Jan01
Posted on Jan 1 by Ruth Davis
“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” Rainer Maria Rilke Happy New Year! Do you have a ritual for beginning the new year? Maybe you eat black eyed peas for good luck, or spend time with the people you’d like to see throughout the coming year. Maybe you watch the Rose Parade in your pajamas, or take a walk in nature. Some of us choose a theme for the year, or set goals, or make a list of places we’d like to visit. In the past I have chosen a word for the year, to help me focus my attention on my deepest intention. One year, I wrote a manifesto, declaring the qualities and attributes that I wanted to claim more of. When I was living on the road, the visions for the year were more about where we wanted to explore, and what kind of volunteering sounded interesting. This year I am using the Heart Sparks cards to guide me. In December I picked two cards, one to guide me for...
Dec21
Posted on Dec 21 by Ruth Davis
Happy Winter Solstice! This time of the year is all about the light. Chanukah is called the Festival of Lights, with eight nights of candle lighting to commemorate the miracle of the oil. Kwanzaa is celebrated by lighting seven candles to represent the seven principles. Houses and trees are decked in holiday lights. And Jesus was born under the light of the star of Bethlehem. Everywhere you look, there are candles and fires, beckoning us toward the light and the warmth. But in nature, this is the darkest time of the year. Which offers us a beautiful invitation to go inward to tend our own light. If we’re feeling confident, creative, appreciated, it’s pretty easy to tap into our own glowing goodness. We radiate love and compassion, for ourselves and others. And our shining light reflects on another person, creating an even bigger light. But what about when sadness, grief, frustration, even hopelessness, overwhelm us, and we feel no light. Even if your light is not roaring in radiant flame, it is still burning. It may be just...
Dec09
Posted on Dec 9 by Ruth Davis
I’ve been doing some deep grief work this past month. I didn’t even realize it at first. Three weeks ago I pulled an intercostal muscle under my right breast that went all the way around my back. It was painful to raise my arm, and it especially hurt when I coughed or sneezed. Driving and steering exacerbated it, so I mostly stayed home, resting, and icing. And then a friend came for an overnight visit. When Marika and I split up, I didn’t share the specifics and details of why it got so bad that I chose to leave. Not even with my closest friends. Because they know Marika and it didn’t seem right. But my visiting friend didn’t know Marika, and so I opened up about some of those details. Which brought back feelings of shame, and hurt, and sadness, and more shame for keeping it all to myself. And it also tapped into that deeper trauma layer, when I was six and my brother Lenny died. My parents were so lost in their own grief, and my...
Sep11
Posted on Sep 11 by Ruth Davis
TRAVELOGUE Part 4: Mendocino, Then and Now We finally arrived in Mendocino on the California coast on Monday, May 24. Mendocino is a picturesque tourist town in northern California. Once a booming lumber mill town, Mendocino is now designated as a Historic Village, and that’s why we are here volunteering. We work for Mendo Parks, a non-profit organization that maintains and staffs the historic buildings and visitors centers within the state parks in this area. When we pulled in, we met Amelia, our volunteer coordinator. She showed us to our campsite, dropped off our volunteer vests and working papers and, the next day, we went to the police station in Fort Bragg to be fingerprinted. Instead of inking our fingers, the woman used a live scan computer program. We chatted about the technology, the area, and we asked her for restaurant recommendations. She told us that the best fish markets are down by Noyo Harbor and only open Thursday through Sunday, so we opted to share an order of fish and chips from a recommended Mexican restaurant...
Sep11
Posted on Sep 11 by Ruth Davis
Flexibility. Following the energy. Asking for what you want. This is life (on the road). DAY 12 On our last day in Brigham City, we drove out to Promontory Point and the Golden Spike Historical Park, where, in 1869, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Rail lines met to create the first transcontinental railroad. The original wood burning Jupiter engine and the coal burning 119, have been refurbished and are used in the daily re-enactments of the historic event. The Ranger mentioned the ATK Rocket Park nearby, so we stopped on the drive home to see actual NASA rocket boosters and missiles. The reusable rocket motor from the Space Shuttle was 159 feet long. One placard showed the two rail line grades in the background, and the space program items in the foreground, remarking how only 100 years separated the two innovations. DAY13 Welcome to Wells, Nevada, the Gateway to the West There is not much to see between Brigham City and Wells, NV, except so much wonderful wide open space. The dry stretches of desert are dotted with...
Sep11
Posted on Sep 11 by Ruth Davis
Flexibility. Following the energy. Asking for what you want. This is life on the road. Day 6 Painted Rocks Campground, Yuba Lake State Park, Utah We were supposed to leave on Monday for our next camp site, but it was so quiet and spacious at Yuba Lake State Park, with only three other campers in the entire campground. So we stayed an extra day. Marika spent much of the day outside with her binoculars, watching the birds. She saw western kingbirds, Bullock’s orioles, yellow warblers, Blackburnian warblers, western tanagers, white crowned sparrows, killdeer, mourning doves, Canada geese, white pelicans, black billed magpies, a robin, and some swallows. And Tillie and I did something that was bigger than a bucket list item, all about a dream come true. She ran next to me while I rode my bike. She watched me, I watched her, and we rode the length of the camp road, twice. She loved it, I loved it, and Marika took pictures of the whole thing. Day 7 Yuba Lake to Antelope Island I was expecting the day...
