Vacation Away

Boise, Idaho!

 

I arrived a day early before sister, Kim and nephew, Adam were to drive in from Salt Lake. They had recently flown in to Salt Lake from England, (yes, England!), because my nephew and professional actor, Adam, was playing 12 year old Jesus in a movie filmed every year by the Mormon church about the New Testament. As you can well imagine, I was over the top excited to see them! I had not seen my sister in over four years and hadn’t seen Adam since he was a young boy when I visited them in England almost eight years ago.

 

By now, dear reader, you know that I love wandering through a new city with complete, unfettered freedom, following my nose, letting myself be lured by what interests me, living completely, immediately in the very moment I find myself. I started at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, which moved me to tears. There are curved walls with inspiring quotes and pictures describing the struggle for all kinds of human rights, Jewish, African American, Eastern European, and Native American; several cultures and people were represented on the Quote Wall. I sat, slowly eating my picnic lunch, moving from bench to bench so I could read every single quote and let its meaning sink in to my soul. One picture in particular broke my heart, a small boy with his head thrown back in delight at his first pair of shoes.

 

 

I wandered through the Julia Davis Park, snapping pictures of the plethora of fountains, statues, museums and even a rose garden with a gazebo.

 

I continued through the cool, vibrant parts of their downtown, checking out the capitol and finally stopping at an outdoor café. Of course you know I had to indulge in a baked good after all that walking! Rob called at just the right moment, as I was sipping coffee and perusing through the Boise Weekly, checking out all the things to do, and I got to share all my delight with him, too.

 

 

Making my way back slowly to the hotel, I found yet another park, named after the good Ann Morrison, whose wide open green space invited me to take my shoes off and just sink down on the grass. As I lay flat on my back, propping my pack behind my head for a pillow, I gazed at the slow moving clouds, and was transported back to my 12 year old self, with her best friend, Debbie Klotz, reclining on that same back in a wide open field on a late Sunday afternoon in the summer, watching the clouds, sharing our secrets, without a care in the world. That young girl was truly without one single care; it would be years before she would know anything about anxiety or worry. I realized that as much as I love Oakland, it had been a long time since I had felt this safe outdoors. I still wouldn’t trade all the Bay Area’s vitality and stimulation, but that feeling was oh so . . .restful.

 

I rolled over on my side with my book, Madeleine L’Engle’s, A Wrinkle in Time, a mystical romp, perfect for this vacation, and read myself into a little nap. . . when I awoke it was time to go back to the hotel and see if Kim and Adam had arrived yet.  I propped my feet up in the lobby and within minutes, there they were!  

Now, I get to share it all. There is nothing better than scouting out experiences to share with those I love. The pendulum swings from holy solitude to connection and oh, what delicious connection it was. That wonderful reunion in the lobby might have been the very best part of the whole trip. 

 

Vacation at Home – Part 11 

Freedom of Systems 1 

In real life we must take care of reality so we can afford to take care of what’s real.  - Sarah Ban Breathnach

 

Part of keeping it simple is developing systems to help make the everyday tasks and duties of life easier and less oppressive. The systems I have created sustain me and allow for deeply satisfying experiences on a daily basis. Keeping a clutter-free, clean home is foundational to maintaining a well-ordered, quality life. Developing systems and healthy daily habits open up the time and energy for enjoying and cultivating the peak experiences.  

Paradoxically, vacation at home involves keeping up with daily tasks. When I come home from work, I spend about a half hour on various home-caring tasks.  I sort through the mail and recycle catalogs so they don’t accumulate.  I try to handle paper only once because I don’t want to spend a precious weekend morning paying bills or filing invoices. I put things back when I use them.  Who wants to fritter away vacation time looking for the scissors or a phone number?   

I run a quick vacuum over the couch and bathroom rugs so they are fluffy and clean for the evening. I make lunch for the next day.  I might throw in a load of laundry. I keep lists of household products and foods that we use every day and make sure there are always back-ups in the cupboard, allowing us to keep our big food shopping to one trip a week. (Except for the daily trot across the street to Whole Foods for produce.) I hang up my work clothes when I take them off, and put jewelry and shoes away.  Then, I change my clothes, brush my teeth and wash my face and start my vacation for the evening. 

I also have systems for collecting gifts and cards I will need during the year. I browse through boutiques and card stores and find pretty things to save for my friends for birthdays and holidays.  There is nothing more satisfying than opening the wicker gift trunk we keep at the foot at the bed and finding the perfect hostess gift I bought six months ago for a dinner that night.  I love putting my hands on the perfect card, whether it is for a new baby, new home, wedding or graduation, all collected during the year and saved in a pretty flowered box in my nightstand, thereby saving the time and stress of having to find a card at the last minute. 

Systems make it possible to be on vacation at home.  They are fun and satisfying to maintain.  Ironing crisp cotton blouses, watering the geraniums, hanging freshly laundered nightgowns, changing the sheets, making coffee for the next morning, make me feel happy and contribute to my everyday contentment.  

I am like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower when home-caring or running errands.  It is deeply satisfying to tend to the little things in life; to keep the external and internal cabinets culled and clean. I know that I will savor it all later and be so glad it’s done.  The key is finding a balance between planning and spontaneity.  After I create the systems I can let them hum, while living creatively and fully, open to the mystery as it unfolds.

Vacation at Home – Part 10

The San Francisco Zoo - A Mother and her Baby

 

 

 

 

 

Guess what! I went to the zoo to see the new little Sumatran tiger cub! I saw her picture in the Chronicle and I thought about it for about a minute and decided that I had to go see her.

 

Normally I have a hard time with zoos, but I am coming to understand that they are places of protection and safety for many of my beloved animals, many of which are facing extinction, like tigers. There are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. (Oh, that hurts!) However, any creature in captivity just pulls at my heart. There is always that tension between security and safety, freedom and adventure in my spirit.

 

 

Proud Mama, Leanne

 

 

 

 

 

So for all these reasons, I’ve lived here for sixteen years in July, and I’ve never been to the San Francisco zoo. I knew exactly where I was going, because it is in the same neighborhood as my spiritual director and I have spent many a sunny afternoon on the patio of the Java House café across the street. Knowing how to get there and where to park makes the trip just that much easier.

 

The moment I got there, I headed straight for the lion’s house. Alas, the little tike was asleep and you could only see her with Mama, Leanne, on the webcam, but at one point she licked her baby and picked her up by her sweet little neck and I was very excited to see that, even on the webcam! I hear that she has now made her outdoor debut and I’m going to have to grab my goddaughter and go back.  I satisfied myself this first trip by finding two darling little stuffed tigers in the gift shop; one for my goddaughter, and one for me! 

 

Please, oh please take a look at the slide show and videos of this darling, precious tiger cub. It will make your day.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Newborn-Tiger-Cub-Makes-Outdoor-Zoo-Debut-202421481.html

 

So go to your local zoo! It is a perfect activity for Vacation at Home. I saw lots of cool stuff that day; a gorgeous giraffe, (how graceful they move!), pink flamingos, a snow leopard, (haunting), a lion, (they are so regal!), a magnificent grizzly, a supple polar bear, a pair of penguins, a kangaroo on its back, a darling koala bear, lots of parrots, an anteater, a rhino and a hippo (they are HUGE!) and of course, webcam mama tiger and baby.

 

 

 

I love knowing that as I write to you, take my shower, get ready for church, drive down 580, watch the mothers and children take communion, write to you some more from the flower-filled terrace, wait for Rob, eat dinner, watch a movie tonight, work with the chaplains tomorrow - - that Leanne and her sweet little baby are less than 20 miles away, frolicking, eating, sleeping, growing and loving . . .

 

 

Vacation at Home – Part 9 

Home Weekend: Rob’s Birthday, Summer Gardens and Mixed Tapes 

My poor husband! It’s his birthday and he has the stomach flu. It’s been a home kind of weekend; lots of comfort food, lots of movies, lots of sleeping and lots of tender loving care. We cancelled the birthday plans and instead watched a double feature and ate soup and saltines. It was actually kind of fun. What a treat getting each other all to ourselves all weekend. We are quietly happy. .. the best kind. 

I got going early on his birthday morning, (around 10:00 am), and was moved to flower the deck. Off I went to ACE Garden Center and a mere $55 and a half hour later found me motoring back home with the top down on Little Red so they would all fit. I’m trying a bougainvillea plant I'm hoping will climb on the deck railing, sweet william, a plethora of yellow and white daisies, purple, pink and white petunias and a huge white foxglove shooting out to the sky.

 

 

 

I took a shortcut through the Oakland Rose Garden and it was magnificent. Nancy’s roses were in full bloom when I was at her house last Thursday and I thought the rose garden would be really spectacular and it did not disappoint. We have our very own Bois de Boulogne right here in Oakland, California!

 

 

 

 

Mixed Tapes 

Rob is finally upright this Sunday afternoon making CDs of my mixed tapes from the 70’s. I spent hours on those tapes, trying to get just the right sequencing of The Band, Bonnie, Warren Zevon, Robert Palmer doing Little Feat, John Prine and some more obscure, out of print records, (Willis Allen Ramsey). 

I went through a bit of a country phase in the late 70’s when I started my first professional job as an economist in San Diego. I was aching for Wyoming and my carefree college days and listened to Hank Williams Jr., Waylon and Willie, David Allen Coe, Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, Emmy Lou, Gary Stewart and my very favorite, Hoyt Axton. It gave me goose bumps dancing in the living room today to Fearless. I haven’t heard that album in years and now it’s out of print. I am so happy I taped it and even happier my good husband is technically proficient and patient enough to get it all on CD for me.  

I feel so very tender toward that younger Karla making those mixed tapes. I always wanted someone to appreciate my love for music and really see that part of me. You know how your IPOD music just makes you feel good about yourself and about life in general? How was I to know, thirty years later, my dear husband would listen patiently to all of the music that was such a part of my heart and record it for me.

[He did however, say that it was a true labor of love sitting through Johnny Paycheck. (I particularly liked Take This Job and Shove It. I have a vague memory of dancing to it at the corporate Christmas party. .oh, Karla!)] 

And take a look at his birthday present! Hopefully this will get to go to our next trip to Paris.