Westmoreland State Park...

posted by Patty James @ 4:46pm, Saturday 10 April 2010.

After I returned to ‘my’ cabin after my morning doing my work at the coffee shop and then doing laundry, I cleaned out the car and started to organize everything for the next two months.  I explained to Patch and Wilma that even though they were really happy in the woods, we were about to be in big cities for a while, but that I knew they were flexible and adaptable and soon we would be in the country again…. just hang with me. They said they understood and they would do their best.  Such good dogs…. I’m worried about them knowing what makes them happy-the country. I suppose it’s mostly me that makes them happy, so I will try to try to not worry so much.

 

I took them for a good long walk and then put them in the cabin while I ran by myself.  A new trail! It was about a 4-mile loop winding through a beach on the Potomac, where kids were trying to find sharks teeth -which happen a lot I guess-then through a wetlands area and then the woods. Perfect! I met a man in the woods who had on Vibram -5 fingers (shoes) like I did-weird. We had a brief conversation while running our separate ways-funny. The big highlight was that I saw a pair of Bald Eagles!! Wow…

 

I suppose we are all many people. I am country girl, who sometimes needs the cities. I love the solitude until I get too lonely and then I need to reconnect, like now. The interesting thing about the last two years of my life is that I haven’t been lonely-not for one minute, although I lived by myself at the end of a dirt road in the woods.  Lately I have found myself lonely. Part of it, but not all, is that I know I am missing many ‘firsts.’ As a mother of young children, I never missed anything my kids did at school. Now I am going to miss my daughter’s 30^th birthday as well as this same daughter crossing the finish line of her 60 -mile walk for breast cancer. I am missing Brealyn’s first ballet recital and most likely her 2^nd birthday.  I don’t think I will miss anything big in Kathryn’s life, but Russell might be home from Afghanistan in October and I might miss that too. I would tell you other aspects of what most people would consider everyday life that I miss, but Victoria would call me and tell me-‘Patty-too personal’-so I won’t.  She tells me (frequently) when I’m out of line…I get emails where the subject line is, “We have to talk,” and then I know I’m in trouble…or being unreasonable about some aspect of my life, so we will leave it at the ‘firsts.’

 

My last fire in the fire pit is starting to wane and I have a book I bought in St. Augustine, called, ‘The Book of Flying’ that is calling my name.  It has lines in it like, ‘he had a voice like a deep root.’  I had dreams of flying last night, of poets, and of Minotaur’s and true love.

 

Here are  photos that I hope you will like.

I picture the man (mostly likely a man) who cut these small strips of wood to make this curve in the walk-way. Does anyone else think about these things?