The Convergence

Hands finally on the wheel, the heaviness melts into drizzles upward and away. The feel of the gas petal under my foot pressing me to be the first to get there. Pandora blessing my modern life with the sweet sounds of the Grateful Dead. Roll away the dew they say. Roll away, the dew.

If I were Frost, I might have taken the road less traveled. I might have meandered through a town where a local band was playing. I might have stopped at the roadside attraction only five miles off the beaten path. I could have just stayed home. But I knew where I wanted to go and I have my GPS to get me there.

"Let's converge!, my friend Laney said to me on the phone. "Outside of Salita. At the hotsprings!" She sang these words and I sang back! "Agreed!" I sang and packed and loaded.

And off I drove. Reviewing my work week. last minute panick. Did I bring what I needed. Is the stove off? The light on? Do I have my Charger? The recent past starts trickling behind me into the distance, and finally I come to the place of, oh well. I take off my shield and throw it in the back. Sadly, I know I will need it again when I return. And that is when the happy kicks in.

Deeper into the journey my third eye opens. Everyone's journey. The journey of the now. Everything is there. Exactly where it should be. And I'm rolling, rolling, rolling. I pass a million stories I will never hear. Rolling, rolling, rolling. It seems a very long road ahead of me and then suddenly I am there. There is where my friend Laney's Dolphin RV is and I park.

There is were my friend Laney is leaning on her Toyota Dophin . There is were our eyes meet through the dusty glass. There is where a giant smile appears between us, connecting us to our herstory and our many adventures together. There is where there are hugs. Big, big hugs.

It is a needle covered pathway that we walk. Piney fresh as we pass. Indian paint brush, Lupine, Mullen, Wild Sunflower, Rocks, bones and feathers. Beautiful sunny day, warm with occassional breeze. Naturally sweet, refreshing, clensing. Today, this is our day. We skip. We walk. We laugh. We imitate. We pick up stuff. And we throw it, and pocket some weird rocks that have now become treasure.

We are seeking that spot. That sacred spot. Agmounst the trillion billion other sacred spots. The lush forest spots of honest and pure and greens and browns and dirt smelling deliciously wholesome. We are seeking the steam, where the hot water boils from below creating a bath in a river of cold.

We turn a bend and the running water greets us. Thirstyly. Wanting so badly to drink us. And there it is. The sacred spot. Mystic steam rising, She points, it's there we shall go. "I'm going in naked!" I sang to the forest. "I am too!" Laney sang ."Come into the water!' the hotspring sang back to us. 'Thank you!", we harmonized as we undressed and threw our stuff on a boulder. The birds cheered us on, a frog burbed and the river rolled,gently and sweet. First the big toe. And then "ooh" and it's hot!"and "ooh, it's perfect." The air unzips and the water opens. We step in, one two, three, were the breathes, and we sang some more "ooohs, and that is so good" and plopped ourselves down as if we were boulders, fallen from above and emersed our bodies into the beautiful hot water. Ripples like soundwaves with a message we understand to mean ahhh! Gratitude we say and smile.

Two crows fly by discussing cawing, laughing, checking us out. Maybe we have food they said. And they sat on a branch to watch us awhile. A call from a far and they called back. There are more pressing matters they said. Off they flew and were gone.

We have nothing more to say. We are now speaking to God directly. No! We are being a part of God's glory! We are God in God's glory! This is where we belong! Cradled in the warmth of the mother's womb, a sacred place, simple and giving. I lean back on my elbows and make angel's legs. Open and close. Simple and recieving. Simple and alive. Very much alive. We breathe. We close our eyes and just breathe. We are alive. And we are here now. We sit in the hotspring and we just appreciate. It's what we came to do. To just be. To be one with nature, one with the water.

And we open our eyes. At the same time and we are looking at each other. And so we laugh, and we sing, and we splash. We do our bless this water dance. We sit on a rock and snack. The sun is warm on our goosebumps. Two deer stop at the river bank across the way and drink. They see us. Are we ok? We are. And they drink some more before leaping away to continue their life. It's a dear life. We laugh some more.

The time easily rolls by and we notice the sounds change from daily activity to settle on in, and the colors change too. The light blue becomes darker or orange or pink or all. And then of course comes the white speckled purple of night. Day birds quiet and the night birds begin. Mosquitos pick up and it gets harder to escape their buzz. Circadas make claims on territory and make sure everyone knows about it. Crickets work on their eternal symphony. Sometimes Mariachi, and sometimes jazz. And then it is night.

For us, it's a magical night indeed, complete with shooting stars and full moon to boot. And though we'd rather stay, we must let the flashlight guide us back the way we came. We discuss the Milky Way and where we fit in. Sweet grass, Pines, wild rose, and sage. Those are our guesses. And then that weird musty smell occassionally that we cant figure out. A coyote cries out and her friends respond. An owl hoots. The darkness leads to scary talk, and freaking ourselves out and more laughter and loudness and inappropriate freedom. We make it to the RV.

RV dinner of bean burritos, with avocado, cilantro and beer. We made a small campfire and we discuss the flatulence that followed our burritos. We laughed and had to pee our pants, and laughed some more. We put out our fire and layed in our respective RV beds and continued to laugh. We could hear something rassleling around outside and decided NOT to check it out. We would wait till morning to see. Our monsters came and went between stories of our awesome day. We were worn out from the water and the hike, and we could literally feel the calm. The calm inside us, the peace, the love, the gratitude. The safety in our sleeping bags. We were giant burritos. We hoped there were no burrito eating bears. And we laughed some more. We knew the earth herself was protecting us. So we slept, and dreamed and slept some more. "We still have one more night here" Laney sang. "Ahhh" I sang in reply..."sweet dreams my beautiful friend we sang to each other. Sleep well, cause we can do it again tomorrow.