OBSERVANT INTIMACIES
The things closest to us, to our hearts, are the very intimacies we guard with passion and intent.
We all have our personal 'buttons'. We push these quickly, without thinking, moving into their realm effortlessly. One of my personal buttons - my earth-woman tendencies. Traveling in new territories the past few days (Alabama and Mississippi) has me pushing button after button on my imaginary keyboard of: enter/fast forward/page up/page down/replay/pause......and on it goes.
When I drive through the country roads of my journey I find so much inner intimacy with the world around me - bringing pleasure upon pleasure. Of course, a lovely sunny day always helps! My quick observations of roadside ditches and houses, churches, small town mainstreets, trees, rivers, needy people, helpful people, well dressed people, and so much more --registering overloads of information. The following is a rambling 'word/phrase' story of my travels on the past 2 days:
***white clouds, babbling brook, carpets of sweet red clover bordering my road-mile upon mile, soft pink poppy-like blooms in spotty pockets of nearby ditches.
*** lady needing dental services at the gas station register, helpful Pilot employee with info for my trip, red sequined top on girl staring at flowers, new black sport shoes on propane-filling attendant/clean as a whistle, 'yes ma'am-no ma'am southerners-always proper, except for one- having a bad day - service employee.
***wisteria-draped trees of softest lavender, black bamboo groves-an unmatched mystique, discarded size 48-maybe- jeans lying roadside at my photo-op-stop of groundcoverflowers, grazing goats and burros intermingled, pampass grass and azaleas of deepest pink and white profusions, wild white phlox and lavender ones too!
***Bojangles, The Waffle House, Bi-Lo and Ingles - where to find food in the south, turnip greens and grits - who knew they were so good with blackened catfish on top!!!, and Cheesecake Factory wine and chocolate, ..oh yes, and fried okra plus fried green tomatoes- yum!,
***Big churches, small churches, even some Episcopal churches, and one that says-"The Fresh Annointing House of Worship", steeples and no steeples, white ones, brick ones, and books in the stores about churches and people in churches and those who have been saved and those who have been banished and 'dissolved from membership' for questions of extreme pronouncements, bible belt complexities.
***Blooming dogwoods of spring and brilliant lavender redbud trees, trillium in the botanical garden and koi fish in the japanese garden with the red bridge, camelia bushes with dessert-plate blooms, miniature boxwoods and medium sized ones too, lizards on garden walls, walls of arbovitae, and climbing ivy on walls.
***Art galleries and art museums, European and African, preColumbian and regionalistic americana art, Chinese vessels, Japanese plates, Native American pipes and textiles, glass and paper and metal and wood and clay, ornate and plain, tiny and 'mahungous'! What!!... no art from Norway!!! Uffda!
The bookends to my day - Starbucks comfort - early morning caffeine in my tea and late night -no caffeine in my tea. My cafefully observed intimate palatal pleasures - not to be missed!
THREE SEEDS TO THE WIND.. with morning prayers for safety and inspiration - evening prayers in 'Pedro' with thanks for another 'day on the road' with safety and ENLIGHTENMENT FOR THE SOUL!
Intothewind-Naturegirl
