A letter home

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am having a swell time living on a bus with my friends.  Our first night, we celebrated our new home and mode of living by doing exactly what we wanted in each moment.  Brit held an opening for her solo show in a small private gallery, and we played with our full band and choir there.   We organized a parade for ourselves with a marching band and a tricycle fleet and the press showed up and our resident Spanish journalist decided to begin a documentary about our community that she will show to the international public.  We drank Italian red wine and lit candles and decorated ourselves and hung up prayer flags and took out the hula hoops and danced.  We rode a pink golf cart around.  It all felt magical and exactly the thing to do, a self-feeding creative momentum that promised good days to come.

We woke up exhausted due to far too little sleep but were invited into a nearby bed and breakfast whose owner is a dear old friend of ours.  He served us a three course meal, set out fresh bedding, and we all took catnaps.  The afternoon we spent hiking around a local swamp that is preserve land, collecting materials to integrate into sculpture, drawings, lyrics and poetry.  I found beautiful colors in a species of tree I haven't noticed before and plan to paint with them the next time I have my supplies out and some time to stop and work.  A coconut washed up on the shore and Max cracked it open and the flesh was still sweet and good.  When we returned to our host he was coming in with groceries for an elaborate dinner.  We ate roasted beet salad and sauteed broccoli and the ancient strain of wheat known as kamut with sage and tarragon aioli, and seitan sliders, more Italian vino.  A soundtrack of Fats and Otis and Sly and Marvin.  We wound down around an outdoor fire, singing a new Spanish song our journalist taught us and learning about her and our other new housemate Andy from New Jersey.

When we went home, Loki was a little cold, so we pulled out the full poundage of blankets and snuggled into a few nests.  We slept for a long time, luxuriously.  Today we woke up with enough energy to get us through anything.  Kaley did morning sun salutations, and we made a trip to the nearest grocery for some simple fare.  Coffee and eggs and toast for breakfast, and another long walk through the nearby preserve land to really wake up.  Converted the nighttime bus into a daytime bus, and organized the space better.  Took her for a drive into the sunset, listening to a mix of music Bri came up with to add a little atmosphere to any stretch of road.  Miss her.

Currently, we are working well as a team and a family.  Troubleshooting is easy with all the minds and hearts in this little home.  Every minute is meaningful as we begin our trip and clarify our intentions.  We are really living the reality that we can grow because of anything, anyone, anywhere, and create magic everywhere, all the time.

I hope you are doing good things for yourselves and each other!  So much love,

Jackie