Only A Stone's Throw Away

Sometimes I feel far away from my friends.

 As I sit at my desk, in this small,
 cape cod house plunked along
the southern shore of Nova Scotia,
I look out onto the North Atlantic ocean.

Apparently about 300 million years ago

Nova Scotia was attached to Morocco, in

Africa.  If you get my drift takes on a whole

new meaning.  The Meguma terrane of the southern

half of Nova Scotia, which said bye bye to Africa,

joined  the present North American landmass 

as part of the Appalachian orogeny.

orogeny:  the process of mountain making or upheaval.

When I pick my way along the craggy, 

rocky coast here in Blue Rocks, 

I walk upon the same formation of rocks 

that are in Morocco and can be found

in the Appalachian mountains,

 host to the Green Mountains of Vermont.

I walk upon an upheaval that has

created a magnificent,

geological masterpiece.  

Recently, my good friend Ann,

a French enthusiast and a 

kayaking/canoeing buddy, 

started  to slightly slur her speech.  

Though I have enjoyed a glass or two of 

fine wine with Ann, this new slip of the tongue

was not fermented grape induced.

Ann has a brain tumor.  

At present, while we do not know the prognosis,

it is quite clear that a simple scan 

created an upheaval in her recently,

retired life and in the lives of all

who surround her.

"Something is not right, something is quite wrong,"

Ann recited into the phone yesterday, 

quoting Miss Clavel from Ludwig Bemelman's

children's series Madeline.

In her cheerful, 

upbeat yet matter of fact style,

Ann talked about the unknown,

how we need to wait for the news

and then move on from there.

Really, isn't that what 

we all need to do?  

wait  

     listen

          move

Ann lives among the Green Mountains.

While I feel the distance between us,

I am really only a stone's throw away. 

I believe that when I 

meditate in the morning

and practice Qi Gong, 

my body is Ann's body,

I practice for her, with her.

After all,

I'm only a stone's throw away.

And we are all on this journey together.