Nothing

Okay, let's try this again.

This is a test

This is only a test. Do BOTH of my blogs go through to Peace Corps journals? How does one stop that from happening? What if say I want to not be on this website? Any way to opt out? Sheesh . . . .

The Committee

I wouldn't believe it if I didn't live it. I am so different when I am 'on the road.' I become more out-going and happier. The world around me is fresh and exciting. I respond by being alert and open. Now I feel myself shutting down again and I know that I can't stay here. I can't afford the rent on places that appeal to me and the subsidized places are . . . well. . . . they're nice, really. I just don't feel ready for them. They're so plain, boxes full of old women, no vegetable gardens happening, no pets allowed.
I say I can't live without my cat or a dog and yet even as I say that I'm making plans to travel, to live dormitory style, or in an RV for 5 months, or camping and after that to head to Mexico. "And what about Jupiter," Catherine asks me. I know, I know. Is it possible that I could somehow bring him along with me? Well, anyway, I diverge. Or perhaps not. The point of the story is that I seem to be split in half on every issue in my life right now. If I make one choice I gain this and lose that. If I make another, something else is gained and lost.

Ah, the winter blues. I do believe they are bugging me. That melancholy part of me that comes around in January and February. I feel low on energy, easily lose drive, tired a lot, lack of motivation. Or it could be that my thyroid needs some adjusting.

Grand Mesa

At last, an opportunity to get up to Grand Mesa. The sky was brilliant blue and the temps were predicted to be in the 40s. So off I went.

A few tracks on the lake

I followed the main trail for a few hundred feet, then came to a quieter trail that cut off to the right. Not that the main trail was noisy. Although I did meet a few others out there for the most part my day looked just like this.

 

More blue sky sans airplane

 

What a great day! I resisted going out at first - aw, such a long drive I thought. It will probably be cold, I thought. I'm glad I got out there. It was incredible - just what the doctor ordered.

A Sunday at the Monument

At last the smog that has been settled over the valley lifted and blew away. I don't wish it on anyone else, I don't know where it went to, but it's like a weight off my shoulders. From a distance it looked like a 100s feet thick wool blanket. I've had a headache and felt so tired for 3-4 days.

Yesterday I went up to the Monument. The air was so clear and it was so quiet. When I arrived at the parking area at 11am there were two other cars there, but I think they were employees. When I returned, there were a dozen cars there. But where were all the people? I saw no one on the trail and I saw no one walking around. Maybe there was a presentation or something? But I'm not complaining. I enjoyed the crisp air, the solitude, the blue sky, the quiet.

Tracks on the trail, but I saw no other people all day.

The smog still blankets the valley

May He Prosper . . . .

I stayed at the Harmony Hostel while in Istanbul - www.istanbulharmonyhostel.com or on hostelz.com - www.hostelz.com/hostel/156426-Harmony-Hostel. It's a wonderful little hostel very near the bus-line and within walking distance of the central part of town. A very nice ambiance, with pillows on the floor, free meals, open areas where guests and staff can get to know one another, great place for single travelers to meet others. Have I said it all? The hostel is above a carpet shop and when open there's always the sign out front: "Harmony Hostel - same same only different."

Turns out I helped them sell this magnificent bedspread to my friend, Claudia.

Ugur works there. He's a Kurd, self-taught English, a peace worker in my eyes, one of the best in the world. He's from a small Kurdish village in southeastern Turkey, one of the many threatened by flooding from the development of dams in that region, that predominantly Kurdish region. Person by person he spreads truth and peace. He shares his thoughts, gleaned from a difficult life, that violence and hatred are not the path to justice and peace.

When I leave Istanbul he carries my luggage to the bus stop and waits with me for the bus to arrive. We sit together on the bench and chat, this old American woman and this young Kurdish man. I take his photo.

"Ahhhhhhh . . ," he says wistfully, as he looks out across the park. "The women I see here are so beautiful. I would never be able to see women such as this in my own village."

Our Blue, Singing Mother

As the Earth spins on her axis, the Sun is continually appearing along an arc from north to south. As the Sun rises above the horizon, the birds awaken and begin singing. If we could move out into space and had the ears to hear, we would hear her music as she spins, a constant chorus of birdsong, forever greeting the coming of the Sun.

News Flash!!

It was reported that yesterday was a record-breaking day for love. . . .