last post.  I'd like to say that I'm lying on a floor in a house in Wisconsin, passed out after falling and bashing my head against a hard counter.  My family's about to wake me up, and yell at me for drinking that extra sangria, and then I'll rest it off for the remainder of the morning.  I'll drive home in the afternoon, and get to the heavy work on the High School Yes Vote, and eagerly wait for Hillary's election.   While the months swirl by, I'll lay off the drinking, and I'll recommit to exercise, rest, and reading.  I'll take care of the cats, watch the season change, and wait for another step toward greater equality in this country, and finally putting to rest a vital issue here in my own back yard.  I'll support my eldest as she approaches the daunting task of applying for college.


But that's probably not going to happen.  As I realize, each and every day, I'm not still passed out on that hard kitchen floor, I'm awake.  I've survived a rattling concussion, we lost our local referendum, and we lost the national race and our footing towards increased security and equality in such a major way that we're all living in constant fear, anxiety and dread.

Friends are exhausted, neighbors are sick, and thinking about living our lives as we would have is a lost cause.  Nothing is the same, and nothing will ever be the same. And still, each day we make decisions. And so, I rededicate this blog to this concept of what it means to be unencumbered.  For someone completely consumed with thought, worry, outrage, swirling thoughts, distractions and time sucks, how can I continue to carry this flag? The unencumbered woman is not an end, it's a process. How do I, how do you, live your life? How can I live, with a sense of purpose, vitality and health?









After months of ruminating on the risk of sliding into the most corrupt period of american democracy, ceding power to the most autocratic and foolhardy regime, one promising a xenophobic, hateful, factually flawed governance, we can only ask ourselves with what freedoms and powers are we still endowed? As I mentioned to my teen a few weeks ago, it's a line from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: "Wherever you go, there you are."

Buckaroo Banzai: "Wherever you go, there you are."

And so, we take to our means of communication. We huddle and drink tea with friends. We call legislators, we write postcards, we share on social media, we march, we support others who march, we give money whenever and wherever possible. We hunker down for a coming storm. And in that, we rediscover our community,  our friends, our family, our values, our beliefs.

Postcards from home (Oregon Coast).

A trip for convalescing and providing family support.  The tugs and many conflicting emotions of place and space are ever present. Here are a few shots that I took when breaking from other responsibilities. Take time to click on the short video, this sound is heartening, to me.

Twin Lakes Store sign and chainsaw carving shop.

Overlook path.  

Breathe.

North. I never tire of this spot. Quiet. Solitude.

Evening walk. Mobile home carport.

Yes!

Major food fest, what with brothers CSA and time in Mom's kitchen. Squash soup, greens that never quit, New Belgium, and an avocado from Fred Meyer. Sigh.

I can't get enough of this. Quiet time with Dad.

Ever the land of art cars, bumper stickers, and etc.  Saw this guy around town a few times. Whither the Merry Pranksters?

And, of course, our beautiful, life giving Pacific.  Breathe, breathe, breathe.  I love this!!!!!!!!!!!