Adventures

Nicatous Lake

Recently Dave and I were invited to a dinner party with some friends of his.  I was wondering who else might be there so Bob sent an email of the roster.  He mentioned the different people attending and offered a little bit about each one.  He spoke of an "adventure seeking couple" who would be there.  Dave and I were reading this email together and both of us were intrigued by who this couple might be and wondering what adventures they may have to share ... and then we read further ... this couple was us!

But, I guess, it's true.  I have been off on many adventures with this man in a years time. I grew up in Maine; spending my winters exploring the mountains of the Oxford Hills area and my summers with my face hovering over tide pools on the beaches in Scarborough.  But I have never really seen the Maine that Dave has started to take me to; the lakes and rivers of the north woods.

Quetzal

Growing up in that small town of Norway I would read National Geographic and become fixated with all those far off lands of turqoise colored oceans, dazzling exotic birds or snow-capped, jagged peaks of mountains.  I wanted to go.  My dad would say "you can travel anywhere in the world with a book or these pages of the National Geographic."  But I wanted to feel it.  I wanted to swim in that luxurious looking sea, to hear the caw of that bird and to stand in the thin air of those mountains.

Jim in the Himalayas

I met Jim Daniels when I was twenty one.  Jim shared with me that same adventurous spirit and he wanted to see these same lands.  Jim was the kind of man that when he put his mind to something it would come to be his reality. With his work as a photojournalist he began to travel all over the world where he documented the lives and struggles of the people of distant lands.  And I got to travel with him on many of these adventures.  I got to stand on a pass in the Himalayas at 17,000+ feet and feel the effects of that thin air in my lungs.  I got to watch the flight of the exotic Quetzal with its iridescent green and red plumage in the cloud forest of Costa Rica.  I got to swim with sea lions in the green waters of the Galapagos Islands and to hold the tiny hand of an inquisitive child of the Kachin people in Burma.

It was an amazing time with an amazing man and I hold all those memories very dear.  I accept how my life has changed .. or has it?  I am with another amazing man whose friend calls us the "adventure seeking couple."  And we are!  It's just that now I am exploring the exotic lands of my own state and country with a partner who finds adventure in every day.  I am camping on white beaches of quiet lakes and swimming in their silky warmth.  I'm bushwacking with snowshoes up ravines of mountains in western Maine and rafting the white waters of the Colorado river through its Grand Canyon.  I'm learning the different calls and intelligence of a family of jet-black crows who have decided to come to me when I speak to them.

I feel incredibly blessed for all this love, past and present.  I feel blessed for all the adventures I have had ... and for all the adventures still to come.

Loving you all back,
Mary

Melancholy

Jewell Island

I was so melancholy yesterday.  Melancholy .... what a great sounding word.  Melancholy, defined means "a gloomy state of mind".  If long term or habitual I guess it becomes a depression ... or a really gloomy state of mind!

I'm not sure what brought on this blue wave,  putting my mind into this gloomy state. Our wedding anniversary was August 25th, but that day passed with only a little blip.  I spent that day out on Casco bay with Dave and the "kids" - the young adults that are Dave's children and my niece of the same age.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a wonderful time exploring Jewell Island; one of the Calendar island chain (so called because there are 365 islands in the bay - though some of these might be hard pressed to be called an island really).  Jewell is one of the furthest out from Portland.  I got thoughtful on our boat ride back to the town landing, but didn't share with anyone what was going on for me this day.  Too personal, too old ... ancient history in some ways I guess.

I spotted a couple Harbor Porpoise cruising by in the opposite direction off our port bow.  A nice visitation as I sat there starring at the water and sinking into my own thoughts and memories.

When I got home I looked up the spiritual significance of a porpoise (or dolphin, same family) coming into my life.  Here's what I found; they are a reminder to us to swim freely into the waters of life and to allow our emotions to flow through us, to breathe into these emotions in order to release them.  And to have a light heart and a joyful/playful attitude towards life.

Well ... pretty fitting.

So today I am not trying to label these emotions of sadness, I'm just trying to allow them to happen.  I'm not trying to explain them away, I'm acknowledging that they are here.  I'm willing to ride another wave of this melancholy feeling until it reaches a distant shore.  I've learned to trust that I will be released from this gloom and I will turn and swim freely back into this sea of life.

Just to be clear, I am very grateful for this life of mine which continues to be filled with love and laughter and, mostly, a joyful heart .... and I go outside to play a lot!


Loving you all back,
Mary