Well, this weekend I took a much needed break from everything, in the wilderness with me and 3 sisterfriends, what could be better? One of my friends is getting ready to attend school in South Africa for a year (after which she'll be joining me in New York, yay!) and wanted to have a proper send off with her girls. She's from Humboldt County and invited us all up to her family's house for the weekend.
Now I'll be honest, at first I did not want to go. Not because I wasn't thrilled about the idea, but I knew how much packing, bill paying, phone calling needed to be done before August. I just felt like now was not the time. But I also knew I was stressed out, and completely worn out from everything going on lately. So on Friday morning the four of us rented a car (a big white pickup truck, very cheap because of the gas prices) and headed north.
Humboldt is associated with pretty much one thing for many people (weed), but it is the most amazing and beautiful place, because it's wild. You can still see what California (and much of North America) looked like at one time. Towering redwoods and pines, deer and rabbits, and just huge expanses of untouched forest. It is so green, the air is so crisp and fresh, you get up there and just *breathe*.
Friday evening, we drove up into the hills on a narrow and twisting wooded road. Way up towards the top was a dirt driveway, and we puled up in front of my friend's house. This was no ordinary house because her father built it with his own two hands while she, her mother and sister helped. It was truly the family house, and no small feat either. The house is two stories, made up of beautiful smooth woods. The layout has a lot of open space, with a ladder leading up to a loft area that overlooks the kitchen and dining area, bedrooms in the back, and master bedroom upstairs. The house is also decorated in many areas with her mother's mosaic tile pieces, adding touches of color to walls, staircases, and mirrors. Out back, her mother also keeps a large garden where they grow their own food, along with a chicken coop. The father has a large workshop outside where he spends time on his projects, and he even built a wood burning sauna in their yard. It was such a beautiful and warm place, and my friend took us through the house sharing childhood memories. Then it was off to the yurt.
I learned that a yurt is basically a circular house. It was about an hour away from her parents' house, and her father had helped build it with some of his relatives. This place was cozy with no less attention to detail, and huge windows in every room that overlooked a huge expanse of forest and a river. In the morning I was up with the sun. I tried to sleep in because we had stayed up late, but every time I opened my eyes even a little, I would catch sight of a view that took my breath away. Trees and sky, and there were birds singing outside. It was too beautiful to sleep through. My other girlfriend and I made tea and sat out on the back patio, watching the world wake up. When our other friends got up, we all did yoga on the patio.
Later that day we left the yurt and headed for a campground near the beach. A heavy fog had rolled in and the area was quite cold, but it was so beautiful I hardly cared. We put up our tent, built a fire and made dinner as the sun went down, goofing around and bumping Jimi Hendrix until bedtime.
The next day was my girlfriend's (the one who stays in the ashram) 28th birthday. We all got up early, packed and drove into town for Sunday brunch. The town of Arcata where we went is adorable, everything out that way has a sort of "country" feel. There are all these mom and pop shops and restaurants surrounding the town square. So cute! After brunch and a little browsing, we drove back up the hill toward the family house, where her parents were preparing a birthday dinner and heating the sauna for us. We were early, so we decided to continue uphill and see the scenery. We arrived in front of my friends' old elementary school, and decided to have a look. We went on the swings and the jungle gym, jumped rope, and took all sorts of goofy pictures. We were having so much fun and it was hot, so she asked us if we wanted to drive to the river for a swim.
We arrived at a beautiful clear river, took some goodies and headed downstream to a secluded spot, and jumped in wearing nothing but our waistbeads :) The water was perfect, it was so clear you could see all the way to the bottom, and we were surrounded by the most beautiful scenery, nothing but trees and blue skies. I floated on my back feeling so thankful for nature! After our swim we drove back to the house where the sauna was ready for us. It's built out of pine wood, so when you step inside, there's an invigorating scent of natural pine. My friend tossed water over a small furnace with rocks on top, and the steam began to rise. We breathed, sang, talked, and joined hands in gratitude. I stepped out of that sauna feeling clear, energized, and rejuvenated. My whole body felt healed somehow.
After the sauna it was time for dinner. Mother and Father had barbecued chicken (and tofu for the vegetarian birthday girl), roasted corn, and made a big beautiful summer salad. We ate and talked about life and the sad realities of global warming.
After dinner my friend and her mother brought out a beautiful raspberry and blueberry pie with 28 candles in it, and we all sang.
Coming back from that trip, I felt renewed in so many ways. The four of us had shared in a beautiful experience. There's something so special about getting together with a group of women and having time away from all the stresses of daily life together. We were able to let our hair down and really be ourselves, and I was able to get to know each of these women I call friends even better. It made me appreciate them even more, and I felt so loved and supported by them. The thought that I came away with after this weekend was "I am enough." Sometimes it feels as though I'm constantly coming up short, forever falling behind, and what I do is never enough. But looking at each of my sisters, each at amazing turning points in their own journeys, each courageously pressing on and living their dreams, it reminded me of who I am. That creative, fiercely loving and slightly rebellious girl I had turned away from in the past two stressful months came back and reintroduced herself to me. I remembered who I was, and that she was complete, that she was whole and special. I realized I have nothing to fear.
So now I'm back, a little tired, but so mentally energized and inspired. I'm finally thrilled to enter this next chapter of my life rather than afraid, and I know that no matter what, I have the loving friendship of my sisters to support me.
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