Airport Day

My darling friend Katie, who I met through a book group that I'm in...I should write about that sometime), made coffee for me this morning. We talked about life, and the book we're reading and watched her silly little girl play and sing. She is absolutely remarkable and I love watching her brain work and hard wire new information...did I mention she says Jessi in the cutest voice ever??

Then I ran to Sherwood to grab the world travelers...and we were off...after Tyler repacked his bag again!!! As we drove to the airport I listened to Tyler regail us with his tales of how amazing the world would be if he ran it. What an interesting way to say goodbye! Farewells are always so tricky for me...I really struggle with not making them bittersweet. This time specifically, especially because there's no right or wrong way to handle stuff like that. 23 days is a LONG time, just for the record!

I then proceeded to get lost on the way back from the airport. Shocking really since I've been there several times recently and in the grand scheme of my time in Oregon I have been there frequently. I tried to find a gas station and somehow ended up, actually I don't know where I was. But I got stopped at this red light and found myself being very frustrated. But then all these police cards and motor cycles came out of nowhere and a motorcycle group: The Patriot Riders, came riding by...and the a hurst and MANY military cars and flags. My mind suddenly realized that I totally believe that I'm at the center of the universe sometimes. But truth be told there's hundreds of thousands of "center of the universe" stories going on. For me it was the day I took some friends to the airport and then killed some time before school starts of Tuesday. But to this family or group of people it will forever be a different kind of day. How seflish am I in my own head sometimes? It reminded me a lot of the book we're reading in book group An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. Barbara talks a lot about the practice of "waking up" and "paying attention" to things around us...but also to people. I find myself forgetting to do this on a regular basis. Everyone else has things going on too, just look into their faces and eyes.

I finally found my way to MLK and did some people watching, then headed over the bridge to the Pearl district. I decided just to park randomly and walked around hoping to find some interesting things. I had a blast from the past and found Hannah Anderson - a clothing company started in Portland. I practically grew up in these clothes when I was little. My mom bought the skirts, tights, pants, etc because "they were reasonable" and "so cute" and "they lasted forever".

Then I wandered around and found a ladybug cart...who knew in Portland of all places...and she was making polenta, and vegan meatballs with special sauces. So I had some..and cucumber basil lemonade...delicious!!! I found a park to eat in, partook in the food and Mrs. Taylor. If only all of my days could go like this...I'm not ready for school to start, I'm not ready to do the first day without people, I'm not ready to embrace the possibilities/come to terms with these crazy changes in my life, I'm not ready to even think about the future-I can barely grasp where we're at right now.

Tuesday is coming closer and closer...and I want to live it up before it dawns...if only I had someone to kayaak with tomorrow.