Sometime in the near while, we may be able to share pictures of life in the forrest. Bye and bye. Our tiny moveable home has had steps of varying width and climbs since VardoForTwo became home. While on the Ledge the steps were as broad as the vardo is wide, and a sturdy hand-rail added to the stability of our wee home. Regardless of the size of it a stoop has always been one of my most favorite places to be. I am comforted by the feel of steps and like the view of living that passes me or comes to join me. Here in the forrest, the steps are narrower than those on the Ledge, yet still the life that passes or joins me here is precious stuff. Just this past week new friends have come to visit ... lingering with me while still in my flannel robe, chatting about this and that or simply coming to see the variation of 'home' we concoct.
This weekend Pete and I dared to expand that variation, and between my imaginings and Pete's artistry with weathered wood and a screw gun, we have a wonderful new deck on the back of VardoForTwo. Company for the tall full wall where laua'e (sweet Hawaiian ferns) are milk-painted, softed grayed boards and a picket of up-rights create a portable (if necessary) deck where we can set to watch the sunset, enjoy the warming sunshine in the later day, and JOTS is especially enjoying the added height to peruse the forrest happenings.
Pohaku li'ili'i (small stones) gathered from the dirt surrounding us now scatter at the foot of those deck up-rights. A few collected pohaku from walks elsewhere ground the wee decking at both sides of the wide-V shape. One of the pohaku is my Sature-stone ... ringed and smooth it is my reminder to keep on friendly terms with the keeper of time, the governor of gravity. I am grateful to have the reminder.
Not far from us and just up the road is Mukilteo Coffee ... a local roastery and cafe and favorite gathering place for islanders and visitors. In a life previous, we lived in Mukilteo just across the watery Sound and knew the owners of this roastery during the earliest times of their enterprise. This morning I smelled the beans toasting ... slow-roasting from the metal roastery through the woods. Eileen arrived just after Pete and I began our morning prattle with a fresh cup of coffee ... I guessed it might be the local buzz. Along with coffee, a small bunch of freshly pulled garlic were our morning gifts. Pete has been working his transition man magic with our friends and neighbors, tending the ducks and chickens, mending gate latches for smooth exiting and entrancing. It is his kuleana, and he does it as a calling he heed long ago. Another of the recent gifts blessed upon us is a package of Rune cards and The Book of Runes written by Ralph Blum. We took a drive to Freeland and ventured into a gathering where Ralph Blum was giving a talk about Runes. Many years ago while I worked for a large corporation in Seattle, I met one of my dearest teachers, Betty. I came to her to learn hula, and did that to a degree. But, it was her introduction to the other teachings ... Numerology and the Runes that have laid a foundation of depth and insight at a time when life meant commuting to work and working for the man. Thirty years later in a woods just across the water from the home where I was mother and wife and career woman, I would be gifted with time with the man who wrote The Book of Runes.
This morning just before Eileen came with caffeine and garlic, Pete and I pulled a Rune card a piece. #25 THE UNKNOWN was my rune. #7CONSTRAINTS pulled upside-down or reserve was Pete's rune. The Runes are a personal compass reading that gives you guidance on issues with unfretted influence and a large view of environmental influence. A wee deck, local coffee and the gift of oracles with a bunch of garlic, that is a bouquet of daily grace. Thank you.
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