Transforming Travel to Journey

Not much happening here as first Myself then Mary had visits from a cold bug. We were both finally getting well when Princess, our thirteen year old terrier-mix, decided to jump off a neighbors twelve foot balcony. No one really knows why she jumped. I blame Dawgzheimers.

Fortunately she landed in a pile of sand and missed a wood picket fence. A $500 vet bill got us a bottle of pain medication and the assurance that no broken bones were involved, though you would not have known it by the way Princess wailed for the past week.

The crying has settled down of late though and now a limping gate is her only hindrance, that and a temperament requiring Mary's constant presence.

The past two weeks I have been caring for Spanish speaking patients and have renewed my goal of learning the language. Some argue that they have no intention of this as they feel English should be learned by immigrants.

"If I were to move to France, I would make a point of learning their language." says another nurse to me.

Yet I actually have two motivations for learning the language. First, is my intention to visit Spanish speaking countries in the future, so why not learn while I have opportunity with fellow employees and patients. The second reason is from reading that learning a new language is great mental exercise, some people consider this part of the inner journey.

Volunteers for the peace-corps and mission trips have suggested this by saying they went out to change a small piece of the world and returned realizing it was them that had been changed.

A recent conversation with a nurse who volunteered for a mission trip to Africa shared with me that when their medical supplies ran out mothers kept bringing their children anyway.

"All I had left were my hands to lay on them in prayer" she said, "and yet they still kept coming". "I realized, I always have something to give", she concluded.

Interacting with the world you find yourself placed, transforms travel nursing into a journey. There are always new sights to see even if you don't travel, but to allow new places to change you; that's the key to inner journey.

So learning Spanish is my way of taking the smile of the lab tech with me after accomplishing a new phrase. Mary is inspiring the landlord of our home to make improvements to the wall, (click here if you have not seen pics of it) and had him and multiple neighbors involved with a project on it yesterday. Actually, I find that Mary creates inspiration of all kinds, regardless the situation.

Traveling without working on inner journey is more akin to wandering; like footprints in the sand swept away with a single tide, having cast no memory and leaving no trace of presence.

Inner journey knows no location, but opens our awareness to allow new locations to transform and broaden our own personal horizons.

Have you been contemplating travel? Is it time for you to explore?

Puppet Show You Don't Want to Miss & More

I have posted a video that just had me in stitches.
After this performance Bill has promised not to quit his day job.

You can check it out by clicking Here

Also, Shauna and I are having a discussion going on about "the wall" that surrounds the courtyard. Are the rumors from the neighbors true?

Found out by clicking here to view the comments.

An afternoon on the beach.

The time for low tide had come. Mary, though still not well from her cold was dressed for going out, a fleece jacket and black shorts. She had spent most of the day resting, but searching for sea glass has become a recent obsession, and so we set off to the nearby shore line.

The ocean had pulled further back than ever we had seen, well beyond the usual row of beach gravel; a good hundred feet further. The sandy floor had actually raised up a bit and left a pool of sea water trapped, and then further out were dozens of birds racing back and forth with the tide to snatch up sand crabs.

I crossed through the stranded pool and on to the sand that was further out, sometimes my feet sinking a foot or more in the soaked sand. I waved to Mary as I jumped up and down celebrating walking at the very spot where early morning surfers rode waves.

I turned to see the holes left by my feet in the sand were already filling up. That is the one thing about the ocean, it rounds and smooths most everything, whether it be markings in sand, or sharp pieces of beach glass. All eventually are rounded, smoothed, with gaps filled and ridges worn.

Princess and I walk close to the shore. At times an errant wave washes over my feet, I do not mind, but the water is cold. Finding glass so close to waves washing up is a bit trickier than further up the beach. I spot a glimmer of brown or green and must reach for it fast otherwise a wave will wash over it and then I try to follow it up with the tide and then keep an eye on it as the water recedes.

"Is it there?" I think.

No, I lost it.

No point in continuing to look for it. I assure myself that just as easily as that piece is washed away, another has washed up, and I keep looking.

Today it seems warmer. A bead of sweat falls into my eyes and I use my shirt to wipe it away.

"No breeze!" I realize.

How odd that two days ago there were constant thirty mph winds that blew sand into every crack and crevice, left a fine silt covering on every flat surface, even in the house, and dunes crossing the streets. Yet now; no breeze.

Usually the breeze blows and cools off those exposed to the sun, even on the warmest days, today though, the air is still and I soak up the sun without it.

I catch up with Mary. From our pockets we pull out our new found additions to the sea glass; only a few pieces of blue, mostly brown,some green and lots of clear. No red of course.

Mary and I walk ahead. Sometimes we hold hands, but always watching out for colors in the sand.

"How could I take a picture of this and do it justice?" I ask.

"I suppose you could take it from the back of the beach." says Mary.

The problem with that idea though, is the drop off that the camera would be unable to show in a picture, and beyond that is still another fifty or more feet of sand.

If I took such a panned out picture, how could I also include the close ups of the birds and gravel edges which is where we find most of the glass?

Would the picture tell you how cold the water is as it washes over my feet?

Could one picture explain how a piece of brown glass in the right sunlight looks red, and how our heart races with excitement, until it is held up in the sunlight and is only brown?

Could one picture do all that?

Maybe this short post will.

I Voted!

On Halloween night I returned home from work and in the courtyard were almost a dozen people surrounding the warmth of the fire pit. A few were dressed for the occasion and at the gate was a ghoul to greet the young trick or treaters. The younger children were too frightened to enter the courtyard but the older ones were more than glad to grab their handful of candy.

Mary and I don't usually celebrate the holiday but the neighbors decided our house is the most unique so they came by that afternoon to decorate and brought chili and cornbread. How could I say no?

The following Tuesday Mary and I stopped by a local school to vote, then made another trip to Santa Barbara; a beautiful town full of history and great shops. We rode the Amtrak train from Oxnard and it dropped us off right on State Street where there are all kinds of fun shoppes and restaurants.

One of the reasons we chose Tuesday for Santa Barbara is that Starbucks had a promotion; simply tell the barista you voted and receive a free cup of coffee. A great reason to shop after voting!

Mary is trying on an outfit while I walk proudly into a Starbucks.

"I voted." I tell the barista and he brings me a coffee.

Mary is exploring new scents in a candle shop while I walk into another Starbucks and make the same proud statement. Another free coffee!

I must have found a half a dozen Starbucks on State Street alone. It was a great day.

In between coffee shops I was searching for a hat. Thought it might add a little class to my look. Finally found one I liked, and then had to rush to the train station.

I also want to mention lunch at the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. Mary and I had a cup of clam chowder and it was absolutely the best.

To check out Halloween pictures as well as more Santa Barbara pics.
Click here.