We coined the word Cal-Euphoria after spending two weeks meandering our way down the California coast in search of lonely driftwood beaches inviting us to keep them company, even if just for an afternoon. We vanned our way from the Northern Redwood Coast through Mendocino County, pit-stopping in Arcata and the Bay Area to see friends.There were countless funky thrift stores, wi-fi cafes, bead shops, surf shops, roadside places to pee, sunsets and rises, fern canyons, beach runs, steamy rounds of coffee. We ate a lot of curry. Bedtime came just after dark, usually around 7:30. The demands of parenthood never escaped us. There were no fewer poop disasters, fuss-fests, teething jags, sibling rivalries, time-out's. However; every drama is easier to forget when you are waking up to a new tide.
Something happens to a family when you take away the trappings of home and replace them with wide open spaces. There is more time, more space. Condensing a living space for four people into the size of a van is a constant 'stuff' battle. I am a stuff monkey. At one point I had to send three giant boxes of clothes home because I over-packed (as I often do.) Rather than enjoy the extra space I earned by weeding out my stuff, I chose to fill it right up again with more stuff that I found along the way. But how could I resist the pile of driftwood for my collages? And the meditation pillow? And the rainbow knit blanket? These things happily filled my empty spaces. My empty spaces happily allowed themselves to be filled. I struggle with empty spaces. Perhaps the biggest empty space I keep trying to fill is the great big one inside of me. Is that just the loneliness of being human?
