Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Goodbye to Blue Rocks

Pema Chodron is a Buddhist monk
who resides in a monastery on Cape Breton Island,
Nova Scotia.  During this past year she has been
my teacher via her books.  I just finished
When Things Fall Apart.  Pema talks about
the present moment as our best teacher:  whatever
is before you, simply breathe it in and be aware.

The day before leaving Blue Rocks, Jeff pushed
our borrowed sea kayak into our Subaru:  its long
nose broke our windshield.
Then, on the way from Blue Rocks to Vermont, our car's engine
blew in Augusta, Maine, four hours from home.
We are still waiting for a replacement engine to be
popped into the Subara, hopefully by next Monday.

Yesterday, the g and h and the enter key stopped working
on my laptop:  a wee bit difficult to edit the book I finished
while in Canada.

Breathe.  Be aware.  Borrow Jeff's laptop.  Breathe.

I didn't think leaving Canada would be so difficult.  

But it was.  As beautiful as this area of Nova Scotia is,
it is not as beautiful as our new friends.  We will miss Kerry and David,
Erik, Faye and Katrina.

Friendship is the gift that makes any  land breathtaking.

We will slowly wind our way back to Virginia, 
after walking the trails in Vermont, 
kayaking on the pond,
tending our garden,
catching crawdads and salamanders and painted turtles,
and sleeping under a star studded sky.

The adventure continues.