My flight was canceled on Friday because of snow in Houston. Apparently it snows in Houston about one time per year and this was the day. Consequently no flights in or out. Fortunately Mark came back and picked me up and we had breakfast and spent the afternoon doing errands in Tucson.

Mark dropped me off at the Holiday Inn where I stayed the night. I caught the hotel´s shuttle the next morning to the airport where I made the flight to Houston.  After a BBQ lunch in the Houston airport Iflew to Quito. I felt happy to leave the U.S.

It was fortunitous to have an extra day before leaving for Quito. I didn´t realize how much I needed a night to myself and time to cross the threshold to my journey. Thank you Universe. Trust what happens.

Synchronicity…on the shuttle to the airport in Tucson I sat next to a woman who, as it turns out, is from Brazil. She wrote down suggestions of places to visit and gave me her email address so that I could contact her. She is from Recife which is in an area of Brazil I would like to visit. This was a surprising and wonderful way to start my trip…meeting a generous woman who I may meet again in Brazil.

I arrived in Quito on Saturday night amidst a big festival…the celebration of Quito. Sue couldn´t get a taxi so I took one to her place in the historic district. I had to stand firm on the price. Most of the taxi drivers are not honest. They all wanted $10. I knew $7 was the price but finally settled for $8. Welcome back to Quito taxi drivers.

Sue had a warm wonderful room set up for me with a comfortable bed. I´ve been sleeping peacefully here the last two nights…deep long sleeps which I guess I needed. I feel refreshed and alive.

We have hot showers…a simple pleasure. First I need to turn on the hot water heater for an hour and remember to turn it off after the shower. Otherwise we use cold water.

We have spectacular views from the living room looking over the historic district. Directly in front of us is a mountain, Cerro Panecillo, on top of which is a statue of the city´s patron saint, Virgin de Quito. To the right and left high mountains rise up steeply. Quito is set in a wide and long valley between  high Andean volcanos.

Virgen de Quito on Cerro Panecillo. The view from Sue's living room.

View from our balcony onto Calle de Venezuela

We live on the fifth floor and walk up many steps to the apartment. My first night, Saturday, I had to stop half way up to catch my breath and let my heart stop pounding in my chest. But today I feel fine. I seem to have acclimated to the elevation quickly. We are at 9200 ft and Quito is one of the highest cities in the world. I think living in Bisbee which is a mile high has helped me.

I took the trolley this afternoon to the new district and stopped at my favorite coffee-chocolate shop named Kallari. It is owned by an Amazonian cooperative who grow and make their own coffee and chocolate. I ordered a ´cafe con leche´ and wrote this poem while I was sitting sipping my coffee.

Blue Pool

The pool of water

settles

after the storm.

The fish quiet below

begin

to swim again.

The sun shines brightly

trees sky

birds sing; leaves drop.

Quiet, peaceful home

this deep

blue pool reflects.

It expresses how I feel being out of the U.S. :in this place where it feels like home.

I am on my way to a health food store, Camari,  where I plan to buy farm fresh eggs and organic vegies. Then I hope to catch the bus back home which costs 25 cents.

I am happy that Sue is health conscious and eats like I do so she knows where to shop for good food.

Coleman’s Bed

Make a nesting now, a place to which
the birds can come, think of Kevin’s
prayerful palm holding the blackbird’s egg
and be the one, looking out from this place
who warms interior forms into light.
Feel the way the cliff at your back
gives shelter to your outward view
and then bring in from those horizons
all discordant elements that seek a home.

Be taught now, among the trees and rocks,
how the discarded is woven into shelter,
learn the way things hidden and unspoken
slowly proclaim their voice in the world.
Find that far inward symmetry
to all outward appearances, apprentice
yourself to yourself, begin to welcome back
all you sent away, be a new annunciation,
make yourself a door through which
to be hospitable, even to the stranger in you.

See with every turning day,
how each season makes a child
of you again, wants you to become
a seeker after rainfall and birdsong,
watch now, how it weathers you
to a testing in the tried and true,
admonishes you with each falling leaf,
to be courageous, to be something
that has come through, to be the last thing
you want to see before you leave the world.

Above all, be alone with it all,
a hiving off, a corner of silence
amidst the noise, refuse to talk,
even to yourself, and stay in this place
until the current of the story
is strong enough to float you out.

Ghost then, to where others
in this place have come before,
under the hazel, by the ruined chapel,
below the cave where Coleman slept,
become the source that makes
the river flow, and then the sea
beyond. Live in this place
as you were meant to and then,
surprised by your abilities,
become the ancestor of it all,
the quiet, robust and blessed Saint
that your future happiness
will always remember.

- David Whyte
from River Flow: New & Selected Poems 1984-2007
©2006 Many Rivers Press

It’s been awhile since I’ve added a new post to this blog. I’ve been busy ‘getting ready to go’. Which means that I’ve been making lists and crossing off to-dos and buying things that I ‘need’. Not too much but a few things that will make my journey more pleasurable…like a new netbook computer. Yes, I splurged and bought one online and I’m waiting for it to arrive. It’s a small, 10″ lightweight computer. I’ll be able to carry it with me to check email,  surf the internet and keep up-to-date with the big world.

I decided to stay in Bisbee for Thanksgiving. It was a good decision. I needed the time to get things done,  spread out my packing and have time to myself to ‘let it be’.

I leave this coming Friday morning. My friends Mark and Jack are driving me to the airport in Tucson. I am so grateful that they are sending me off on my new journey. They are good friends and I will miss them. They are leaving soon on their own new journey…to Fiji where they are moving in 2010.

My son, Max, is coming to Bisbee next week on Tuesday to visit for 2 days. I am going to keep him to myself so…those of you who know me…you may not get to meet him. I will be gone for 6 months and I want a couple of quality days with him before I leave.

I will soon be packed up with everything else in my storage unit including my Subaru Outback. I imagine checking my bag and strolling to get on the plane to Quito, Ecuador.

We all need to trust our own way of belonging in the world and to not let other people and the world change us. I know I belong on this journey, it has its own mystery, I know it is my path.

Bisbee-ites tend to LOVE Halloween. I was invited to go out with Mark and Jack and friends for the evening. Jack decided to stay home…understandable after traveling for two weeks on business. He deserved a night at home.

We walked to the old Panterra Gallery in ‘The Gulch’ around 7 pm. Chuck was having a surprise birthday party for his partner Maralyce and she was expected at 7:30 pm. There was a band playing which included Chuck’s son, Dylan. I was dressed as a cowgirl with a big black cowboy hat and a black mask that Jack gave me.

Kate and Nancy (photo by Karen Saltus)

There were lots of people at the party including some of my friends.

June, Lizann and Mark

Karen "The Killer Bee" and Glenn "The Miner"

The band played and Maralyce made her appearance.

The band at Maralyce's surprise birthday party.

Maralyce dancing with a friend

Maralyce was indeed surprised.

Maralyce surprised!!!

After the party we walked to the Central School parking lot where there was a great band playing. The band was from Tucson and played a mix of Latin and jazz fusion music.

The band from Tucson...name unknown

Margie and Keith dancing in the parking lot at Central School

Mark drank tequila from Darrell’s bottle.

Mark drinking tequila as Darrell 'The Devil" looks on.

And a good time was had by all!!!

A wonderful Bisbee costume.

Including the giant pumpkin outside Sulley’s.

The giant pumpkin outside Sulley's.

I made my flight reservations. I am leaving on Friday, December 4 for Quito, Ecuador. I’ll fly out of Tucson to Houston and then on to Quito where I will be staying with my friend, Sue, at her home in the old district of Quito high in the Andes. My return date is May 29. Six months in South America. Wow. I leave in one month.

I moved into a friend’s house out in the Warren district of Bisbee. I am renting a room in her lovely home. It is quiet and I feel safe and secure here. Margie gives me my space and we seem to be getting along well.

I wanted to visit Max, my son, before I leave so I am flying to San Francisco on November 13 for a few days visit. I fly back to Tucson on Monday November 16. A short trip but I didn’t want to leave for six months without seeing him. I hope I get to see Sarah, his girlfriend, too. Hi Sarah!

My friends Jack and Mark invited me to go with them and my roommate, Margie, to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We will drive up through New Mexico spending the night in the town Truth or Consequences. We’re staying at Riverbend, a motel with hot spring tubs on the river. Then up through Sante Fe and Taos to southern Colorado to the town of Alamosa where a friend of Jack’s, Phil, and his girlfriend live. We’ll stay with them for four days. I am looking forward to spending time in the mountains, going hiking and eating Phil’s cooking which is supposed to be very good.

On the way back we’re stopping in New Mexico to visit Georgia O’Keefe’s house at Abiquiu which I’ve wanted to do for a long time. We’ll be gone for 8 days. When we return I’ll have two days to get everything ready to leave for Quito including putting my car in my storage unit out in the San Jose area of Bisbee.

Going forth. I am excited at the adventure ahead. But also a bit reluctant to leave the safety and security of my home and friends here in Bisbee. But that is always how it is. The comings and goings are stressful. But I must go back to that great continent. I will have a few months of fun with Sue and get to experience Ecuador again and get to know that country better. Then on to Argentina and Bolivia. I will keep you posted. Thanks to all that read these posts. I write them primarily for myself but it is fun to know that you share my life a bit. Cheers!

A friend of mine (thank you Mary Ellen) sent me this poem. It speaks to me of my own journey and reminds me to be true to myself.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

- Mary Oliver

It took some doing for me to make my decision to return to South America. When I contemplated returning old fears and messages reared their ugly heads. I had to tell them to go far away and do what I wanted. Interesting how old messages rule our lives sometimes. My last post was like a declaration of independence. I needed to proclaim my independence from the old rules and my new sovereignty. Have any of you had to do that?

I am going to go to Quito, Ecuador and stay with an American friend who I met there last spring. I am going to rent a room in her home which is a 4th floor walkup in the Old Town of Quito. That will get me in shape! Sue came to Quito over 20 years ago to teach Spanish and she is going to help me improve my Spanish while I am staying there. She says she’s an excellent teacher and I hope she will make it easy for me. Speaking Spanish in South America opens up so many opportunities and expands any experience. It also makes traveling safer for a single woman.

I am planning to stay in Quito and Ecuador for about 3 months. I’ll do some touring to areas I missed last time. Then I’ll head south to Bolivia and Argentina for a few more months. I am hoping to stay 6 months and come back speaking Spanish!

I will update this blog as I venture forth. I still need to make my plane reservations. That will cement the deal. I am excited and happy with my decision.

I have lots to do in the next weeks but I enjoy planning and researching a trip. I will be returning to a city and country I know. I look forward to Quito, Mindo, staying at the beach, visiting Otavalo and staying at a farm outside Quito. Sue goes to the farm most weekends to garden, meditate and make tempeh. I don’t know anything more about it except that she said there’s a spot for me there. I imagine I’ll do some work and enjoy being in the country…it’s difficult for me to be in a city for too long.

Cheers!

Yes, a leap of independence. A leap of faith. Leaping out of the box. Into the unknown.

I am going back to South America. For me it is a big leap of faith, jumping off the cliff.

I don’t understand it all but it is something I need to do. For myself, for my life.

It feels scary but I’m not going to let that get in my way. It’s something that, if I don’t do it, I will regret it.

So I will leave the safety and security of my home in Bisbee, my friends in Bisbee, my life in Bisbee. To find the safety and security within myself. To become a stronger person. To get to know myself better. To explore. To learn. To deepen and widen. To be more of who I am and to create further my own life as a sovereign person.

I leave this wonderful home I have been house sitting since July. Comings and goings are never easy. But I go forth…straight on to my destiny. It is a choice, a personal decision.

I’ve had a mouse in my house for a couple of weeks now. I’ve tried different methods but this mouse didn’t leave my house (alive or dead). So which method below do you think was the successful one?

Conventional Mousetrap

Catch and Release Mousetrap

Natural Mousetrap

OK. Don’t look at the answer!

If you guessed the kitty cat…you’re right! I let Rachel into my house and within 5 minutes she was strolling to the door with her head high and a mouse in her mouth. For those who don’t kill creatures in their houses, please don’t get upset with me. I believe it’s all part of the natural cycle and process of life. Cats have been killing and eating mice for thousands of years before we started feeding them out of cans and bags of dry food. Without mice there wouldn’t be any cats.

Anyway, I’m glad the mouse is gone. Thank you Rachel, the cat.

It’s interesting to note that friends come into my life in many different ways and times. Some for a few minutes, days or weeks. Some for many months and years. Some for a lifetime. Friends are our angels, our reminders, our teachers, our loves, our best and closest human beings to who we are.

Sometimes they leave and sometimes we leave them. Sometimes they surprise us and arrive unexpectedly, sometimes they come slowly and timidly into our lives. Always appreciated. Always accepted.

Tonight I am reminded of friendship. I hope I am a good friend to my friends. Love is not always easy. Some friends are easily close, some are distant but understood. But always there is a connection, a reminder of joy, trust and closeness.

I believe we are all here to transform ourselves to the best we can be. We grow and stumble and make our way to ‘our’ bliss whatever it is for us. We give and we receive. We are blessed with friends of grace and friends of effort. We are never alone.