This diary is my way of helping me remember things which happen in my life- AND it also allows me to share my experiences with others. I think, when you know you aren't the "only one" who has gone through something, it makes it easier to realize you will survive. The Chinese have a lovely theory about Yin and Yang. They believe when something we consider "terrible" happens to us then something of equal magnitude will happen to make us happy. So when something happens causing me great pain I think to myself, "I wonder what wonderful thing will happen as a result of this Yang Thing !"
I kept a journal when I was "abandoned" by my first husband after 16 years of marriage and I KNOW it helped me then. I decided to start writing things thoughts and actions in a journal after the unexpected and tragic death of my soulmate, Fiddlin Red, in November 2007. I am adding current pages now of the excitement in my life now, while sorting out and slowly uploading the pages during the months of mourning his physical presence in my life.
I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. I know he is here, helping me now, along with the rest of The Universe. We truly are all here to help each other.
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Spirit World Messages are coming through loudly and clearly. To read the most recent developments CLICK HERE.
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Red's messages keep coming through loud and clear. Read what happened today, July 10, 2008, while I was working on his newest CD.
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CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT MY INDEPENDENCE DAY.
HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GRAND ONE !!!
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Wednesday Morning, 6:00am, June 18,2008
The coffee is brewing - no not for me-for another house guest at my son's in Orlando. I sometimes drink a cup of coffee in the afternoon but not the "pot every morning" of the old days. I am the Tea-Lady now.
I have to make a quick entry to recapitulate the VERY interesting "health-related" incidences of yesterday.
I had a dentist appointment. Well, actuallly 2 of them. One for a complete exam and another for cleaning. I was expecting them to tell me I had a cavity, as my last Meridian Stress Assessment from Lynn Deen indicated the frequency representing dental decay lurking in my body. It had shown up a year ago when she performed my first MSA and since then I had had 2 wisdom teeth removed and the dentist at Shands Hospital had pronounced me "cavity-free".
After 21 xrays and a very complete exam, including measurements of all my "bites" and the weird lump I have had on the side of my face since I was 18, he said there were no cavities. Hmmm, I was surprised, but he was a new dentist so I wasn't going to argue with him.
"Oh, I have this place on my right top wisdom tooth where my floss catches. Can you do anything about that?' I asked him.
He tried to make the floss catch but couldn't so he gave the floss to me and asked me to show him where the problem was.
I put the floss against the back of my tooth and after a few seconds, "got it stuck" for him. When he started probing around the area he stopped and looked back at his xrays.
"Well, your MSA friend was right. There's a large cavity under the gum line that did not show up on the xrays. It has rotted away most of the root, I don't understand why it didn't show up on the xray but it will need to come out as soon as possible."
"It'll have to wait till I return from my New England trip. Can we do it at the same time as the 'prep-work' for my new bridge?", I had scheduled that for the day of my return. I knew the importance of replacing teeth which had been removed and I was finally going to take care of the gaping hole in the side of my mouth with a permanent tooth, made from porcelain. His office doesn't have to make an impression with the "gag-goop" anymore, all they have to do is take a series of photographs and submit them to a company by email. They plug it into their computer and email back a template for the tooth the dentist would build for me in his office. Technology is amazing.
As I was driving to Orlando I realized the chronic indigestion I had suffered with after my last Key West trip had returned. That was strange, I'd attributed it to having a little too much fun in Key West but I had had only one beer since my birthday over 2 weeks ago. What had I done today that was different? The tooth, we had aggrivated the dental decay area. i called Susan to see what meridian went through my upper jaw. Maybe that was the culprit of my discomfort. Sure enough, she confirmed it could be a side effect of the stimulation of the dental decay, the large intestine meridian runs through the upper jaw. She also cautioned it could be oncoming pancreatits and I should be careful.
I arrived at my son's house for dinner, he was sauteeing some veggies to make a sauce for our dinner when his romm mate and his family returned from their day. I would fly out in the morning and they were flying out later in the afternoon.
We were enjoying some after dinner conversation when E complained of a few itchy bug bites which had been bothering her all day.
"Would you like me get out my low-level-laser. It seems to work well on reducing the itching and swelling of bites" I offered. She readily accepted.
About 30 seconds after I started going over the quarter sized lump on her arm she said she could feel a tingling sensation. I explained to her it was the energy moving through the area and another minute of treatment would most likely result in the swelling and the itching going away.
Sure enough, the Zero Point Global Laser was doing it's magic. The bite shrank in size BEFORE OUR EYES and the itching subsided. She (and everyone else there) was amazed ! Had they not seen it they would not have believed it. A little "colored flashlight" had worked on relieving her almost immediately. Yes, these products are cutting edge technology, I was going to enjoy demonstrating them throughout my trip, helping people with aches, pains and bug bites !
I must do my yoga now, it's going to be a long day of traveling and if I didn't steretch now, I would pay for it later. I was looking forward to dining in Massachusetts with my sister, her husband and her lovely daughter tonight. I was REALLY going to enjoy being close to my family, again. The last time I was there was during my healing trip in January after Red passed. So much has happened since then. Lots of healing through reading, jouranlling and letting go. Of course, the more I realize he is here with me, the easier it is not to miss him. How can you miss someone if they won't go away-isn't that an old country song. It comforts me to know he'll always be a part of me.
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Sunday, June 15,2008
The past few days have been psychically bizarre and so very busy I must write what has happened down now, even though my rental house needs to be cleaned for the incoming guests and my to do list isn't getting any shorter !
I awoke Friday morning, June 13th with a heavy heart. I was feeling guilty (again) about Red's death and even though I know it isn't my fault he died of a heart attack, I kept thinking the "split up" we had had in October had broken his heart enough to REALLY break it.
Now, I know, I left him because he was doing things that MADE me leave him, and we talked the entire time we were apart about how we could get back together, but he wouldn't change his habits, couldn't change his habits, God Bless him.
So, it REALLY wasn't my fault I left him and it wasn't my fault he had a heart attack. But it is one thing to KNOW you aren't supposed to feel guilty and it is completely another to NOT feel guilty.
I also know that sometimes it's hard to shake those feelings of guilt. Hey UNIVERSE, I am shaking as hard as I can:) You can take the guilt away anytime:)
I had awakened a little later than usual, after a fitfull night of non-sleep with a crazed mosquito. Will someone tell me, do they have radar that tells them when you are about to slap yourself in the head?
I also had gone to bed a little later than usual as I am engrossed in Deepak Chopra's book, "How to Know God". He explains the most perfect theories on how to interpret God, or as I call him, The Universe (or UNIVERSE when I really want It's attention:). He explains you can experience God without having faith in God. He explains there are 3 worlds; we live in a physical world; Spirit lives in a Virtual World; and when we experience a miracle we are in the Transition or Quantum world. This book goes right along with another book I am studying right now on Quantum Mechanics. Maybe I should create a Book Report section where everyone can read a summary of what the books I study are about-oooo and I can invite others to do the same. ANYWAY, I got to bed late. Now you can understand why it's so hard for me to go to sleep at night.
As soon as I awoke, I turned my on my phone and it rang seconds later. My mechanic's shop was calliing me to remind me to bring my truck up for an oil change. I found myself, a few minutes later, heading towards the shop, with my bike in the back of my truck, practically sleeping as I had not performed my morning ritual of yoga and tea.
It think I was a little more awake when I walked up to the counter, 3 miles from my home, looking forward to my bike ride back. Even though I could have gotten a ride back to my house I wanted the exercise and besides, why not do my part in the name of fuel economy.
I sat at the counter waiting while the receptionist tended to her adorable baby. I struck up a conversation with the woman in the waiting room.
She asked the receptionist when she had had her baby as she didn't remember her being pregnant. I smiled, knowing the story, these people are like family to me. I listened while the girl who worked behind the counter explained she had been separated from her husband for 6 weeks a little over a year ago and how during that time, he went to see how green the grass was on the other side. We chuckled and decided the grass must have been very green (and fertile) with the baby as a result of the time they were apart. This woman had graciously accepted her husband's child as her own and believes her to be a blessing. I wonder how many woman would be so thankful. She sets a good example for unconditional love.
I said, "Red and I were separated for 6 weeks too" and I added "thank God we were back together for 18 days before his heart attack in November".
"My husband had a heart attack in November" said the woman waiting for her vehicle, "His heart attack was caused by a broken heart. He lost his son in a motorcycle accident in October and it was just too much for him" she continued.
Normally when someone said something happened as a result of a broken heart, I have a stabbing pain in my center, but I didn't this time. I still recognized the coincidences and wondered if there was a message forthcoming.
"Did your husband survive?" I asked her.
I was glad when she responded with a "yes" and a smile.
She asked me if I was the lady who was married to the fiddle player who'd died and I said "Yes" and smiled and held out my hand to introduce myself, "Hi, my name is Diane".
She gasped and said, "That's my name, Diane, nice to meet you". She asked me where I lived and I pointed, "Down that road". She said, "I live down that road too, where are you". I explained exactly where I lived and she was flabbergasted, she lived literally around the corner from my house.
In my half awake and slightly troubled state, I realized the meaning wasn't clear here and I wanted to go home and wake up. I kept smiling and enjoying conversing with these women but when the talk turned to people's health, I knew if I stayed I might start lecturing or teaching a yoga/Qi (chee) gong lesson and I couldn't do either right now. I just wanted to ride my bicycle and do my morning devotions.
I excused myself and told the ladies to have a nice day, hopped on my bike and rode out of the parking lot.
"What was that all about?" I asked The Universe. Here I was trying to determine what these messages were about, hoping they weren't trying to tell me I really was guilty and I should feel guilty about not feeling guilty. Or maybe that Red really had died of a broken heart. But then, it didn't hurt so badly to talk about it so maybe I was getting over it. And maybe I was just wasting energy wondering about it all. I needed to stop thinking, do yoga and have a cup of tea.
I went home and "woke up", worked on my websites, organized the "owner's closet" to fit some more STUFF I had brought down from the mountain and began packing for my upcoming trip to New England.
I was scheduled to start meditations on Friday, the 20th, in the caves of Massachusetts where channeling apparently has been commonplace for centuries. I was looking forward to possibly learning how to listen to spirit world more clearly.
Throughout the day I thought about what had happened, unable to "let it go" and I hoped I wouldn't feel like this until I got to the caves. I didn't think I was going to the caves to "talk to Red" my dead husband, because his messages usually came through loudly and clearly. I believed I was going for the "Bigger Picture", but today, I wasn't so sure.
The garage called and my truck was done so I put the packages in my basket, jumped on my bike and headed up the street. Maybe the packages had something to do with the way I was feeling, they held the long list of necessary documents to assume my husband's debt at the mountain house; Death Certificate, Adminsitrator's deed, Letters of Testamentary, and information about myself. My name had never been put on the deed (because I was a renunciate when I married Red-I was on my way to the ashram when I met him and didn't want any possessions). This was another one of those "things" I needed to take care of business. There is SO much to do when someone dies-especially if you haven't taken care of it ahead of time. I had also taken care of credits he had on airline tickets I was entitled too and the Copyright Package for his songs. It'd been a bust week.
I ran my errands and stopped at Christopher's on the way home. I was surprised to see my psychic-friend's truck in the driveway-he was supposed to be gone this weekend. He greeted me and we sat in our rocking chairs on his porch and took a little time to catch up. I had only seen him briefly when Jason was visiting, we had stopped so I could introduce them to each other.
We chatted about Jason for awhile and Christopher said, "WHOOOOO", the hair stood up on his arm and I knew Red had just showed up. He wanted Christopher to tell me I should stop worrying about him, he was fine. Everything was ok. That he never left me and I should look at it as though he were in another room, without a wall and he was invisible. He was still here.
Chris said Red was standing there in a Cuban shirt and cut off shorts and looked great. Red only spoke briefly this visit but it was very good timing. Thanks, Red.
Chris also added he believed someday I would be able to see Red as clearly as he could. Hmmm, that would be interesting.
I went home and realized Stacey was leaving for her move to Seattle before I would return from my New England trip so I called to see if she and her daughters would like to go out to dinner with me. I was going to be in High Springs on Saturday and I wanted to meet some friends who were playing in Trenton Friday night, so I would be right down the street, tonight would be perfect. I called her and she excitedly accepted my invitation.
We had dinner at 6pm and while we sat there, Paulie, the owner of Petrellos joined us and chatted for awhile. He got up and a few seconds after he left the table I heard, "Diane, Diane, you know these people".
Imagine my surprise when I turned to see my deceased husband's parents sitting on the other side of the dining room. I jumped up and hugged them, then sat down to finish my dinner and allowed them to finish theirs.
I drove home and when I walked through the door I looked at Red's portrait on the wall. It is 2 feet by 3 feet and for the first time it felt as if it overwhelmed the living room. I had the feeling it was time to take it down along with a few of the other photos adorning the walls. Red's shrine needed to decrease in size. After all, this is a rental home and I was going to be renting it out. So, I took the masterpiece of Red and the dozen or so photos of the 2 of us laughing with our arms around each other scattered about the house and put them lovingly in the closet. Ooooops, that guilty feeling entered my mind again.
Fortunately, I slept really well and awoke refreshed the next day. I jumped out of bed, did my devotions and headed up the road to Branford where I was going to get a cranial-sacral-Reiki treatment from my new-old friend R. We met at the seance and have been email buddies ever since. She had been to my house to give me a treatment in April and this time I was going to treat her too.
Her directions were easy to follow and I drove in the yard, past all the goats and horses. I imagine it must be lovely to come home to all these creatures lining the sides of the road. I felt as though they were the welcoming wagon.
She asked me who should get on the table first and I recommended she treat me first as I knew there was some "stuff" that needed moving in my body and I wanted to be in the best shape possible when I treated her.
We went out to her studio and I climbed on the table. She started at my feet and moved directly to my bad knee, found a knot on the side of it and gently moved the facia that holds me together under my skin. It isn't a "massage" as it isn't intended to work on muscles-it is energy work she has been practicing for many years. She moved from my bad knee to a spot on my left buttocks. She explained, "By the way, don't think I am being fresh, spirit says you need help here".
I smiled and said, "You just put your hand on my most recent outbreak of shingles. Spirit is right, I do need help there". She chuckled and continued working for several minutes while I just laid there and felt the energy moving throughout my body trying to imagine all the "bad juju" dripin gint o the floor.
She shifted sides and put 3 fingers of her left hand on my sternum, my "heart center", and the other hand on the top of my head and began rubbing my head. I breathed deeply and thought, "Hey Red, if you want to show up and let me know eveything is alright, I wouldn't mind".
A few seconds later R muttered, "OH" and I asked "What?".
She said, "I don't know if I should tell you".
I knew what she was going to say but I said, "Tell me, Tell me" and waited for her answer.
"A man just took over my right arm and it is he who is rubbing your head with compassion telling you everything is ok."
I started to cry and told her I had just silently asked Red to help you heal me.
She kept rubbing and I sobbed, heavyily for just a few seconds and then calmed my tears. I didn't think I was holding it in but I would find out later that night there were alot more tears to fall.
She finished her treatment and we went to lunch and walked around High Springs. It is a wonderful community of "healers" and "healers tools" and I walked around wide eyed. I knew we were headed to the "Rock Shop" and I was looking forward to seeing what "called my name" there.
I absolutely fell in love with the ladies at the shop. They were warm and fuzzy. One pointed out th espider bite on my arm and explained it was very empowering and how spider's have always been revered; Spiderman, spiderwoman, Grandmother Ictomey etc. I knew I would come back here.
I picked out a blue crystal, a geode for my niece and I some Angel Cards. At first I wasn't going to get the Angel Oracle Cards but I eventually talked myself into purchasng them.
I stopped on the way home to do a crystal healing treatment on my friend S. She has been very ill, dropped nearly 40 pounds in the past month and can hardly get out of bed. She just lost her mother and was now deathly ill herself. I just lost my husband and went through the "spider-bite-from-hell" and nearly died myself. We talked about how we had shared some pretty "tough stuff" and I headed home.
Stacey came over a little later and I got out my new Angel cards. "Can I do a couple of readings for you?" "I would love it" was her answer. She is off to a whole new life on the other side of the country with a man she's known for 3 months. She feels great about it but it never hurts to hear what the angels have to say.
Of course, they told her many things she needed to know. It never ceases to amaze me how when a reading is RIGHT, it is SO RIGHT.
"Oh, here is one for a New Love Spread", let's do that one next. As I started to read the directions for the layout of the cards, the book explained I should ask it questions like, "When will I meet my special someone?" or "How will I meet my special someone?" and I told her, she didn't need this reading, I did. I have been in touch with some friends from high school about our reunion in August, I wondered if I would meet someone there.
I shuffled the cards and laid them out. We read what cards number 1, 2, 3, and 4 meant. They said things like I hadn't met him yet and when I did what problems I might expect and how to deal with these "problems". Great, I know how to deal with the problems and I haven't even met him yet. I'm all set, LOL.
And then I read what the card in position number 5 said. This was the position that was supposed to reflect how the angels that watch over me felt about a new love for me.
Now there are 44 cards in this deck but I couldn't help shaking when I read what my angel wanted me to know. It was the angel Sonya and her card said, "I bring you a message from your deceased loved one: "I am happy, at peace and I love you very much. Please don't worry about me".
Those tears I hadn't cried earlier came as a flash flood. I broke down at the kitchen table and cried, holding Stacey's hands across the table for several minutes. It was as though Red were speaking to me directly through this card and I finally REALLY and TRULY let the guilt wash away with the tears.
I laughed and said "Thank you, Red" to the angel and then looked at Stacey (aka Suwannee Redhead and sometimes is called Red" and said, "Thank you, Red". SHe laughed through her tears and we had a great crying laugh.
This morning, when I was writing about all of this to L, an old girlfriend of Red's I have been emailing for years, a heron flew over and screamed at me as if he was reassuring me, everything really was alright. Oh-you probably don't know the heron story-but that will be up soon.
So my day is ending now, dusk is beginning to move in and there are folks on the pond in a canoe. I came across the remainder of Red's ashes while reorganizing the closet and burst into heartfelt sobs again. I pulled out the box he came in (he weighed 8 pounds when I picked him up), the bag he came in and the glass fiddle I tried to put a few ashes in back in December. The hole in the neck of the glass fiddle wasn't big enough and the chips of his bones kept getting stuck so, rather than freak out then,
I put it away to deal with it later.
Today was the "later", or as Red's good friend, Mel Fisher would have said, "Today is the day". How appropriate. I honored Red on Father's Day, even though he never had any children of his own, he loved my sons and called them his own, and they both loved him. They even called him on Father's Day last year to wish him a Happy Father's Day, He nearly cried happy tears over that one.
His first ashes were buried at the top of our mountain in Georgia, behind his favorite rock in the world, a few more on the top of a mountain in Dahlonega (thank you, Les), a few more were scattered in the waters of Key Largo from the boat Red captained Boy Scout Charters on, a few more linger with the lobsters on Summerland Key at his fishing buddy, Lance's house, a few more under the stage at the Hogs Breath Salloon (shhh, don't tell anyone:) and the rest of the remians I have I placed in a beautiful wooden box which was used to hold a bottle of Tequila and 4 shot glasses.
I had a small private ceremony for just me and Red. I dug the hole and the angel in front of the hole has an inscription on it that reads, "To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 ". He really LIVED during his time here and I am thankful he was in my life. Even though I will always miss him, I am letting him go of the grief and it feels good.
In with his ashes I put a miniature plane, a golf tee, a dradel toy, a wine cork and of course, a guitar pick. Oh, and I left the 4 shot glasses in the box for him and his friends. Hey, why not?
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Sunday, June 8, 2008
I have decided to upload this website, in it's unfinished state, as soon as I finish this diary entry.
I began working on the "new and improved HealinTheEarth.com" website about 2 months ago, new artwork, new photos and then found the host is under a major change and can't do any updates for a few weeks. So I decided to start a whole new website, with an easier name to remember and here it is. The past few weeks have been a blur, I have been traveling non-stop since April 24 when I drove to the Florida Keys to help with the Hogs Breath 100 Sailboat race. That was great fun and alot more work than I ever imagined. My friend Karen King and I were the race committee and made sure the sailors were safe before they left the shore at The Islander Resort in Islamorada. We held the flags to start the race on the start boat and then met the sailors in Key West at the finish, 5 hours later. I got to drive a power boat for the first time in decades and then helped make sure the sailors were happy in Key West, hosting a party at the Hogs Breath. Even though our positions were volunteer we were given a hotel room at the Grand Key Resort in Key West and we had a Grand time helping with the race.
After the race I rode back to Tavernier with Karen in her convertible and spent a couple of days doing foot detox baths and talking about health in the middle keys before I headed back to Key West to help with the Song Writers Fest. Bruce called and asked if I could make a 3pm pick up of equipment at the Hog and deliver it to La Concha, and help get it to the top floor. I said I would be there-of course, when I said I would be there I had no idea whether I could really make it-I was having truck trouble. I replaced the battery (it's a 1999 and it was the original battery) and it still wasn't starting, I suspected the starter.
I finally got it started and headed south, if traffic wasn't too bad I would make it just in time for the pick up. On my way down I made a couple of phone calls trying to get the phone number for Mike the Mechanic, hoping to schedule a service call, but had noone seemed to have his number. I figured I would run into someone, somewhere with his phone number.
I made it to the Hog just in time, helped Jeff load the equipment, (leaving the truck on-wouldn't be any good if it wouldn't start;), drove to La Concha and helped Jeff bring everything to the top floor. I helped Jeff with the sound check and while he was making some final adjustments I struck up a conversation with a woman who was waiting for the evening's event to start. She was from BMI and immediately introduced me to a man who gave me all the information I needed to get the copyright process started for my deceased husband's music. A fortuitous conversation.
After I spoke to her I told Jeff I was going back over to the Hog, I hadn't seen the Massacoustics for years and I also wanted to see if I could get Mike the Mechanic's phone number. I walked back to the bar and went to order a beer and who tapped me on the shoulder? Mike the Mechanic, of course. We scheduled the truck for service the next day-I was staying with Tami on Cudjoe and Mike was less than a mile away. Perfect, of course.
The few days I helped with the Song Writers' Fest were fabulous and fun. One day I had to be on the Hog's Breath Stage and operate the sound system for the group of artists on stage. Here I was, on the stage my husband worked on for 7 years playing music, and I could feel the tears coming. I looked at the tree on the stage and decided to put my tree meditation to the test. I put my hand on the tree and just held on and imagined the energy flowing through it, through me, giving me the strength not to cry in front of all those people. It worked and so did the sound system, I didn't cry and the musicians sounded great :) By the time I got off the stage I felt like I had accomplished a great feat !
When the Song Writers' Fest was over, my favorite bluegrass-rock band and dear, dear friends, The Carter Brothers were due to begin, so I couldn't leave Key West. My friends (and huge fans and friends of Red's) Diana and Frank, were such gracious hosts, I didn't want to leave, so I hung out with Diana and learned how to paint coconuts. Diana is an incredibly established artist and filled with pointers on how to paint on any medium using any kind of paint. We painted 2 coconuts as birthday gifts for Timmy and Danny Carter and brought them to the birthday luncheon at Blue Heaven. They were big hits-the boys loved them, and so did Nancy, owner of the best Mexican Restaurant around, Salsa Loca. She put in her first order for a coconut for the restaurant. We all shared stories of where our lives were and I pointed out the 2 butterfly tatoos to Diana on the women who were sitting beside us at the next table. Nancy asked why they were special-I explained to her that my psychic friend told me whenever there are butterflies around it was Red's way of saying hello to me, to remind me I was his butterfy. Nancy thought it was rather odd there were 2 butterfly tatoos, maybe Red really was saying hello.
When Diana and I left the luncheon we decided to stop at the art supply store and while standing in line I told the woman beside me the butterflies she had in her hand were beautiiful. Diana looked at the butterflies in the woman's hands and asked me if I wanted to go get some. I told her I didn't need to buy any butterflies, they come at me from all directions.
I stayed long enough to celebrate my first wedding anniversary since Red's death. Diana and Frank and my husband's old partner, Bruce, invited me to go to dinner with them. When they asked me where I wanted to go they named off a few restaurants and I picked Salute, Red and I used to eat there. We had a lovely meal and after we ate we walked in through the bar and I remembered the theme inside the bar-there were about 9 fiddles on the wall and photos of people playing violins and fiddles everywhere. I guess we went to the right place.
After a few days of the late night with the Carter Brothers I was ready to head back up the keys to help others with more detoxing (and I was about due for some detoxing myself-after a few days in Key West:) so I said my goodbyes and headed for Tavernier.
Jason, my youngest son, arrived in town to begin his 4 days of training for a 500 mile sailboat race. The Tybee 500 starts in Key Largo every year and a group of sailors race up the coast of Florida to Tybee, Georgia. I was going to be at the start and then catch up with him at the end. But first, a couple of days of seeing my baby (26 years old) in Tavernier on land. We had a ball.
I watched the start of the race and then headed to the west coast to meet with a friend, spend some time on the beach in Bradenton and have dinner and some fun. After my visit, I headed for the Suwannee and a couple of days at home before I met up with the race at Fernandina Beach. In the meantime I was getting text messages from Jason telling me the trials and tribulations of his days on the water. The pitch-poling, the broken masts, busted booms and bruises didn't really sound like fun to me, but I know this was the most exciting thing he had ever done.
I arrived in Fernandina a little later than I had expected and there were already boats coming into the shore, the finish line for their 5th day of racing. Watching these 20 foot long sailboats crashing in to the shore was breathtaking. Where was my son? Still out there? Good, I will be able to get some photos of him coming in. These photos are on my Myspace page.
I got a few good shots of Dennis and Jason coming in to the beach and stood back to watch my "baby" talking to his fellow sailors about the waves, the wind and the race. We had dinner with the "Marley Team" which consisted of 3 boats; 6 sailors in the race, many sailors in the ground crew and a great bunch of people to make everything run just right.
The next morning's weather was rather sketchy and Dennis made the decision, about 30 mintues before the race was supposed to start, he was not going to do the race. Jason ran around and tried to find someone to sail in his Skipper's place, but there was not enough time. We watched the rest of the boats take off and I watched a very disappointed young man help tear down the boat he wanted to be racing. I felt his pain and I was so very proud of his attitude. He fought back the tears of disappointment and took it all like the man he has become.
We drove together to the end of the race in Tybee, Georgia to support and cheer for the other 2 Marley Boats and all the rest of the racers. The dinner that night was wonderful and the awards ceremony the next morning was bittersweet. We had made some great friends and we would see them all again next year, if not sooner.
After the awards ceremony, Jason and I headed to my house on the Suwannee and spent the next couple of days relaxing before we headed south to the Keys again so I could do another healing seminar and Jason could get in a few visits with people he hadn't been able to touch base with the first few days he had been there. His schedule before the race was sail, eat, sleep and sail some more.
Then we headed for the Suwannee to meet Joshua (my oldest son, 28) who was driving up from Orlando to have dinner with us and spend the night before heading north to the home at the mountain in Georgia. The boys asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told them a few days with them helping me at the house I built for Red in the mountains. I wanted to paint it and get it ready to rent.
My birthday dinner at Petellos was wonderful, the Bootlegger Bluegrass Band at the Mad Italian Restaurant was such fun and the trip to the mountain seemed short with the 3 of us in the car.
We had fun while painting, I hired a girl to help me wash windows and by the time I left, she signed a lease and will most likely purchase my house. I had a hearing at the Gilmer County Courthouse and swore to take care of my husband's estate.
Everything happens exactly as it is supposed to.
Now back to the Suwannee for a night and then to the Keys to help Tami move from Cudjoe to Atlanta. Jason dropped me off at Tami's and took my truck to Orlando to help his brother move while I helped drive the 60 foot long rig Tami had. We managed to get her and her belongings all the way to Atlanta without any problems whatsoever. It was a perfect trip.
Wow, I was busier than ever, and lovin' every minute. Now it's time to focus a little more closely on getting back into my "healthy groove". Eat right, do my yoga and meditate to relax.
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