House Notes

Well, it was a gorgeous day today in Butte, America. Sunny and bright with light wisps of cloud, and warm at 32 degrees farenheit. After morning yoga I decided to drive 20 miles to the Fairmont Hot Springs and had a delicious soak in the springs with the Anaconda/Pintler Range as a backdrop. Can't beat it for a Sunday.

Yesterday I drove one of my housemates to do some errands around town. He's a handsome black man with 2-foot dreds and no legs. He lost them jumping a train. His wheelchair fits in the backseat of my little Toyota after the wheels come off and go in the trunk. He treated me to lunch as a thank you. I believe it's only the 2nd meal I've eaten out here, the first being the day I was released from treatment.

There are a dozen men, one family of five and five women in the house right now. Several have had health problems that caused them to lose everything and are now homeless because of it. Most of the people here have never been without a home prior to now. They are some of the strongest people I have ever met.

The cowboy is coming to visit next weekend for Valentine's Day, which is odd enough without my thinking he might be going to pop the question. Not necessarily the marriage question, which neither of us much believe in, but the time to move in question. He's closing in on being finished with the new house - the kitchen cabinets go in next week and as soon as the ground thaws the water will be connected and then everything is a go. I applied for a job in the area which would be great as that's where I'm planning to attend school. I love him a lot. I want to be with him. I wonder if I'm ready. I think I might be. But I'm not sure. Are you ever??

I'm practicing my religion more, well, religiously. Yoga is part of that as is tarot, ritual, meditation, journaling, dreamwork and earthwork. I won't name my religion but you could call me the Good Witch of the West if you wanted.

Take care, all. Much love.

Day 3 - The Bachelor Follies

So it's Day 3 and the cowboy and I are driving south towards Portland before we head over to the Oregon Coast. We're just riding along and suddenly, out of the blue, he asks me, "If you had a jar of peanut butter that was dry and you wanted to soften it, how would you do it?" I looked at him and paused, not sure I really understood the question. I thought he must've been asking how to get the jar clean of the dried peanut butter but something told me that wasn't the real question. So instead of saying I would soak the damned thing in soap and water, I asked, "What do you mean?" He said, "You know, reconstitute it? I've heard you can put a little olive oil in it, and then it's a real workout, but if you stir it long enough it will be good as new." It was at this moment that I realized how deeply ingrained this man's bachelorhood is and it was also at this moment that I began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. The cowboy kept giving me these puzzled looks and asking me what the hell was so funny and every time I attempted to explain it, the giggles overtook me again and I just couldn't get the words out. Finally I managed to tell him that I would toss the peanut butter, as in throw it away, at which point his puzzlement seemed to reach astronomical proportions. "But why would you waste a perfectly good jar of peanut butter?" he oh so innocently asked. This only served to bring on more fits of laughter. I could tell he was getting more than a little irritated with me by now, but I tell you, I could not stop laughing! I finally stopped long enough to tell him that in my world, if a jar of peanut butter is that dried up, IT IS NO LONGER A PERFECTLY GOOD JAR OF PEANUT BUTTER! Then, he got it and started laughing which just started me laughing all over again.

It must've been about this time that the city of Portland came into view. It was an incredibly beautiful sight with all the lights and colors reflecting on the water. It was one of those magical moments that just make you go silent. This was a good thing because my stomach hurt for two days from all the laughing I'd already done. I didn't have my camera ready and could've never done the beauty justice anyway so I pulled the above photo off the web. We continued south for another hour before stopping for the night - laughing and giggles abated.