Beltane and the 1% Moon of Liberation
Tuesday gratefuls: 29 degrees. Freeze warning. Spits of Snow. Not in the Bay Area anymore. Windy, a cold white Sky. Ah, the merry, merry month of May! Mark in Bangkok. Where it’s hot, dense, different from his last visit. Staying at home, letting the food poisoning resolve. Shadow Mountain. A Lodgepole topped by high Winds. Food. Water. Rest. As buddy Mark Odegard observed, “At our age traveling is hard work.”
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Sleep
One brief shining: Looked out my bedroom window and found a green Shrub that was unfamiliar, unfamiliar?, in the scene I see several times a day, I shook my head, no, can’t be, yet there, oh wait, my eye had traveled to the top of a Lodgepole next to the new Shrub, that fresh gash; it was a Tree top snapped off in one of our high Winds, yes the transition in weather can be brutal here.
Though the back dominated my trip the food poisoning of last Friday night has dominated its end and my return home. I know. I know. Debbie downer. Again. You can skip this without guilt. Still, I want to leave bread crumbs about life here. So. Not sure where I picked up the bad food, bad food stay down! Damn it. Possibly Japantown where Diane and I had lunch. Maybe that piece of tempura shrimp? Whatever it was by 9 pm on Friday I had both diarrhea and vomiting. And not just a little. I became weak, dehydrated, and, of course, did not sleep on that the night before I reboarded the California Zephyr for the return trip to Denver.
Packing seemed impossible. I called Diane and asked her to come help. Even when I did I knew, due to the parking situation, that she couldn’t. But she understood. A real sweetheart, my cousin. Instead of packing I stuffed things in the Travelpro. Going home that’s ok. All will need washing and care anyhow when back. At least that’s what I told myself. Finished up. Went downstairs and checked out. Diane came.
It was a Rainy Saturday after seven straight days of beautiful weather. Sunny. Light Breezes. Warm but never hot. Like a movie the weather signaled my inner world. I got on the Amtrak bus and headed across the Bay Bridge.
The journey home. Garret helped. The sleeping car attendant. Brought me my meals. There was a bathroom just down the hall. My roomette was on the ground level of the sleeper along with five others, checked bags, and shower rooms. Couldn’t have asked for a better set up.
At Union Station Adam picked me up in his Tahoe (Now, I’ve been there. Sort of.) and deposited me on Shadow Mountain. I needed his help getting my bag in and out.
Now Tuesday morning. Trying to stay hydrated without getting my stomach excited enough to remember Friday night. Still eating bland food. Sleeping a lot. Nap after I write this.
Just a moment: Oh, the agony. NOW the Timberwolves get real.
