As I traverse this great country on my year's sojourn, a constant is my feel-good morning jaunts to a coffee shop! Where else can one see the world walk by you, one soul at a time, faces speaking of hurry- of wonderment- of concern- of curiosity- of.....JUST GIVE ME MY COFFEE-LIKE NOW!! This ritual in my life has been a nugget of pleasure for quite some time now. There seems to be some anchor that drops to the bottom of my soul upon entering(coffee shops) that is at once satisfying and stimulating. It's probably a bit misleading to say that I'm a coffee guru, because, I never drink coffee!! I am, in fact, a tea conisseour! That said, I admit that for some years I consumed quite a lot of coffee, until.... my inner workings (aka - digestive system) began to complain, thus the tea transition.

Upon arrival in California mid June, when the agapanthus in all their orb-shaped lavender splendor bloom in profusion on the carefully manicured boulevards of Irvine, my tea time is taken at "The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Company)". This unleaded drinking establishment is to California what Caribou is to Minnesota, a home grown caffeine house to the masses! Though my 'vice' most definitely includes internet time, it is also a time to soak in the aura of local culture. Diversity with a capital "D". Take, for instance, yesterday.. West coast people are not afraid to show their true colors - self expression, a badge of honor worn with pride! Behind my midwest modest glasses perched a bit low on my nose, I lift my eyes every so slightly as each new 'guest' crosses over (from outside to inside where the smells and sounds are of grinding and steam release and air hung heavy with freshly ground beans - an implosion on the senses.) My 'read' of the caffeine-seekers goes like this: late-twenties male-tight jeans-no socks-wrinkled shirt-portfolio under arm-carefully messed-up hair-perhaps a morning to complete a 'design-diddy' for client #277; mid-thirties model-type female-rapunzel-type hair- clingy jersey lounger (really!!!)-lashes that don't quit; mid sixties gent in suit and red tie with black golf-style hat on..backwards!!; and so it goes, a never-ending treat for the senses! Other than my tea-fix, I confess to getting more 'soul-work' done in Starbucks (and all their cousin-shops) than anywhere.

Today is Sunday. I am at Starbucks in Lake Forest, CA. Today's musing: When I was a kid I attended enough revival meetings to keep my little head wondering for years about how many times a person needed to 'get saved' before their place on streets of gold was a guarantee. I remember a lot of talk about souls, mostly 'how many' souls saw the light and embraced it. I think of my soul in different ways these days. I have called my current traveling blog 'Art and Soul Journey'. I have also called it a pilgrimage, because pilgrims, I've read, have purpose. A vacation, it is not; I am not getting away 'from it all', but I AM getting 'into it all'... the stuff that occupies my mind, my self-talk, my very being, my soul. God is found at the center of it all. Without Him, I am nothing. What I do need to do over and over, it seems, is get a new set of directions! Life changes things; some changes are expected, others are big time surprises, thus, 'New directions, please, God-Sir or M'am!'

Today's travel took me south of LA to Lake Forest, home of Saddleback Church, of Rick Warren-notoriety. It was, I must say, a 'soul morning'. God reached down and spoke.. I Iistened. Now, to implement! The preaching series "The Crazymakers in Your Life" (paraphrase!). Primary focus: How and Why, Not to be a People Pleaser. In a nutshell.. the only one a soul should please is... you guessed it.. GOD. FREEDOM!! Now, I suspect I am not the only one that has strived to please people far too often, and, I also suspect I am not the only one who has found courage enough to make decisions reflective of 'who God made me.' Joy comes through God's freedom plan -pleasing an audience of one (The ONE - The great I AM)!

As I sit, once more, in blogging mode, doing more soul-searching, the message I carry with me from this morning will swish around in my thoughts as I spend the next 24 hours visiting: San Juan Capistrano, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Escondido, and Solana Beach. Hopefully a bit of art-time to come. Then its back north to Irvine for 2 more weeks with precious family!

To all you 'pleaser' souls, I wish for you 'new directions' - if required! God has a fresh supply of courage for all seekers!

Into The Wind - Naturegirl

Shortened versions of daily travel is a welcome change of pace, here in California, as the next month will involve time nourishing my grandgirlie delights and trips to the beach. The past weekend initiated this treasure trove as we explored Crystal Cove State Park in Laguna Beach. The view of the ocean - spectacular, the 'kingdom' play space for the girls - stellar! The campsite, cordoned off with a single theatre-style rope, defined quite a large play space full of sage bushes, natural desert flowers, little rises and falls in the terrain and enough rocks, shells, sand, and sticks to suffice for female warrior playtime. Such humor, such delight. Memories at the beach will fill my cup for years to come! Time to watch the surf and allow for soul-search mode to fill me comes in snippets.

Today's contemplation queries: "What to do with the voices of your past that brew messages of negativism?" Birth into this world does not guarantee us Class A parenting, and for that matter, I question if there really is a Class A parent in this world! That said, there are, however, vast differences in styles of 'raising the kids' and what one kid needs, another kid doesn't. The complexities of motherhood/fatherhood are mind-bloggling. I have often reflected on my days of raising my 2 children, and wondered 'what class did I fit in'? God speaks peace to me in knowing I did the best I was able - and no more is required. I love the phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child", and there is comfort in knowing God's messengers are placed in peoples lives as 'adjunct parents'; in God's wisdom He provides!

As one ages, there are a myriad of experiences that affect us, sometimes profoundly, other times as a tiny seed that sits dormant for years, though remains present for the proper time of nourishment and growth into new uinimagined wellness.

One voice from my childhood screamed degradation of the word, "ritual". Corporate liturgies in the spiritual realm were mocked as seldom being authentic. Why has this been a thorn in my consciousness for years? I have my ideas!

Acceptance quotient - the need to please - conversely, thirst for understanding and knowledge - yearning for soul renewal: these are all factors, I believe, in one's ability to defy conventionality and experience new vitality which comes with change and openness to life's new possibilities. Believing that God understands each person's motivations and longings, I arrived at an inner peace in rejecting my learned opinion of "ritual". I have rewritten that word in my life in recent months. This pilgrimage I find myself on as my "Art and Soul Journey" across the U.S. has embraced fully some new rituals. I have blogged previously about 'casting 3 seeds to the wind' as I begin each day's travel. Let me explain how this brings meaning and purpose to my days.

As I prepared for my journey, I recognized the risks of travel as well as the great exhuberance of seeing new sites on a day's travel. Desiring a way to increase my awareness of my dependence on God for protection, I created a daily 'space' for committing my day to God. I carry in my RV, a bag of wheat grass seeds. Wheat grass is FULL of potential. It has more nutrients, when sprouted and grown, than most any 'green-thing' in this world - the perfect image of what I want each day in my life to be! As I understand the Spirit to be manifest in the image of 'wind', I created both my 'moniker' (Intothewind) and my ritual to incorporate these elements. With a prayer for safety, soul renewal, and new learning opportunities, each morning I gather 3 seeds of wheatgrass from my bag, find a special spot to commit my day to God and throw the seeds to the wind. My new ritual has overwritten the negativism of yesteryear and brings me joy and anticipation.

Solitude, travel, and reading are all avenues of renewal that I find lift me higher in life's daily journey. One need not go long distances for this (though I highly recommend the experience!), and I would wish for you, this day, a new mindfulness of openness to rituals, when experienced with purpose and meaning, to bring vitality to your life.

Into The Wind - Nature Girl

　

　

　

　

Was it Petula Clark that sang..'It's a sign of the times'... way backin the 60's? That lyric has new meaning as I re-run my last 2 days on the road before reaching my California destination. The signs are large and small, colorful and plain-Jane. Leaving Boise and heading southwest here's a splattering of signs that brought smiles to my face:... 'Chicken Dinner Road', ...'Say When Casino', ...'Howdy Pardner, This Here's Cow Country', and a myriad of others. The sign that put shoes on my feet was the 'Dust Hazard' one. As I drive down Hwy 95 in Oregon I see dust spouts on numerous occasions; curious looking fingers in the sky that dip and raise and sometimes are so close I see the whorls in 3D! The spouts were a foretaste of the winds to come that whip across the sandy earth and hit Mr. P with quite a force. I quickly learn that a firm hand on the wheel is an absolute necessity. The image in my mind goes to the rodeo arenas I pass on occasion, where the cowboys sit on their mount in the gates... bucking bronchos I believe --that's what it feels like as I maneuver through those wind storm areas of Oregon and northern California. On the subject of bronchos... I am wishing to see a sign for: 'Wild Horse Santuary', something I read about online prior to my trip. Southeastern Oregon,it seems, is home to hundreds of herds of wild horses. This trip I will have to use my imagination for what a sighting of those wild horses might be like - quite enthralling I suspect! The end of Hwy 95 finds me in Nevada on the south end of the Santa Rosa Range and entering the curious town of Winnemucca. The fame of this city, more than a century ago, was in the waves of gold seekers heading west on the Oregon Trail. The stories of that day are well documented at the fascinating museum here. The county jail door, the covered wagon remnants and the rusted-out ultra-vintage autos are but a few of the relics that peak my interest. I-80 takes me from here into California, where an overnight visit with my brother awaits. Passing through the mountains and terrific views of Lake Tahoe, I am slowed by the patience-testing back-ups of summer freeway construction. The Auburn exit comes too slowly, but the last 2-hour run of the road is worth the wait! Grand-Prix courses in Europe have nothing over this little beauty of a highway through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It is obvious that the city-folk flock to this region for weekend R & R in the great outdoors. The quaint towns, once centers for the gold rush mob of the 1800's offer ambience galore - a treat for this midwest girl, turned adventurer! The signs on I-5, the last day of 'the first leg' of my journey, are the rubber stamp version of America's freeway mecca. Not much creativity or humor to be had, but the excitment of ..'arrival'.. dulls the search for the unusual. A bit of euphoria replaces the inquisitive search of the first 9 days... driving into LA on the lighted 8-lane freeways of this metropolis is yet a new event on this journey. Eyes wide open, I peruse the signs for just the right exits, grunting with disgust as I realize I am on the wrong side of those 8 lanes for the next exit...... whew.... made it across with a second to spare onto the exit that leads to my destination, Irvine! A few stop lights, a few corners, there she stands.. my dear daughter, waving her hands enthusiastically... the sweet safe arrival, a SIGN that God has safely led me 2,000 miles over the last 10 days into a sweet embrace. Into the Wind with ...nature girl. (Soon to explore ....the Beaches of California!)

Back home in Minnesota (pre-road-trip/ townhome, sublet to renters) I have (had) a refrigerator magnet of beautiful abstraction art and script imprinted..."The great thing about solitude is the flow from the unconscious to the conscious." For the masses who find solitude a challenge, I suggest a trial run in the near future! Slowing down, observing, letting the spirit/Spirit ... of your soul/ of your God ..ooze its way to the surface. The process is at once both healing and directive in mapping your 'next move' in life. Possibilities sprout and grow in the fertile soil of imagination. Perhaps you need to be taking a class to broaden your horizons or read a book on something you need to gain knowledge about.. the quiet reprieve will give you strength for a new tomorrow. I have plenty of solitude these days and the 'self talk' as I roll away the miles is, at once, nurturing and nudging me... in old things to discard and new things to cultivate for my future. I have an admission to make ...When I have found myself belly-laughing out loud in my solo space, I feel a bit foolish, however, intoxicatingly alive! So just what have I belly-laughed at this past 6 days on the road?....**the bellering cows outside my RV door at 6 in the morning, **the 2 teenage boys zipping down the roadside on a HOT PINK tiny 4-wheeler and both flashing me a thumbs-up sign and huge grins!, **the 4th or 5th CRAZY WOMAN sign I've seen in 2 days- the latest sign: "Crazy Woman Carpets"!, **the one-bottom 'vintage' plow fastened to the top of a dog house with a sign that read "Pet Condo" on the front. So, you see, when you really observe what passes you by, there is plenty humor in this world. Leaving Wyoming beauty.. the Teton splendor, the pamper-me night at the Wyoming Inn, the profuse display of mountain flowers in every color, the lush expanses of (irrigated) green fields of wheat (I think) against the backdrop of drop-dead gorgeous mountainous mat-board and the cerulean sky, I motor on into Idaho. One more time, the landscape morphs into newly designed hills and vales with a splattering of planted fields of.... hmmmm, oh yah.. that would be Idaho 'SPUDS'!! Lots of potatos to be had here! I did, in fact, enjoy some smashed ones last night with my brussel sprouts and lamb chops at my quaint motel restaurant. Nuttin' bedder'n smashed spuds, I say!..'specially with a blue-cheese parmesan gravy smothering it! It IS OK to indulge on occasion, right? The 'subconscious-to-conscious' message bombarding my brain this mornings said, "Crazy Woman, take those sour lemons, add a bit of sweetner, ice and make the best lemonade ever created..to serve others!!" (and of course, drink a bit yourself!) Hoping all you bloggers are making your own lemonade these days! Into the Wind.... with nature girl...

Doors have always been of great intrigue to me! Who knows where it began, but perhaps it was the big ol' door in the living room of the farm I grew up on. Many a night, in the sweltering heat of a summer night, my brothers and I would drag an old mattress down to lay on the floor in front of that door, then we'd catch some zzzz's with what little breeze would find it's way through that front door! (Things were far from fancy when I was a kid and air conditioning was only something that the local cafe in town had!) Not only do doors represent that barrier of air exchange from each side, but the coming in and going out of those who trod this earth for the years given to us. As a metaphor for the opportunity of new beginnings, 'doors' have been the example for many a soul, not the least of which includes me. I closed a door and opened a new one four days ago when I said goodbye to my car(sold in one day!), hello to 'Mr. P' (my RV) and hello to the open road! The new visions of each of the past 4 days have infused me with new life. My recent discovery: the varied landscapes of three states. I have coined a new phrase today... 'Hello rainbow earth'! I have been amazed at the colors of earth's soil! I really noticed this as I floated onto a new stretch of highway on the yonder side of the Black Hills where the road became as red as a red velvet cake-pop at Starbucks! One look at the hillside told me why.... the surrounding red earth was the mixing medium with the concrete. The yellow stripe on the roadside and the white colored shoulder made for a colorful drive into Wyoming. The blued out sagebrush along with the broad brushstroke of yellow mustard weed (at least that's what it looked like from the days as a kid when I use to chop that stuff out of the soybean fields of my youth) that flooded the roadsides made for a colorful morning. Backing out of the rather small door of my RV without hitting my head, (a major accomplishment) as I headed into the first Starbuck's I've found since closing the door of my work-a-day Midwest life, made me realize that whether doors are big or small, ornate or plain, colored or natural wood, the going out and coming in we all experience is an opportunity for renewed passion in our lives and purpose in our days. Sometimes purpose looks outward, sometimes inward... both are necessary for the balance God wishes us to aspire to! (I am) wishing for all of you blogger-readers, a colorful day! The day's word for your contemplation: BALANCE Into the Wind, ...nature girl....

Wind and rain howl outside my window. It is night's mid portion and I awaken to the ruckus. At this moment I picture myself not inside my comfy townhome, but in my Pleasureway 'mobile digs'. Whoa... how will that feel? There are, to be sure, many faces to the opening of the heavens, the descent of water to earth.. a good ol' rainstorm. The wonderful kind of nourishing rain called a 'rain shower', a rather comforting event... a reminder that growth of the botanical world is dependent upon such. When bright sunshine and a big rainbow grace the sky at rain's end, my soul sings with gratefulness. All things green in this world (the things with leaves..plants, to be sure) are such a metaphor for the circles in life that humankind experience. As I seek to find my sacred place, my pilgrimage has purpose for me. To observe, to listen, to learn how the natural world speaks to my soul, a vehicle God has used many times to 'raise me higher' in my day to day living. A pilgrim is a wanderer with a purpose. The aforementioned is mine. You will hear much from me about the message of (natural) matter. Come rain, come shine, come storms or gentle showers, the days will be filled with good, but sometimes challenging lessons in life. I wonder how much the wipers will be used in the first leg of my journey to California? I expect I'll take what comes and find joy in the moment... the best way to live life! I am told this (the wondering) is part of the the preparation, .... the image of possible scenarios traverse my brain cells!! Intellect says, 'be smart', prepare for everything. Faith says, .....trust. We do not walk alone. The Art of Pilgrimage, A Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred; my prepatory "read" is my inspiration as I contemplate my future on the road. I am eager for the adventure.... what will that first day on the road bring? Mid June, I should know! TODAY'S WORD: WONDERMENT Into the Wind, Nature Girl