Stream of Consciousness

posted by Patty James @ 7:03am, Monday 1 February 2010.

Yesterday I was on the road from Winslow to Albuquerque and I was a little amazed at the thoughts popping into my head....

The night before my son Russell had called to chat about the events of the last week. He is in the Navy and is being deployed to Afghanistan on March 25th. I say this pretty calmly, but I'm anything but. We had our usual great chat and he asked about my week, although he pretty much knew. He is worried about me and if you can believe this one, said he wanted to give me his paychecks while he's gone. This is the same son who wants to save every dollar so he can buy a house somewhere when he's out. I thanked him so much but declined his very sweet offer. This was the first thought in my mind when I headed down the road to New Mexico and found myself sobbing like a baby. My daughters Olivia and Kathryn worry as well, but all my kids believe in this project and keeping it going. There is no way I could do this without them-period. I am so thankful.

What snapped me out of it was a road sign. It said, "High Winds Exist." Does anyone else think this is funny? I went from crying to laughing in one fell swoop. The next sign was a martini glass, with olives no less, with the circle and slash through it and underneath of course was, Don't Drink and Drive. A martini glass...Have you ever seen anyone driving with a martini? Again, it's probably just me.

About now I'm thinking I don't know if I am in Arizona or New Mexico and I love that thought; open range, free to travel. No boundaries or borders. John Lennon then entered my mind, 'Imagine there's no countries,' only in this case, it would be states.

Arizona was beautiful and New Mexico equally so. The painted cliffs are stunning and I imagine myself on a horse wandering the range back to my stone house built into the side of a cliff. A gorgeous cowboy-type man is there to greet me. I've always liked cowboys....Next I imagine the Native Americans who live(d) there-Navajo and Apaches. I am now a wise medicine woman standing atop one of the painted cliffs feeling completely connected to the Earth and my surroundings. I decided to put on a CD of drumming songs and as I have some lavender by the driver's seat, I opened it and took a deep breath. I'm feeling pretty dang good now. I swear I could feel my heart open and soften and my mind calm. I warned you about stream of consciousness...

For the first time in a week I am feeling like myself-still worried about gas money for the RV-but determined and absolutely sure that I can help....

Another thing Russell and I chatted about was health care. Health care is not some program mandated by the government or the lack of vending machines at school (though there should be none if you ask me.) Health care must begin with families. Good habits, starting with a healthy pregnancy, must be learned at home and be taught by parents and all caregivers in a child's life. Trickle down does not work with healthy eating habits. Good habits-eating, exercise, values-are taught by families and must be taught by example. It's imperative for parents to eat well and exercise if they want their children to.

I am hoping to answer a lot of nutrition questions from parents along the way. Kids, their parents, and grandparents (this is another post about how many grandparents are raising kids) all need basic information that is easily incorporated into their busy lives and that is what I hope to do along the way as well.

A TV show this morning...got to go!