When I woke up this morning, I checked my impulse to reach for my phone to do wordle games. I knew that once I got on my phone I’d get sucked into the vortex. I determined to just give myself some time to commune with the Cosmos this morning, to commune with Love.
So I loaded myself and my camera into the car, put in a CD of inspirational music, and headed up to Bellingham. My first thought was that I’d go to the boardwalk for a walk, but then it occurred to me that maybe I should pay a visit to Lake Padden first, to see how the autumn colors were evolving up there.
The autumn colors aren’t in full bloom at Lake Padden, yet – but the gold is starting to emerge, and the vine maples are showing some copper and red.
I walked down to the lake to take some pictures of reflections, and this is when I saw a little youngster having fun throwing rocks into the lake. I loved his rock-throwing technique – he’d wind his arm up – bringing it around and around – before throwing. I felt such joy, watching him. He reminded me of the joy I see in my granddaughter.
When I got to chatting with his mom, I learned she is a photographer, and we talked about photography for a while. She said she, too, had been planning to go to Bellingham, but changed her mind en route – thinking, like me, that she might see autumn colors at Lake Padden. It was cosmic that we connected today!
After my visit to Lake Padden, I continued on my drive to Fairhaven – planning to take advantage of the free parking before 11:00.
I saw some of my usual favorite things on my walk today – boat reflections on the bay; my friend, Mary; Baker Pup, who came up and greeted me, and let me give him a scratch behind the ears (I told Baker’s human that Baker is like the boardwalk’s service dog for the humans who walk there); and the heron in the tree by the boardwalk.
After my walk, I stopped at the Colophon Cafe for some brunch, and was happy to see Taryn would be my server today. Taryn is one of my favorite people – she’s funny and smart and kind and thoughtful. And I learned today that she’s also a photographer!
This kind of funny thing happened when I came to the Colophon. I didn’t expect the restaurant to be open because I thought it was closed on Wednesdays. So when I told Taryn I was surprised to find them open because I didn’t think it would be open on Wednesdays, she told me it was Tuesday.
Wait. What. Today was Tuesday?! But. I googled “What day is today?” and my phone told me it was Tuesday. But. I went out to lunch with my daughter-in-law yesterday and we do that every Tuesday. And I went hiking with Scotty the day before that – and we always hike on Mondays. So. Was I having two Tuesdays in a row? Was I in some kind of weird time warp? Or something? I googled again, and this time my phone told me it WAS Wednesday. Whew. Maybe because I hadn’t gotten on my phone since yesterday, it had given me the wrong day when I first googled.
Anyway. The next time Taryn came around, I told her that it IS Wednesday. She started laughing then, and told me that when she’d said it was Tuesday, she meant that Tuesdays are the days the Colophon is closed now.
Ohhhhh….
I had such a fun day today! I felt Love with me all day – expressed in the kindness and smiles and joy all around me.
I didn’t sleep well last night – woke up at 3:00 feeling disturbed and distressed about the state of the world. Came downstairs to play wordle games – sometimes word puzzles are soothing for me. And, as I was toodling around on my laptop, I clicked on my email and found an unexpected message waiting for me there from a dear friend. The message was full of support and kindness – the words were just what I needed. I recognized this was Love speaking to me.
Eventually I went back to bed and slept a couple more hours. When I woke up I felt impelled to go up to Bellingham for a walk. Before I left, I almost messaged my friend, Rebecca, asking her if she’d be able to meet me at the coffee shop in Boulevard Park – I haven’t seen Rebecca for a while and missed her – but I know how busy she is, and felt hesitant to ask for her time. So, without messaging her, I got in my car and headed up to Bellingham, via I-5.
I-5 was really busy, though, and I soon left the freeway to take the backroads up there. On my way up, I actually passed Rebecca’s home and the thought occurred to me that I could just stop by and see if she was available. But, again, I was hesitant to impose on her time, so I kept going.
When I got to Boulevard Park, I found a rock with “JOY” painted on it, nestled on a big piece of driftwood. It was the exactly right thought I needed right then. Cosmic!
I went into Wood’s at Boulevard Park and ordered myself a mocha. As I was ordering my drink, I glanced over and saw a couple waiting for their coffees – and the way they were standing they looked like they were dancers holding ballet positions. The man looked to be in ballet position 2, and the woman to be in ballet position 4 – and they looked so beautiful standing there that I, of course, had to say something. “You look like dancers posing,” I said. “You’re beautiful!” And they both started grinning and laughing. The man said he was just trying to stretch his legs after his drive from Bellevue. He asked me if I was a local, and I said I was from Bow, twenty minutes to the south. I learned they were from Boston, but the man was in Bellevue on business for a couple weeks, and had brought his wife, Sofi, with him. They were lovely. When they got their drinks, they turned and smiled and wished me a good day, and I wished them the same.
When I got my mocha I stepped out of the coffee shop and saw before me little Bear, Rebecca’s pup, standing in front of me! And there was Rebecca!!! Cosmic!!!
We sat down at a picnic table in the park and talked and laughed and talked and cried and laughed some more, and chatted with the people who walked by on the sidewalk. And in this manner we met:
– Sue (in the jaunty turquoise hat), who comes down from Vancouver every month with her husband to eat at Magdalena’s Creperie in Fairhaven. (Today she’d had a Belgian chocolate/banana/caramel-filled crepe topped with whipped cream – she showed us a picture on her cellphone. Yum! )
– Everett, from Michigan, who asked Rebecca and I if we’d like him to take our photo for us. I handed him my phone the wrong way and it took us a while to figure out that he was having problems taking our picture because the camera was pointed at him, rather than us. That gave us all a good laugh. And then, once our photo was taken, I, of course, had to take HIS photo.
– Mikey and Grant, whom I’d noticed when I’d driven through Fairhaven earlier. I’d seen them pointing up the hill and giving directions to a couple on the sidewalk. I saw these two men again in Boulevard Park. I told them I’d witnessed them giving directions in Fairhaven, and they nodded and smiled. They introduced themselves as Mikey and Grant, and Mikey said he’d always wanted to be a person who could give directions to someone else, and today it had finally happened that he knew how to get to the place someone wanted to go!
– Steven, who went weaving by us on his skateboard like a pro. He stopped to chat with us, and even went back and did some more weaving for me so’s I could get a photo and a video.
After we’d finished our drinks, we headed down the boardwalk for some exercise. This is when we met two sweet new pup-friends – who, for reasons of privacy, I shall refer to as Pup 1 and Pup 2. Little Bear really enjoyed meeting new pup friends, too.
When we got to the top of the Taylor Dock ramp, we decided to go back to Boulevard Park by way of the path that meets up with the Boulevard Park road. And there were more people to meet! We waved to the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the top of the ramp – we’re all old friends now; said hi to a young man as we passed him reading a book in his van-home; and hugged and said goodbye when we reached the park.
I discovered today that Rebecca is the perfect person to meet new people with – she gets it! She understands those connections that keep our world turning.
And how cosmic to run into her today! What a gift from the Cosmos!
We sit at a table outside the restaurant and chat and watch people pass by and there is magic out there!
A young man with a bright smile walks by, holding a small bouquet. I smile at him and point to the flowers, and he grins and says, “A first date.” “That’s so sweet!” I say, and his smile gets even brighter.
A little chap of three or four walks by with his mom and he turns and looks at me and I wave. He waves back, serious about our exchange – a little man. My heart melts.
A woman passes by with her grandbaby – she sees our grandma faces light up and brings her little one to our circle so we can share in her grandmother-joy. She is not called “Grandma” she tells us – she is “Nanna” and she is enjoying her last days with her grandbaby before he moves to the east coast with his parents. All of our grandbabies live out of state and we understand what she’s feeling right now. “Enjoy these precious moments,” I say, and she nods and smiles and hugs her grandbaby close before moving on.
At the table next to us there is a baby in a stroller and she smiles at me and gives me high fives with both her feet and hands all at once. A high twenty! Such joy!
And now the man who’d had the bouquet walks by on the other side of the street. He is with his date and they are laughing and chatting and getting to know each other. He sees me watching and waves and grins and I wave back.
Dear Father-Mother, Help us all to know Your love and express it to one another – with no one excluded, no one left out, no one on the outside, and no one without. May your love thaw the hearts frozen with fear, and numbed with hate – may all creation feel You here. May we wake to see a new day where we see we all are one – cells of the same cosmic Body – rays of the same Sun.
Scott and I are in that back-and-forth serpentining line to get through security at the airport. I have a smile on my face. I’m trying to maintain this as my default face. Sometimes, as people wind past me, they respond with their own smiles to my smile. I love when that happens. Connections!
One man – maybe our eldest son’s age – glances up and sees my smile and smiles this sweet smile that contains joy and humor and kindness. A healing smile. When we pass each other again, I point out to him that we’ll be passing each other again soon, and we’ll get to smile more smiles. He starts laughing. The next time we wind past each other I tell him that this looks like it will be our last smile-exchange. He grins and says, “It’s been a pleasure!”
We meet again at that place where we need to load our stuff into bins. There is a shortage of bins, so my smile partner and I go and find bins to give to the people behind us. When we get through the people-scanner machine and the baggage-scanner machine, we meet again on the other side of security. We introduce ourselves – he says his name is “Kareem” and I (who have now mastered the comedic timing of presenting my name just right), pause before saying, “Karen.” He starts laughing. He says he’s bound for Michigan, and I tell him we’re on our way to Pittsburgh, and we wish each other safe travels before parting.
When Scott and I get seated on the plane, we discover that there’s an empty seat on the other side of us. This is sort of miraculous – our plane is completely full, except for that one seat. When it comes time for the flight attendant to do the safety presentation, she sees the empty seat and uses it as her staging area. She is fun. She and Scott, who’s sitting in the middle seat, banter cheerfully for a bit, before the safety presentation starts. For the first time in years probably, I am glued to the safety presentation. Every so often she looks over at me and sees my rapt attention, and starts grinning. When she finishes I tell her she did a FANTASTIC job! “I should have videotaped it!” I say, and she starts laughing.
The flight is uneventful. As I look down on the earth 30,000′ below, I send out love to all the humanity passing below us. I feel the plane embraced in Love. I see all the people in it are expressions of Love. We are in a bubble of Love.
When we land, we need to take the underground train to get to our rental car. As we load into the train, a sweet brown-skinned woman of about my age gestures to the pole she’s holding onto, and invites me to share it with her. Kindness. Everyone taking care of each other.
I have found hope for the world in my fellow travelers.
I started at the ramp that leads to Taylor Dock and sort of wandered from there down to Boulevard Park, and then wandered from the park down the trail that leads to downtown. Along the way I encountered Eric, who I learned was a retired teacher like me – and we talked about the joys of teaching; I ran into my old friend, Dan, with his sweet pup, Jakada, (Jakada just turned a year old yesterday!); and I saw a doe and her youngsters nonchalantly criss-crossing the path in front of a bicyclist who was grinning at them.
When I got to the little loop of the trail that I’d decided would be my turnaround point, I saw a man gazing out at the water from one of the benches there. He was the picture of “peace” and I asked him if I could take his picture. I asked him his name and he told me his name was “Mark Anthony.” “Really?!” I asked, thinking of Cleopatra’s Mark Anthony. And he laughed and said yes, he really was named “Mark Anthony” and he loved having that name. He asked my name and I told him, “Get this – I’m Karen!” And he laughed and said I was one of the good Karens. I grinned back at him, and said, “I love having my name, too!” We shook hands – a “Mark Anthony” and a “Karen” – and wished each other a great day.
When I got back to the park I started back up the boardwalk, and this is when I saw something that made me tear up at the beauty of it: Three people were walking ahead of me on the boardwalk – what I guessed to be a mother with her grown children – and they had their arms around each other as they walked. I thought, “This is what Love looks like.” When they stopped ahead of me, I stopped with them, and told them how touched I’d been by the love I’d seen between them. I learned, then, that the mother, Oonagh (pronounced Ooh-nah), was up from Santa Fe, and her son, Ian, had come from New York City, to visit Annika (Oonagh’s daughter and Ian’s sister), who lives in Bellingham. I could relate to this. I told them my son and his wife and my grandbaby lived in California, and we’d just visited them a few weeks ago. I knew how precious this time together was for them.
I decided to take the steps up to the top of the little knoll that separates one part of the boardwalk from the other. I walked the length of the knoll to Thom Bishop’s bench (I’ve written posts about Thom Bishop’s bench before) and there I ran into a sweet pup named Sage and her human, Bruce, who was sitting on the bench. Sage was very sweet and came up for a pet on the head. I asked Bruce if I could take her picture, and he said sure. So I barked to get her to look at me – and that’s probably why she looks a little surprised.
Back down on the boardwalk, little Guiness pup brought her human over to say hi to me. Guiness put her paws on my legs and smiled up at me and stayed until I gave her some scratches and pets. Such a sweetie!
When I got back to the ramp, Oonagh, who was sitting with her son and daughter on a bench at the bottom of the ramp, called over to me, “Hi Karen!” I smiled at my new friends and said, “There you are!”
At the top of the ramp, I decided I wasn’t done with my walk, yet, and headed for Fairhaven. When I entered the Colophon, I was greeted by the hostess who led me to my favorite table in the corner. Taryn was there today – it was good to see her again. And I was served by a cheery server who was new to me, but fit right in with kindness of the Colophon.
Smiles and pups, new friends and peace. I find the best therapy on my Bellingham walks.
“I walk with Love along the way, And O, it is a holy day; No more I suffer cruel fear, I feel God’s presence with me here; The joy that none can take away Is mine; I walk with Love today.” – Minnie M.H. Ayers, Christian Science Hymnal #139
I woke up in the dark, thinking my thoughts, finishing conversations in my head and presenting my bullet points to prove I’m right, then – snap! – in an instant all of the talking in my head stopped and Love said, “I am here.”
I met so many lovely people on our trip to California.
Scott and I got to the parking lot later than we’d expected because the exit off-ramp from I-5 to Sea-Tac was closed and we had to find a different route. But, as Scott pointed out, if we’d hadn’t gotten there later we might not have had Jose as our shuttle driver, and that would have been a huge loss for us. As soon as I saw Jose I recognized him as the driver I’d had before who had sung to us on the drive to the airport. (I posted a video of him on Facebook singing to us.) I reintroduced myself and asked Jose if he was going to sing to us again. Jose smiled and said he always sang. So we got to start our trip with the accompaniment of Jose’s wonderful singing.
We spent most of our time in California in and around Venice. One of our first adventures was a trip to Fishermen’s Village, and it was there that I met Cindy, who was manning the window at the creperie restaurant. Cindy was kind and helpful as I tried to navigate working with one hand – I had my grandbaby resting on one arm, and my purse dangling from my other arm, and Cindy could see before I did that I was going to need help putting the straw in little Linh’s lemonade. So she ripped off the paper from one end of the straw and then held the straw for me so I could pull it out. Team work!
After our visit to Fishermen’s Village, our son guided us up to the top of Marine Park, where there was a great viewpoint of LA in the valley below. On the short hike to the viewpoint I passed a young man with a great shirt that read: “NATIONAL SARCASTIC SOCIETY: LIKE WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.” I stopped him to read the shirt again, and started laughing. “I have found my people!” I told him. He laughed with me, and I introduced myself as “Karen, of course” and he introduced himself as Diego.
The next day we spent time just taking in Venice. I got a mango juice at a juicery and we met Nancy, the owner of the shop, who is, like my daughter-in-law, of Viet heritage. My daughter-in-law asked Nancy if she spoke Vietnamese – she’s always looking for an opportunity to practice her parents’ first language – and pretty soon the two of them were carrying on a lively conversation – that was so cool!
While we waited in line, another woman, Iliana, got in line to order something. When I was handed my mango juice, I tipped the cup and a little juice splattered down my front. I didn’t noticed, but Iliano took care of me – she looked over and said, “Careful there.” Iliana saved me from making a bigger mess of myself. Like us, Iliana wanted to order from an actual person, rather than from the computer, but, when a couple of other people stepped in front of her to use the computer, I was worried that the juice workers weren’t going to be able to see her. My daughter-in-law picked up on my worries, and let the server know that Iliana was there. I told Iliana, “You took care of me, and now we’re taking care of you.” Iliana grinned. When we left we all wished each other a good day.
We passed the Washington Square Pizza, where a man was wearing a plackard for the pizza shop that read “KISS’N COSTS EXTRA $5” to attract people into the restaurant. He was a character with comic timing. When I asked for his name, he said just tag it “Washington Square Pizza.” He added that instead of making money for the restaurant he feared he might have actually lost them money, and he really hoped he wasn’t going to get fired on his first day.
We stopped at the Lavender and Truffles Dairy Free Ice Cream shop, where our son treated us to ice creams, and where we met the delightful owner, Alicia. The shop was a little oasis of calm and peace – a cool respite from the heat, and with soothing and beautiful artwork on the walls. It was a restful stop on a busy day.
Yesterday we traveled back to Sea-Tac. (I think right after we arrived at Sea-Tac, the airline grounded all planes for a few hours – we were blessed to leave LAX when we did.)
Waiting in line at LAX to get through security, there was a family ahead of us – a woman of about my age (she looked like the grandma version of Leslie Uggams), a younger man and woman, and two young girls. I took an instant liking to this family. The youngest one reminded me a little of my granddaughter – lively and observant and chatty. The older woman – maybe her grandma? – remarked to me that “she never stops talking.” I started laughing. At one point the little girl pulled on one of the security ropes and it snapped undone. Her family looked back nervously, and I said, “I think I can fix that for you.” I grabbed the free end of the rope and slid it into its track and it was back to itself. The grandma turned and smiled and thanked me. Getting through security can be a long process, and I voiced this to the grandma. I added, “And it can be kind of scary. But we’re going to be okay.” The grandma nodded her head once, empathically, and said, “We’re going to be just fine.” If I’d had doubts before, I didn’t after that head nod.
A man in his thirties a little ahead of me in the line, was soon next to me as the line wove back-and-forth through the security ropes. I noticed his shirt. It said “Altadena” on it. I felt my eyes tearing up. “Are you from Altadena?” I asked. He nodded and brought his hand to his chest in a gesture that thanked me for asking. He said he’d lost his home in the fire – the whole town was gone. I told him I’d heard from people who’d known Altadena that it had been a wonderful community. The man nodded, and said, “A secret.” As he moved passed me we smiled at each other one more time, and wished each other good travels.
The plane ride home was pretty quick and uneventful. I was sitting in the middle seat – Scott on my right by the window, and another man on my left. Once again, I had good seat companions. The man to my left was watching “Living on the Spectrum” on his i-phone. The man one row ahead of me and to the left was watching a sci-fi movie. The young woman one row ahead of me and to the right was watching “Creed.” I found my eyes flicking from one to the other, watching their shows with them. When we landed, I let them know what I’d been up to, and they all started laughing. “When you get bored, you just go to another show,” the man who’d been watching “Prometheus” (the prequel to “Alien”) told me. I thanked the man who’d been sitting to my left for being a good seat mate, and he smiled and said, “Likewise.”
And guess who was driving our shuttlebus when we got there?! Jose normally has Sundays off, but he’d been called in to work for someone who couldn’t make it in – so there was Jose! He grinned when he saw me, and I grinned back. A young man in his early thirties sat down in the seat opposite us, and I told him he was going to get to hear Jose sing. He was up for that! The young man, Keith, had the same energy as my sons, and we were soon in conversation about outdoor adventures, and the people I knew in his hometown of Port Townsend, and Scott and I learned that Keith had started a non-profit in Port Townsend to help in food production. How cool is that?!
Jose returned us safely to our car, singing all the way. And so our journey ended as it had begun – with the voice of Jose assuring us the world is good.
Dentist appointment in Sedro today for a cleaning and a check.
I got there early and noticed that a couple people who came after me were getting ushered into their appointments. I also noted that my file seemed to be in the back. “Well, I probably should move my file to the front!” I thought, and went over to the files to do that. (I know. I am such a Karen.) But then I realized that the files weren’t just put there randomly – there were specific slots and mine was in the right one for me. So then I felt ashamed that I’d been all in a harrumph about this. (It’s so embarrassing being a Karen.)
Right after that my hygienist, Renee, came to fetch me. I apologized for my rudeness, but she hadn’t seen any of what I’d been up to, and told me not to worry about it. Renee is new there, and she was great – efficient, professional, talked to me about what she was doing while she did it. She said the best part of the job is meeting the people, hearing their stories, and sharing hers. (And she told me that my gums and teeth were beautiful, and I should keep up the good work. )
Hansrolf, my dentist, came in then to look over my x-rays and check out my teeth. I told him about my earlier rudeness and he started laughing. “You gotta be careful about moving your file into other slots or you’ll find yourself getting a root canal!” he said.
I told him, “Don’t laugh, but I used Christian Science voodoo to heal my root canal problem a few weeks ago.” He laughed. (I’ve found that whenever I start a sentence with “don’t laugh” the funnest people always start laughing immediately.) He hadn’t checked the periodontist’s report, yet, but did then. He told me everything looked fine. And, regarding my “CS voodoo,” he said that if something works for someone, who is he to question it? He asked me if anything hurt. I said no. He said, “Well, if it’s not broken, we don’t need to fix it.”
When I left, I stopped off at the receptionist and apologized for messing with the files. She smiled and told me not to worry about this. I’d done nothing wrong. It was all good.
Whew!
Another patient left right before me, and when I followed her out she turned around and asked me if we knew each other. I felt like we did. We asked each other questions – workplaces, neighborhoods, etc. We decided that maybe we didn’t know each other after all, but acknowledged that it was nice to meet each other now. As I turned to leave, she yelled, “Wait! What’s your dad’s name?” I told her “Dee Molenaar.” She asked me if I’d posted stories about him on Facebook. I told her I had. She said she’d bought the book about the adventures I’d had with Dad in the last years of his life, and she said it had meant a lot to her. She started tearing up then. She said my stories had helped her as she navigated the last years of HER father’s life with him. She’d taken her dad on drives, too.
I asked her if I could have a hug, and we hugged, right there, on the corner of Metcalf and State. I told my new friend, Lisa, that her words had meant a lot to me. And they had. It was like Love had sent me this sweet message right when I needed a reminder that I’m okay.
I started back to my car. I peeked into The Mountain Shop as I went by and saw the owner of the shop – my friend, Craig, in there. Craig introduced me to Nima, a mountaineering sherpa, and told Nima a little about my mountaineering dad. It was lovely to see Craig again, and lovely to meet Nima.
There’s this alley on Metcalf, that has a canopy of rainbow-colored umbrellas strung across it. I stood there for a moment – just watching the umbrellas move in the breeze. It was peaceful there.
I’d been a little nervous about going to my dental appointment. I’d been tempted to cancel because I have so much else going on right now. But I’m glad I didn’t cancel. Look at all the reassurances from Love that awaited me!
I have a post on my Facebook wall about trauma – how we shouldn’t expect others to admit to the trauma they’ve caused us, and that it’s enough to know that we deserved more (via MJ Schweiker in “The Feral Spiritualists” group) . And I just need to say this – in my long life, I’m guessing that *I* have been a trauma-giver myself at times. I can imagine saying or doing something thoughtlessly – never with the intent to hurt, but just without thought – and I hope that anyone I might have unintentionally hurt will forgive me, and know that you didn’t deserve to be hurt – that the burden for that hurt lies with me, not you.
Sidenote: Recognizing my own human fallibility and flaws has been a huge gift to me. It’s made it easier for me to forgive others THEIR flaws and foibles. I think most of us are doing the best we can – sometimes under very difficult and challenging circumstances – sometimes in situations where it might not have seemed clear what was “right” and what was “wrong.”
I think if we start with Love, and let Love lead us, we’ll find ourselves in heaven right here. And that’s what I wish for everyone.
“The kingdom of heaven is within you.” – Jesus
“And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” – Jesus
“And Love is reflected in love.” – Mary Baker Eddy
(Photo of Mount Shuksan by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
That gave us all a good laugh. And then, once our photo was taken, I, of course, had to take HIS photo.
)
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 