the mini pooper

though we knew the mini was packed full,
it brought more to the island than we were aware of.

aside from our overnight bag for three days of driving,
herb's computer equipment,
and odds and ends like a yoga mat and bikes helmets,
the mini cooper was apparently weighed down
for 1700 miles
with all of our shit.

"a lot of people move here, but leave after two years",
said marcus, our new acquaintance that herb met
last weekend while cheering on the red wings at the bar.
marcus is apparently a fan of good hockey and good beer.
he is also a bit of a wandering free spirit who happens to teach yoga
and work for the fire department.
it is his eccentricity that actually makes him quite normal on this island.

"people think they are coming here to escape their shit", he continued,
"but they don't realize that the energy and the pull of the water
seems to just reflect it right back to them."

"are you a therapist?", i boldly asked,
knowing that only if he was a thearpist
would this question be received well.

"a therapist?!?!", marcus looked confused and maybe slightly offended.

nope. not a therapist.

"oh, well i am. and you speak like a therapist."
and then, to try and regain some ground from the embarassing moment,
i consciously get into a "one up" position,
"i thought you were one of my people."

marcus replied, "no. not a therapist. i am a yoga instructor.
but can i be one of your people? can we all be the same people?"

it became clear. marcus is not a therapist.
and it is becoming clear
that it isn't just the water around here that mirrors shit.

and in that moment, i didn't really like marcus.

who is marcus reflect . . . to expose . . . my tendency to label people; myself and others.
my desire to know where i stand; to know where you stand.
and to make sure we all know that we know where we all stand.
he irritated my method of operating.
suggesting we are all the same people; all the same.
it didn't feel good.
that kind of audacious suggestion causes me to wonder,
"if we are all the same, then who am i?
and if i am no different than you,
no better than you,
am i important?"

i found myself talking about marcus for the rest of the evening.
for as much as he irritated me, i wanted he and his partner laura
to come for dinner.
i wanted to build them a bon fire
and show them our kayak
and feed them gluten-free fruit cobbler.

marcus came up again in conversation yesterday.
herb and i spent most of the day yesterday trying to put him back together.
we knew it would come at some point.
most likely the end of this week or next.
a melt down.
a freak out.
a "what in the hell are we doing here" fit of rage.
what we didn't expect is that it would be him, and not me.

just like me,
herb brought his shit to orcas island
and yesterday, as he reflecetd on the wisdom of
marcus the "can't we all be the same people" yogi con fire fighter,
it became clear that this trip was concocted not to relieve him of his shit
but rather to highlight it.
and highlighted it was.

neither of us saw this coming.

and it is not really for me to write about in detail.
not because it is shit that is any shittier than your shit or mine.
after all, we are all the same people with the same shit.
right?
it is not humiliating or shameful.
but i won't write all about it because it is not my shit.

which brings me to a shit-filled delima of my own.
what do you do when your spouse is busted up and broken down
and you can't fix it?
not because you are not capable,
but because he needs to work it through himself?

because in my house, i am discovering, growing up,
there was a certain need we had for everyone to be okay.
because we cared about them, sure.
but also because if they were okay,
that meant we were okay.
i believe there are entire texts written on this particular brand of shit.

they like to call it co-dependancy.

marcus might call it being human.

so while herb deals with his shit,
i must struggle with my need for him to be okay
in order to know that i am okay.
to find a way to know i am me and i am okay
even as he is fumbling around and trying to find his way.

picture of the day (5/26/08)

turns out that i may have written a rough rough draft
of the first chapter of a book that has been inside of me
for quite some time.

**twofer**twofer**: picture*S of the day (5/25/08)

kitchen table art, living room, deck with bikes


breakfast on the deck
(sausage, egg, & potato scramble with avocado on top)

i am in love

. . . with herb, yes.
but also,
as of today,
with kayaking.
i hoped there would be
a love connection there.
i suspected there would be.
and it is true.
i love being on the water -
i always have.
and this, this . . .
activity?
sport?
whatever it is . . .
i want more!

picture of the day (5/24/08)

day #1 on orcas island, wa

this morning i wandered around the saturday market,
which is held in the village green each week.
dogs and bikers and kids . . .
everyone just enjoying themselves and their friends.

i loved this little booth . . .
every time i walked by,
there was a little girl
having a crown of flowers made for her.
now, i am not a fan of calling little girls "princess",
but this just seemed like a marvelous way
of honoring their sweetness and their feminine imagination.

i loved it!

iSlaNd*poLiTIcs*: a commentary on the subtly expressed political climate on island

i must say, so far, this island makes boulder-ites look like a bunch of yuppies!

dAy*tWo: oregan, idaho, and washington - oh my!

the drive continued.
there was driving.
and more driving.
about thirteen hours of driving,
in fact.
we left utah around 8:30am
(just a tad earlier than the day before.
but then again,
i didn't have the chance of having breakfast
with my three year old neighbor to distract me,
as i did the day before!)
and made it to a suburb north of seattle around 10 pm,
where we stayed the night
and were able to get an early enough start on friday
so that catching the ferry would not be too crazy.

and, for my sister amy:
a picture of an "uncle mino".
in fact, the license plate actually said
"LKMINO"

amy, BIL actually chased the el camino
down the street
so i could get this picture for you!
(amy's name for herb is BIL . . . Brother In Law)

i knew a little limerick about el caminos
when i was in high school.
i may have been known to repeat it as an adult.
like, maybe, even as recently as last month.
but this is a family friendly blog.
so i will leave that one up to your imaginations.

i suspect
(though i won't promise)
that this blog will become more interesting soon,
now that we have the driving out of the way.
thanks for coming by to check in on us!

(and even if you are not a blog person,
and are just reading to support us,
leave a comment every now and then.
we would love to hear from you!
you don't have to sign up or anything.
you can post under "anonymous".
just be sure to add your name with your comment
so we know who you are!)

you see what i see... sorta

It's almost like being my eyes! You see what I see! Well, actually, you see what I see only after I manage to fumble my phone out of my pocket, stay between the lines on the road, and gamely try to create "art" with a camera phone.

So after a lead in line that, who wouldn't want to rush over to my web gallery! Actually, it's pretty cool because I can upload pictures from my phone anywhere that I have a data connection.

So enjoy some pictures from along the way:
Harjes orcas web gallery

You might even say we're rep'n Orcas... I might... no one else probably would!

dAy*oNe: what you don't see is the SNOW

we got a nice early start on the day at 11:45 am.

it is unbelievable how much stuff we have shoved into that mini cooper.

they should name them mini supers.

we spent most of the day in the great state of wyoming and were eventually welcomed by the beautiful utah vistas . . . and a few hours of driving in the snow!

dinner was spent with jamie vienneau . . . an old friend of herb's from his utah days.

we missed nick, but it was fun to hear how they are doing from jamie.

time to get back on the road!

idaho, here we come!

xo

cara

today is the day for leaving

those boxes.

oh my.

8

eight

eight big boxes.

and they are all on their way to orcas island.

we will meet back up with them next week.

you should have seen me at the post office yesterday - 

trying to remember what was in each of these boxes

so that i could insure them for their proper value.

shaking, pushing, pressing.

shoving my hand into it through the tightly taped flaps.

god bless jesse, my friendly neighborhood postal worker

who did not kill me.

jesse has a cool wedding band and is celebrating 19 years of marriage this month.

jesse's black sharpie pen needs to be replaced but guess what:

either

a) jesse was messing with me

or

b) your black sharpie has to be dead for two years before they will replace it for you.

weird.

okay, we are packing up the last few odds & ends this morning 

and then we are off!

if you pray . . . 

please pray for good, loving, meaningful (and fun!) conversations and safe travels!

love you all!

cara

so you know where we will be . . .

this post is mostly just for friends and family who might care to know 

where we will be for six weeks this summer!

it is so simple, but lovely at the same time!  

it has one main room that has a deck out the back that looks over the water.

above the main room is a small sleeping loft, just big enough for a bed.

off to the side is a kitchen & bathroom.

that's it.  that's all we need!  

- cara