We managed to get on the road sooner than I had planned, and that is entirely out of character for me! Ms Perpetually Late, I am. But into the grey, rainy morning we went. Poor Miss T is very sick and spent most of the entire day trying to sleep while I drove. Poor kid. I hope she feels better soon and can enjoy her Spring Break week with her dad.
I-5 through Oregon was coming to life as Spring made her way into the valleys. Thousands of daffodils grow wild alongside the highway and in the medians, and trees are bursting into white and pink blossoms before the terrain slopes up into grassy mountains capped with evergreens. Sheep were everywhere, enjoying grass becoming lush for the season.
I had hoped to use my camera somewhere along the route, but it was so cold and POURING down rain most of the day that I didn’t use it much. From Cave Junction, OR to Gasquet, CA, there was snow on the ground and more falling from the sky. Wet sloppy stuff, so the roads were ok, but pretty much the opposite of vacation weather. I wanted to take photos of the redwoods, but the rain was coming down in sheets. I finally pulled over south of Crescent City, when the clouds broke and gave us a view of the Pacific ocean.
I miss the sea. I lived here for only seven years, but now I have a loss in my heart whenever I am separated from the sea. The Roosevelt Elk were out munching spring sprouts in the rain, so I was able to test my new zoom lens. I love the zoom. It looks like I could reach out and pet these huge beasts, though of course, I could not.
I found Tara’s dad’s house without any trouble at all, and dropped her poor little sick self off. I called Miss Ophelia and made plans to meet her after work. I vacuumed my car in the meantime. Since I’m going to be practically living in the car this week, I couldn’t handle the mess anymore. Hung out with Ophelia and her daughter, got to see their new house, went and had a beer on the Arcata Plaza. It was good to attempt to catch up with such a longtime friend. We’ve gone way way too long without talking and there was too much ground to cover in one night, but we reconnected and that’s the main thing.
Weird. I only ever went out to those bars when I was totally hammered, or aiming to be. Brought on some very fuzzy flashbacks. Heh.
When she had to go off for a dinner engagement, I headed south to Fortuna to visit my other girlfriend who was out at a party. I have known M only a few months longer than Ophelia, and both of them for 14 years. She left the house unlocked for me and I gratefully made myself at home. It is a pleasure to visit her in the same house that I have visited for so many years. To burrow under the covers on the same bed in the same familiar room. Brush my teeth in the bathroom I know so well. I feel like I belong here. It is truly a gift from her that she has created this sanctuary for me.
At 1:30am, M arrived home and pounced on me! She literally climbed onto the bed and gave me a hug and said, “Get up! I am going to bake you some Gorgonzola cheese wedges and serve them with crackers!”
I sleepily mumbled, “Right now?”
“Yes, you must be hungry! Have you had wine tonight?” she asked as she extricated herself from the hug. “We will have wine with the cheese.”
So… my silly friend and I caught up on life from 1:30 to 3:30am before we returned to our lovely rooms in her astonishingly lovely and comfortable home.
Conscious Engagement 