Think I need a Weather Man Code Translator. I'm sitting at my computer, just read "Partly Cloudy" all day. Looking out my window, hmmm . . . . . . . . that looks like RAIN to me. Had to test it, went outside, cold, wet - yep it IS rain. Checked the five day forecast "Partly Cloudy" for the next five days. Wonder which partly cloudy? The kind where sometimes a cloud moves between us and the sun or the kind where we get rained on. Or maybe the kind where there are no clouds? It's only a bit of a concern now since I'm back on foot today. Have to walk several miles in whatever "Partly Cloudy" weather we have.
Saturday - our last day of being a free roaming grown-up (that's funny, before I corrected the spelling I'd typed 'groan-up', I confess, I am groaning inside but I didn't think it would come out so obviously), Piper and hit up two matinee movies. We saw "The Iron Lady" with Meryl Streep, went to lunch then went back and saw "SafeHouse" with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Both good movies. But the best, very best part of our day was next. Because we could actually get there, we went to a favorite spot of ours. A tiny little park three towns over low on the mountains that skirt our city on the southern side. Giant Eucalyptus trees, Spruce, Palm, Ponderosa Pine, Alder, Oak, Coastal Scrub Oak and several other tree variances I can't name. It had been "Partly Cloudy" - the wet kind, the whole time we were in the theater so the earth was wet, the trees, the benches, hand-railings, bridge over the little river, playground equipment, wood chips on the playground - all of it was wet - and it smelled soooooooooooo GOOD!!! The kind of joyous smell that fills you up and floats your spirit about. We took tons of pictures, wandered, Pip climbed the playgrounds, commenting on how things had shrunk - (must have been the weather) then we just settled in and soaked up our surroundings. I don't know how many of you can feel the environment around you, but I am especially environmentally/energetically sensitive, Pip too only not quite so as I am. This park FEELS good. It always has, just has good positive vibes. I used to bring Pip here several times a week years ago when we needed to feel the shine inside. Would have been making regular trips this last 16 months if we'd had the way to get here (this spot is beyond where the buses go). Most excellent place for meditation.
Anyway, Piper ended up sitting on the edge of one of the hammocks and swinging. This is the spot she always gravitated to. I finally settled on the other hammock on the other side of the rope igloo. And there we sat. Sitting and swinging and swinging our legs over the sides. No conversation - we didn't need any. We just absorbed. Gentle breezes rustling the tallest of treetops above us, squirrels racing across the grass and shooting over tree branches, the gurgling little river, the clouds high above turning from grey tinged with white, to white, to pale yellow, to golden tinged with pink then finally full blown, in your face, Hot Damn burning flames of sunset. Then the fire went out of the sky. Still no words, jut total complete contentment and peace. The damp chill began creeping at us from the trees. "Hey Sweets, how ya doing?" I thought I'd better check in and see how my daughter was doing. "I'm good," said she. "You?"
"I'm really good." A few beats later she declared, "my toes are numb."
"Yeah, mine too." A few more beats later, "my fingers are numb."
"Yeah, mine too." Then I asked her if she was ready to go. "Are you?" she countered with a question. "No."
"Neither am I," she said. We smiled at each other and ourselves and continued swinging. This exact verbal exchange, with the exception of "I'm just so content," happened twice more over the next two hours. Yes we were there till way past dark and way past feeling in our outer appendages. But for the first time in I don't know how long we felt happy and a peace and gracefully, excitedly alive. We walked back to the car slowly, kicking up damp leaves, sliding our feet along the slippery boards on the bridge. We paused to take in the sound of the water one last time before returning to the concrete world we're tethered to.
Coming down the freeway, there's a down slope - our city glowing and filling the entire valley - was laid out before us, golden lights glittering, the glow reflected in the cloud cover. It was a beautiful sight. "This makes me happy," said Pip. And that was all that needed to be said.
Saturday - our last day of being a free roaming grown-up (that's funny, before I corrected the spelling I'd typed 'groan-up', I confess, I am groaning inside but I didn't think it would come out so obviously), Piper and hit up two matinee movies. We saw "The Iron Lady" with Meryl Streep, went to lunch then went back and saw "SafeHouse" with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Both good movies. But the best, very best part of our day was next. Because we could actually get there, we went to a favorite spot of ours. A tiny little park three towns over low on the mountains that skirt our city on the southern side. Giant Eucalyptus trees, Spruce, Palm, Ponderosa Pine, Alder, Oak, Coastal Scrub Oak and several other tree variances I can't name. It had been "Partly Cloudy" - the wet kind, the whole time we were in the theater so the earth was wet, the trees, the benches, hand-railings, bridge over the little river, playground equipment, wood chips on the playground - all of it was wet - and it smelled soooooooooooo GOOD!!! The kind of joyous smell that fills you up and floats your spirit about. We took tons of pictures, wandered, Pip climbed the playgrounds, commenting on how things had shrunk - (must have been the weather) then we just settled in and soaked up our surroundings. I don't know how many of you can feel the environment around you, but I am especially environmentally/energetically sensitive, Pip too only not quite so as I am. This park FEELS good. It always has, just has good positive vibes. I used to bring Pip here several times a week years ago when we needed to feel the shine inside. Would have been making regular trips this last 16 months if we'd had the way to get here (this spot is beyond where the buses go). Most excellent place for meditation.
Anyway, Piper ended up sitting on the edge of one of the hammocks and swinging. This is the spot she always gravitated to. I finally settled on the other hammock on the other side of the rope igloo. And there we sat. Sitting and swinging and swinging our legs over the sides. No conversation - we didn't need any. We just absorbed. Gentle breezes rustling the tallest of treetops above us, squirrels racing across the grass and shooting over tree branches, the gurgling little river, the clouds high above turning from grey tinged with white, to white, to pale yellow, to golden tinged with pink then finally full blown, in your face, Hot Damn burning flames of sunset. Then the fire went out of the sky. Still no words, jut total complete contentment and peace. The damp chill began creeping at us from the trees. "Hey Sweets, how ya doing?" I thought I'd better check in and see how my daughter was doing. "I'm good," said she. "You?"
"I'm really good." A few beats later she declared, "my toes are numb."
"Yeah, mine too." A few more beats later, "my fingers are numb."
"Yeah, mine too." Then I asked her if she was ready to go. "Are you?" she countered with a question. "No."
"Neither am I," she said. We smiled at each other and ourselves and continued swinging. This exact verbal exchange, with the exception of "I'm just so content," happened twice more over the next two hours. Yes we were there till way past dark and way past feeling in our outer appendages. But for the first time in I don't know how long we felt happy and a peace and gracefully, excitedly alive. We walked back to the car slowly, kicking up damp leaves, sliding our feet along the slippery boards on the bridge. We paused to take in the sound of the water one last time before returning to the concrete world we're tethered to.
Coming down the freeway, there's a down slope - our city glowing and filling the entire valley - was laid out before us, golden lights glittering, the glow reflected in the cloud cover. It was a beautiful sight. "This makes me happy," said Pip. And that was all that needed to be said.