On My Way Home

The car is packed. I'm ready. I'm going home.

It's been nine months, and I'm finally going back to Maine. 

I know my journey's not over, but some part of it is coming to a close. Before I leave on this final two hour trip back to Portland, I'm pausing to catch up with you. I know I've been out of touch. 

There is a part of me that is just THRILLED, so excited to go home, so excited to see everyone in Maine, so excited to measure what's changed in me with the loved ones who sent me off back in July and learn what has changed in them. Let's see what flowers are blooming from the seeds we planted...

There is also a part of me that is very sad, and that's what I want to share first. The last part of my journey has been full of intensity and love and sadness and loss. I want to tell you about my amazing friends Katie and Kris and their children Kiran and Mira. I want to honor that it is not my story... and yet my story is woven in with theirs. Much of the last month I spent in Charlottesville with these dear friends. There was a new baby, and there was a dying father. There were so many of us nearby, our hands twitching with the desire to do something, anything. We could wash dishes and feed the baby and answer the doorbell, but in the larger sense there was nothing for us to do but be close (or sometimes far away) and watch the heartbreak as it happened, and feel our own hearts breaking too. 

Have you lost someone, and seen how much their absence is a presence? Have you felt how the spirit of someone gone changes and lifts those who stay behind? Kris didn't want us to be sad, he wanted us to celebrate what an amazing life he had. He thought of himself as the luckiest guy in the world, even up to the end. Read a little more about him here.

So, in the spirit of what Kris wanted, I just want to end by saying that it was such an incredible honor to be with them during this time.

From the sublime to the mundane... 

I see that it's getting late and I have to leave soon. I want to write more about February, and March, and April, and May. In the meantime, here are some snippets:

- NYC last weekend with Christian to celebrate his translations of Osama Alomar's work and Osama's appearance at the PEN Literary festival. Read the NYT article here.

- New Mexico with Alana and Tim in the weeks before their baby's birth! 

(Damn are those some fine parents-to-be.)

Oh, that's the Rio Grande River behind us!

Then on to Taos' Earth Ships. Sustainable homes. 

I may have left Maine, but I've still got my layers!

And a month at Ananda, where I was headed when I last wrote.

My home was here: 

And because this is in no particular order, I also spent a week with my little (but taller than me) brother Josh in Austin, where I hung out a bunch at the zero-waste grocery store he helped start. Check out http://in.gredients.com.

And also...

- Lunch with a former student in Albuquerque

- A night with Ra and Jill in their magical Oakland retreat home

- Another 10 day vipassana retreat, this time in the heart of Texas

- More time at Grafton Peace Pagoda, including an April snow storm

- A few days with my patient parents growing sprouts and visiting my grandma and great-aunt

I know I'm leaving out a lot, but I've got to get to Maine!

Love to all of you, and I hope to see you SOON!