Day Six in Alaska – Rest All of the hiking and wading of rivers and general tromping around finally caught up with me on day six, and though my head was telling me I should be doing something more significant, my body was telling me otherwise. I am learning more and more to trust the intelligence with me that isn’t mental, to be aware of it and factor it in to the choices and decisions that I make. My brain can talk me into or out of almost anything, but now that I’m aware of this other intelligence – physical, heart, even soul – and strive to give it a voice, respect and honor it, somehow it feels like a more balanced way of being in the world. My brain doesn’t always agree, but the rest of my being seems to be liking this way of navigation very much. This adventure is informing me that a little more physical self-care seems to be indicated. My brain just assumes that I can still do 23 year old stuff without a thought, but I have been clearly reminded that a 55 year old suburban body is going to need a bit more maintenance to be able to continue to do the things that I want to do. I knew that, mentally, before, but now I know it in a very different way. Lordy. But there is also a time to rest. Rest is good, and a friend kindly reminded me that “To rest is to fall back, literally or figuratively from outer targets…” and I heard that, and on what coincidentally is the 7th day away from home, I rested. One of the things that I appreciated very much when I arrived here in Halibut Cove was being told by the manager Lucas that, because of their septic systems, men were actually encouraged to pee in the woods. I can do that. Made me feel very Alaskan. Kind of canine Alaskan. There’s a new dog in the woods. Then a new guest arrived – not a “formal” guest, as it were, but rather an old friend of the family who has been coming up for a couple of weeks for 20 years; Sister Marguerite. She’s a very sweet person, but there’s something about knowing that a nun could round the corner at any moment that takes just a bit of the “au natural” out of peeing in the woods. I may have mentioned that I’m in a small cabin called “the hermitage”, which they gave me since I’m the only paying guest here and they would not be serving any meals in the lodge. It comes with a small kitchenette, and they give you the option of either bringing your own groceries, or stocking it for you. Having them do it seemed much simpler, so they gave me a list of possibilities, and I ended up with better food than I was getting in Homer at the restaurants. Salmon and Halibut and pesto were my three dinners, eggs and cereal for breakfasts, and PBJ and bananas and trail mix for lunches. All in all it worked out pretty well. It was also chain saw day here in the cove. Someone across the bay was on a chainsaw all day long. A good example of the difference between sound, and noise. It was noisy. This in a place where you can hear people talking a half mile away. Its also kind of like a bowl shape, so sound seems almost amplified. I finally read the lodge binder, and was reminded that they offer massage here, and that sounded like just the ticket, just the treat for myself, so I booked that for afternoon, and it was lovely. I was useless for the rest of the evening. Rest has its place.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 18:06:59 +0000
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