Gotta Leave Some Stuff Behind

There is so much to be done in order to leave home for three months. I find that I am nervous. I feel like I did about August the year that I went off to college for the first time.  Stomach aches. A lot of quietness. Nervous. My mind is so busy that sleep is not so good. Thinking through every possibility.  Hoping I can figure out what trains to get on and how to get a cab. Double-checking all my lodging reservations so that I don’t show up and they have no record of me.

Then there is the homefront, making sure I’ve taken care of things, paid bills, gotten medicine refills, doggie medicine too, let everyone know who needs to know.

Over these last days as I’ve felt nervous I have also been stepping more and more into the adventure.  As much as I love all the projects I’m involved in, it will be nice to have no responsibility for a while.  It will be nice for my few remaining brain cells to concentrate wholly on my own learning and experiencing.

I’ve already been detaching from Americana, well that is current-events-Americana.  I haven’t even watched Beyoncé’s Lemonade.  I will be so glad to not see anyone’s stupid opinion about gender neutral bathrooms  (I am praying that they all get a life and take an adventure!)  I will be so thankful to pass some days without seeing Trump’s face or really any of the candidates.  Cruz’s face is painful to see also.  Sanders and Clinton’s face are much easier to look at, but I’ve had enough! Now, I realize that American politics is a hot topic in the UK and Europe also, but I’m not likely to read a newspaper or watch a TV.  Hopefully no one I meet will engage me in such conversation. 

As painful things have happened recently – the continued difficulty for our neighbors in Deweyville, terrible flooding for my Houston neighbors, more weather problems just north of me, lots of shootings here and there, bad car wrecks….I keep thinking I am taking a vacation from all this.  It is OK for me to forget about it all for a while and immerse myself in the history and a life of another country.

There are things I am finding harder to leave behind.  My dad.  While he has great caregivers and my husband and brothers keeping their eyes on him, I know that my non-anxious presence gives him a little peace when he is worried.  He trusts that I’ll see about him.  He also trusts the others, so I just need to remember that.

It is hard to leave Winston, my pup, but I know he is in good hands. But, ya know, nobody loves a pup better than his momma!  He’ll miss me.  And I hope that he doesn’t hate me when I return!  I could send him postcards but, ya know, he is a dog and I don’t think he’ll appreciate that.

It is hard to leave hubby.  I am used to his company, his partnership.  Only a phone call away I know, but not by my side.  At least, God bless him, he is the one stuck with handling all those little household things that will come up.  He is my hero. 

I know what I’m leaving behind as I go somewhere.  Now to think about the what I’m taking…whew!!!

Changing my latitude, changing my attitude.... a little encouragement from Jimmy Buffet.

Jimmy Buffett Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

Full Disclosure

I stole the beautiful picture of Crystal Beach from the facebook page of Crystalbeach.com.  I believe the photographer is Tom Osten, but not positive.  I have sent a request for the info.  Whoever it is takes gorgeous pictures of the beach nearly daily and posts them on FB.  The pictures make me every happy.

I started this blog with the Crystal Beach picture because I believe it is my "home plate".  I am no sports enthusiast but in baseball home plate is where you start and where you finish, right?!  A place we always come back to. I think in order to Go Somewhere we need to first have a home plate.  A place where we are rooted, where we can always find comfort and peace.  A place where our imaginations can soar.  A place where we can grieve and rejoice.  A place where we can muster up our courage and rest on our laurels.

My home is certainly that place for me.  My kitchen table, my comfy chair, my people, my favorite things.  But since I was a kid the beach, sans any accoutrements like furniture or artwork, has been my thin place - that place where the distance between the world and the divine is very, very slim.

I think having a home where I feel very secure and free to be myself and having a "home plate" like Crystal Beach enables me to Go Somewhere.  I would love to hear about your Home Plates.

George Benson's Breezin' takes me to the beach every time.  Long story!!  Enjoy.
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Breezin'

Everybody is Going Somewhere

I read these words recently "everybody is going somewhere" and it was good food for thought.  Indeed we are all going somewhere.  Sometimes we have no idea where we are going, but we are faithfully putting one foot in front of the other.  Sometimes we have a destination in mind and we have no idea of what route to take but we gather our courage and head out.

I am going somewhere.  I am going on sabbatical.  I will be fulfilling a dream of traveling around the UK experiencing the places where my church was formed.  I'll be immersed in academia in Cambridge and Oxford.  I'll walk on holy ground in Iona and Lindisfarne.  I'll join in a pilgrimage about reconciliation in Coventry.  I'll witness the great church architecture in Canterbury, Durham, York and London.  I think I'll hear Evensong most nights. And maybe a little royal watching in Windsor!

There is more, of course, with some especially exciting adventures ahead as I transition into a new era of my life, grandmothering.

I hope that it will be interesting to see exactly where I do go as I set off on this great adventure.  I think I'll be pondering this idea that everybody is going somewhere.   This is my current theme song. Click the Link to hear from the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Everybody's Going Somewhere

Come along with me if you are interested.