Yes, it’s November and it is still 2021, but in lots of ways feels like 2020. Still masked, still waiting for life to come back to normal. It’s getting closer. I just returned from the pool, and there we all chat and swim and joke that the blue water may be as close as we get to the Caribbean this winter. But one swimmer is going to Greece! Really? Yes, she said but it’s a ton of work, all the paper work for international travel is a nightmare.
I am going to Anchorage. Which is not exactly Athens, but it’s a start, and a ferry ride to Juneau– (Jeff is coming back with me, his Haines beach vacation is over.)
— There is a jet flight to Anchorage anyway, so there’s that. Who knew I’d look forward to those spicy biscuits? I will be speaking at the Association of Alaska School Boards meeting on Friday morning (Nov. 5) and then the Writer’s Block bookstore at 6 on Saturday Nov. 6. Sunday the 7th I’ll be back in Juneau, and at Hearthside in the Nugget Mall at 3-5 that afternoon– maybe I’ll see you there?
This has been one of the prettiest Falls I can recall. Of course there has been rain and wind and all that– but the days in between when the sun comes out take your breath away. My yoga teacher neighbor says if you see something beautiful that you want to remember, take five deep breaths and you will. Be still, as the lessons from church yesterday counseled, and know God or if you prefer — Love. (I think it’s all the same myself.)
Yesterday I rode my bike over to the dock to watch the parade of witches on paddle boards. It’s an annual event now, ever since last year.Then, the wind and rain corralled them inside the harbor, so it was a little dicey– but this year they floated out in front of town on calm water. The sun dipped behind the mountains for a minute, the way it does this time of year, and I took my five deep breaths to remember this — there was something perfect about those witches (including one of my daughters) flying on the water in front of the old Fort, in front of the forever mountains, just for the fun of it, and brave too. Those boards are tippy and the water is cold and so is the air (40 degrees or so) There is a risk to joy.
I could feel something else too– there were other women I have known and some I never met there that aren’t in the picture, but I felt them. On All Souls and All Saints days I’m especially on the lookout for spirits– in the heron lifting off the pond or a shooting star at dawn. The swirl in the afternoon leaves. It can be a reach, still I just keep watching and hoping for a sign — But here’s the thing: I’m pretty sure that little dog is somebody I used to know.
