Back to Reality

It has only been two weeks since we moved back into our cozy home in Port Townsend, but our adventures already feel like they happened in another lifetime. The house was in excellent shape and the animals all well fed and happy. After we moved our furniture back in it looks just like we never left! In fact, last week I was sitting on my couch looking out the window and wondering if that trip really was all a crazy dream. And in a way reality is like a dream, we so quickly lose those bits and pieces that make life vibrant and visceral-- the smells of smoky mayan women on a crowded bus and the clicking sound of their language as they speak through crooked brown stained teeth. I can imagine it now, but it is no longer as real...

Being home is an adjustment. I am so grateful for my soft couch and loving friends. Yet it is the little parts of life that I had managed to forget about that capture my attention--doing dishes after dinner, sweeping the floor and figuring out how to pay bills. When I remember, I feel so priveldged to live a life where these are my daily annoyances--that I worry about what to eat for dinner and not if there is dinner to eat. I really had no idea how lucky I am to have been born into this life of mine, one where I feel confident that I will have food and family and healthcare. That my feelings of hardship come from not buying new clothes or splurging for a latte.

I posted some photos from our last weeks of travel. We were so glad to have time to visit family and friends over the past two months.

Here I am in front of the barn at the new Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary property in Scio, Oregon. Kevin's dad is a on the board of directors for this non-profit home for abused and neglected farm animals. We stopped by the new property to scope out the barn, which is gorgeous but badly in need of repair. It is a beautiful place and we can't wait to see it alive with critters. Check out their website at www.lighthousefarmsanctuary.org


We spent a week with Kevin's mom Vicki in Portland. One sunny afternoon we hiked at Silver Falls State Park, which was really beautiful. It was like Christmas arriving at Vicki's and a few of our stored belongings. After five months with the same few items of clothes it felt really good to change into different jeans. At the same time we now had twice as much stuff to keep track of...

We also spent four days in Eugene visiting our dear friends Carrie, Jeff and Owen Parker. We went on our first real bike ride in almost 6 months, which was a blast. We stopped at the duck pond to feed the ducks. Owen is so grown up at 3--it was fun to be able to talk and interact with this kid!
And then more stuff...with this rig parked in our yard, we can never accuse anyone else of being a "fun hog" ever again! We have already been out in our boat twice fishing for shrimp and took the moped on a spin. It's a good life!

love chrissy