Imbolc and the Moon of Tides
Monday gratefuls: Tara and Eleanor. Arjean. Costa Rica. Iran. U.S. Israel. Gaza. Lebanon. War and peace. Mark in Hafar.
Rene Good. Alex Pretti. Say their names.
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Tara
Kavannah: Shleimut. My lev, calm. Clinical trial decision made. Living into the next.
Tarot: Knight of Vessels, Eel. My spirit, strong. My decisions, made. Old, not dead.
One brief shining: While I sit in peace on Shadow Mountain, Shadow gnaws a toy, asks for breakfast. Mary roasts in summer heat. Joe and Seoah shiver in a cold Korea. Everyone seems further away.
A conversation U.S. Jews. Is it time to leave? Is this a Weimar moment after Adolf took power? Friends Marilyn and Irv looked at land in Costa Rica. Decided not to go. Irv said he loved the mountains. Too old to leave.
Tara and Arjean. Have hired a property manager. Are cleaning out 27 years of stuff. Move to Costa Rica sometime in June. Stay in AirBnBs as they scout for a place to settle. A year or so experiment.
Two times when I almost left the continental U.S. 1969. Got the call for my draft physical. To Indianapolis with all of my money and all my possessions. (not much) Would have moved to Canada like my old friend Mike Hines.
Turns out psoriasis worsens when wearing wool and in hot, humid climates. Army uniforms. Wool. Vietnam.
As I left the place where I’d had my physical, a serious man told me: “You cannot enlist in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, or the Marines.” I asked him, “Are you sure?” When he said yes, I said, “Thank god.”
Second time. After Kate died. Joe and Seoah. Planned then to retire after Korea and move back to Hawai’i. Cleared out the house and garage. Researched places on Oahu where Kepler and I could live. Checked out synagogues. Studied my budget.
Jon died. I couldn’t leave Ruth and Gabe.
My sister and my brother, Mary and Mark. Long time expats. Mary now in Melbourne and Mark teaching ESL to young Arab men. Joe and Seoah: Hawai’i, Singapore, and Korea. Nine years
State Department urges Americans to leave the Middle East. Mark stays. Hafar has no military targets. He lives among the Saudi citizens. Not in an Aramco US compound. An old Saudi hand at this point.
I’m the stay at home of a far flung family.
When is it time to leave?
For me. Not yet.