Monday, May 26, 2008

Play a song for me, I'll stay awake a few minutes longer...


26May2008 Monterey California


We talked about rest days this morning as we walked along the coast. There is so much to do and even with 44 days of journey, not time enough to do it all. We want to see everything, touch everything, experience EVERYTHING - and everyone. Of course we will have to make choices. This conversation took place on the way to breakfast. We were both very hungry but wanting to see the beach, touch it, walk on it, photograph it. I have traveled all over the world and all over the United States and the beach on Monterey Bay is by far the most beautiful and vibrant beach I have ever seen. Walking down to touch the tide pools I had to plan each step carefully to be sure not to step on any living creatures. If my toe touched one they would let me know I had over stepped by cringing. Ouch! In spite of mass tourism and an administration bent on ecological destruction it captivates me that there can be so much life in a single small spot of the planet that I must stand on my tip toes not to crush some living being. This is rare on our planet and I took a moment to breathe it in. 


Jimmy and I both tend to engage people in conversation and the stories, ours and theirs, begin to unfold. Before long dinner is over and it’s 9pm and Jimmy hasn’t had his walk on the shore and I haven’t written in my journal and there are things I still want to do but, up since 6 and cramming experiences in to every moment, my body would not cooperate any longer. Riding on coffee and practiced at napping and working late into the night (from years of holding a “second job” as an artist) Jimmy lasted a few hours longer than I did last night. When I am sleeping I rest well. Mentally exhausted I don’t recall my dreams which must be so entertaining! I am pacing myself as we begin this long journey. Like a marathon I have to be careful not to run too fast. I want to last the distance. You can all help. I am an extrovert and I am fueled by contact with humans (sort of like a vampire without the hickey). You aren’t intruding. Write to me. Call me. Let me know I am in your hearts and minds and I will be energized by knowing you are with me on this adventure. 


We started yesterday in Los Angeles, one more kissy-huggy goodbye with my mom and sister and then on to breakfast at one of our mutual favorites. The relationship with my sister has not been easy these many years. Somehow when someone leaves it makes it so much easier to set aside old hurts and embrace them. Perhaps because we know we may not get another chance. Perhaps because it is easier to not reopen the wound when contact is minimal. Either way, it was good to see my little sister turn the corners of her mouth up when she looked at me, after so many years without seeing her eyes twinkle for me. On the road by 9 and headed up the coast we passed through so many different landscapes yesterday that in hindsight it is all a blur. Thank goodness for photographs that bring back the moments and allow me to recall what made me so exhausted at the end of the day. 


I have a journal, hard not electronic, that I am keeping on this journey. It has a very special purpose (to be revealed at a later date). Yesterday I wrote that it is important to take time, even when I’m tired, to experience the moments that I am walking through with Jimmy on this trip. This moment will be available just this once. Some famous person once said, “You can rest when you’re dead” (May West?) and so I will hold to that as we move through these crazy days. I will have time later for that coffee, that nap, that time when nothing is being asked of me and I have grown capable of settling in to those moments. I have lived enough years to know that the Universe can suddenly remove the option of special moments with a certain person and I have learned to embrace the experience, not in a fearful way, but in a way that honors the beauty of what is here today and may not be tomorrow. It is almost noon and very soon we’ll head up the coast to San Francisco. We’ll spend 2 days there visiting friends and experiencing a city we both love but have not seen through each other’s eyes. Some of the best Bikram yoga studios in the country are there and I will want to take classes and even try to teach a class or two there. With the speed at which our lives have been moving this year, Jimmy has never taken a yoga class from me. I wonder on some days if that wont happen until our studio opens in Buenos Aires. I have never seen him paint. We are traveling together on a journey toward building a new life, a new community, out of a business that will allow us both to do something we very much care about, two different ways of expressing ourselves to the world in one place. I am so excited about watching that unfold. I can hardly wait to write that story. But wait... I get ahead of myself. I still have this day to move through...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Annie and Jimmy,
You inspire me! Thanks for bringing me along on this grand adventure. Love, Buff Mag

Lou said...

I too am loving your journey & the distinct voice you each bring to it. Hope to see you in Boston! XOXO Lou