Yummy Wakame Weblog
Archive: Photos
Truth waits on eyes unclouded by longing
Truly, one may gain by losing;
And one may lose by gaining.
~ Lao Tzu
Something permanently changed in me tonight after I took this photo. I walked home in the dark instead of using the headlamp, with acute awareness of my footing, living the present moment, using all my senses, praying I wouldn’t unknowingly squish any frog princes. All the vivid colours that come out at night would have blackened out with a light. I wondered, why do we automatically switch them on without realising this huge tradeoff?
A few hours later while sitting on a rock in the pitch dark, watching a massive lightning storm light up the bellowing clouds circling the volcano, I felt the click happen.
All these years I’ve been desperate for a sense of home, some soil to call my own. The desperation pushed it ever further from my reach until finally I was completely without even a place to return to.
Naked in the jungle
The Internet has gone down but I have to document this for posterity and somehow get it up later. It’s 9pm thursday night. A massive lightning storm has hit. The rain is so hard it’s coming through the roof of the temple and blowing in from the sides. A search party went out to assess the situation. The roads are washing away. There is a river where the road was, so strong you can go rafting on it. We’re on the side of a volcano. You can hear rocks landsliding boom boom boom! The lightning stretches across the entire horizon and is constant. It feels like we’re in the middle of a giant version of those weird electric zappy balls.
We’re all huddled in the centre laughing and hanging out waiting for the storm to clear a little so we can clean up the outdoor kitchen and go to bed. A scraggly joint is being passed around eliciting wild and amazing stories.
As if all this isn’t strange enough, young, natural, strikingly beautiful women have slipped out of their soaked clothes and are running around stark naked in the rain trying to get a tarp up, laughing and squealing. And my belly is full of local dark chocolate and giggles. I LOVE this lightning.
I really am in heaven.
—
Update: the roads washed away leaving canyons and boulders from the volcanic landslide. The “municipal” water pipes also got smushed so we have no water. But the Internet is back up! And Kalima made some beautiful art on me today.
“La vida no es esperar a que la tormenta pase… Es aprender a bailar bajo la lluvia”
(Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”)
2 days to go…
… and for the first time I’ve started packing before the very last day. I started preparing a week ago.
I remember how just a few weeks ago I arrived back in Colorado and unpacked everything within a few hours. Hung all my dresses and skirts up on the log walls. Unbundled Frolina. Put all the essential oils out. Added my mug to our collection (of one). I was settled right in. It felt like a huge relief to finally be settled. It amazes me every few hours I’m not going to be here anymore.
I had to source some special things. Mosquito net, 3 months of personal supplies. There were requests for hard to find items to bring with me. Hope it all fits in the daypack Mike lent me. God I want to pack Frolina!!
I’d like to finish all shopping and packing on Saturday so Joseph and I can have a last normal fun everyday. Despite the challenges we’ve faced, having fun and hanging out together all the time is what we’re good at. Its what we love to do apparently more than most other things. And so Sunday is our last. Before everything changes early Monday morning. And in that single day, the moment I step onto that plane, there’s no looking back.
Mila’s Daydreams
What a trip!
There were so many it was almost impossible to choose!!! Thanks Nichole
I’m taking you some place AMAZING!
In about a week I will be venturing into South America alone, by planes, buses and finally a ferry to a beautiful island on a huge lake, to a very sacred place nestled between two volcanoes. I will live there for 3 months before knowing where I am supposed to travel next. Probably Sierra Leone. This morning I woke up with nervous excitement trapped in my belly, but it was curdled with sadness, doubt, regret and fear. Losing my sweet lover to impossible circumstances, leaving my home, beautiful Colorado. Failure of one of my biggest dreams after just 5 short months. I knew I needed to move on, to start over again some place new. But I kept wondering, is this trip was too drastic? Too soon? What if it all goes horribly wrong? What if I run out of money and get stranded? I can’t speak any Spanish. That seems stupid. Going into South America not knowing how to even ask directions. I don’t know any of the people I am soon going to meet and adventure with. I asked myself, “Am I doing the right thing? Should I go?”
The words I heard and felt ring through my body replied stronger than any of my doubts. “I am going to take you some place AMAZING. I will always take you to amazing places.” A huge, calming certainty flooded over me. And for the first time I realised, I don’t have to wait for anyone to follow my dreams. I don’t have to check if its okay. I don’t need a friend or a partner to go with me. I am all I need to be happy and free.
This trip is perfect for me. The opportunities there are staggering. Everything I have wanted to do for years. I will tell you more tomorrow.
Let me put you in my pocket and take you on this wild, and yes impetuous adventure. I will document the whole experience from beginning to end, mosquitoes and all.
Home, I’m coming home!
how I’ve missed my little family, our amazing little life in the mountains… Winging my way with Frolina to have a big cuddle tonight!
My Jackpot, Annie the Warthog Princess and Mr Beau
See You Where The Sun Sets
This will be last snap of my old town, Marathon Motel & RV Park, Marathon TX. Chihuahuan Desert. Pop 450. (more…)
Goodbye My Lady Dutchess
Here is the last photo of my little old home as home, scrubbed and cleaned, ready for storage. She looks so different without her colourful throws, pillows, sparkly string lights and travelled treasures all around. All that remains now are my favourite belongings, packed in these boxes, some that have survived culls from my previous homes in South Africa to England to here, ready to be shipped anywhere. The sparkly cheer up shoes I bought months ago that bravely ushered me through the transition through airports, on beaches and even hiking trails are to be retired, along with this phase of my old life. I’m finally ready to say goodbye to Marathon and hello to the exciting, uncertain future.
Frolina Petunia Is Coming Home!!!
In just 3 days I’m embarking on a long journey to my old desert home to bring back THE MOST PRIZED TRAVELLING KITTY IN ALL OF MARATHON TEXAS AND BEYOND!!! (more…)
I love you! yeah yeah yeah
Thank you for your unfailing love, support, understanding and generally putting up with me for WAY longer than either of us ever expected. Thank you for ALWAYS making me feel welcome and at home in your home. Thank you for putting your arms around me on the many rainy days and getting wet with me through some of the worst storms I couldn’t escape. You are an extraordinary, loyal, strong, beautiful soul. You are so much fun to live with AND you have the most impossibly tiny butt to pinch. I am honoured to be your girlfriend. I am lucky we are growing and healing together. I love you my friend.
Our summer is coming! I can smell it.
Help Save Japan’s Dolphins!
More than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises are being slaughtered each year and their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan, often times labeled as whale meat. Send a letter to President Obama, Vice President Biden and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki urging them to address this issue »
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