Two years ago, Michelle took off from Salinas -- heading cross country -- our joke being we'd move wherever the car broke down... without a breakdown, she landed in Decorah, Iowa. And a "sabbatical" extended into another transition: which transitions again with another move: with the additional hope of landing where there is the possibility of another intentional community...
Packing up a life is an interesting chore: but the most interesting of all is the "packing" of memories: can there be a more beautiful small town than Decorah? I doubt it! At first, I would joke that the whole town seemed to be on drugs (coming from Chinatown-Salinas what else would you expect?) because everyone was always smiling, waving, talking, and then evening concerts on the Courthouse lawn... walkers and bikers everywhere... "Magpie Coffee House"... "Dragonfly Books"... and "Tim and Jennie In the Morning on 100.5"... The boys first day riding the bus to school -- picking them up right in front of our little rental house... First grade and then Second... one mild winter, and then a wild one which continues with the wettest spring on the Decorah records... Michelle has been able to substitute teach and I've been able to write a few books, and working on others, and start a new series of abstract expressionist paintings... and most importantly, our love is thriving and our family is thriving!
Still, the spirit of adventure and expanding possibilities is calling us to once again transition... we're looking for "home", for that "place" where perhaps another intentional community and sacred practice can come into being: besides that, we need a job! In a way, this is the solidarity of the "solidarity paradigm" manifesting in our lives: much of America (and the world) is also looking for work, place, and home. Every life and all life is so incredibly fragile -- we breathe for such a very short period of time -- and the days we are given to make a difference are really so very few: yet our stories are never truer than when we pack-up and hit the road looking for the Promised Land: land which is never really promised so much as dreamed: perhaps always an impossible dream: but if we don't try to make the world a "welcome home" for everyone, we will find that we lost our time and wasted our breath: so, once again, here we go!
[These postings and coming articles might be few and a little ragged for rest of the month, but good things are planned for July and beyond!]
Packing up a life is an interesting chore: but the most interesting of all is the "packing" of memories: can there be a more beautiful small town than Decorah? I doubt it! At first, I would joke that the whole town seemed to be on drugs (coming from Chinatown-Salinas what else would you expect?) because everyone was always smiling, waving, talking, and then evening concerts on the Courthouse lawn... walkers and bikers everywhere... "Magpie Coffee House"... "Dragonfly Books"... and "Tim and Jennie In the Morning on 100.5"... The boys first day riding the bus to school -- picking them up right in front of our little rental house... First grade and then Second... one mild winter, and then a wild one which continues with the wettest spring on the Decorah records... Michelle has been able to substitute teach and I've been able to write a few books, and working on others, and start a new series of abstract expressionist paintings... and most importantly, our love is thriving and our family is thriving!
Still, the spirit of adventure and expanding possibilities is calling us to once again transition... we're looking for "home", for that "place" where perhaps another intentional community and sacred practice can come into being: besides that, we need a job! In a way, this is the solidarity of the "solidarity paradigm" manifesting in our lives: much of America (and the world) is also looking for work, place, and home. Every life and all life is so incredibly fragile -- we breathe for such a very short period of time -- and the days we are given to make a difference are really so very few: yet our stories are never truer than when we pack-up and hit the road looking for the Promised Land: land which is never really promised so much as dreamed: perhaps always an impossible dream: but if we don't try to make the world a "welcome home" for everyone, we will find that we lost our time and wasted our breath: so, once again, here we go!
[These postings and coming articles might be few and a little ragged for rest of the month, but good things are planned for July and beyond!]
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