Picture this. I am crammed in the cab of a U-Haul truck full of the few treasures I find necessary to keep in this world, my two cats in a cat carrier yowling and Matthew, my wonderful volunteer driver, peddle to the metal, while holding a AAA trip-tik in his hand and scouting out our route to Oklahoma. 2167 miles of winter. Did I consult with NOAH weather to discover that we were going to be driving into a winter storm that stretched from Mass. to Missouri? Yep, you guessed it…NO! We drove over 1600 miles in snow, ice, sleet all while sandwiched in between more eighteen wheelers than anyone could imagine. The miracle being that we stayed in good humor even with the icy windshield and pissed off cats while singing to 80’s hits on the only station we could find that wasn’t either Gene Autrey or Bible belt preachers.
I thought I was over this kind of bare to the bone travel in my twenties, yet here I am once again moving to a new adventure in my life with twelve hour days in a truck and force feeding myself the only food available at 6am…an egg MacMuffin and feeling like I am going to hell for buying it and utterly certain that my body would seize up after spending the last six months on the cleanest diet you could fathom. I have seen scary truck stop bathrooms that had machines that let you buy sexual aids and mini sex manuals all for 75 cents and yes I had to get the manual that was the size of a matchbook and had not only 12, count em, 12 sexual positions drawn like little stick figures but the history of where each position came from and frankly I didn’t know about the “wheelbarrow” from China. Then there was the Holiday Inn in Vernon, Ohio. There are these little burgs by the side of the road that are not really towns but little outposts that are for travelers made up of Super Eight motels, three or four fast food places, a huge TA truckers complex and that’s all. The Holiday Inn was the only reasonable spot to stop and had a restaurant which saved me from the Cracker Barrel across the street…so I thought. We where we the only ones in the retro dining room which served microwaved food and the waitresses were so happy to have two warm bodies to fuss over that we got the royal treatment including extra portions of creamed corn and huger than huge portions of something a la mode. When we went to pay the bill they offered us not just one bar of chocolate that they gave you at the cash register but an entire box of chocolate bars which happened to be organic. They saw my eyes light up over one bar and simply said “Hey ya’al we have loads of boxes, here have twelve.” That little goldmine got us through the rest of the trip driving on a sugar high.
We saw some strange road signs along the way. The first was posted on one of those digital signs that type out its message as you pass by. It was in Ohio and the roads were down to one lane and we were crawling behind semi after semi and there it was, a sign saying, “Winter Weather Exists“… NO KIDDING winter weather exists…duh! Then as we crossed over into Oklahoma we started seeing signs every ten miles that said “Do Not Drive Into Smoke“…hmmm…that kept us guessing until we asked someone and were told about all the wild fires that cause accidents because people speed right into the smoke and plow into another car. By this time I figured that people obviously around these parts don’t either see what is in front of them or simply can’t think for themselves.
So, here I am in Shawnee Oklahoma, fast food capital of America, says the Wall Street Journal. Matthew has unloaded all my earthly belongings into my mothers garage, my cats are padding around a new house after I wrestled them into these new things called ‘Soft Paws’ that you glue onto the claws so they don’t destroy my mothers white couch and in the background the NOAH radio in the kitchen is testing it’s tornado warning system in preparation for tornado season and I have just finished watching Wheel of Fortune with my mother. I am reminding myself to breath. Allot. I am thanking God for safe travel and ready for this day to day journey of love I am on with my mother.
I am going to post several things on this, my first blog: A birds eye view of my Oklahoma experience on becoming an Okey, share my process of the heart with you as I accompany my dying mother and reinvent myself in my family here and include a section on information I have been channeling for the past year regarding the times we are living in. In doing this writing I have two hopes: To stay connected to you all and to offer a place to dialogue as a community of like spirited souls. I will relish you comments. Just go to the top of this page to the right hand corner and click on “comments” and post your feedback, ideas, personal entry, whatever. Please include your email address if you wish for others to connect to you directly if they have feedback for you personally. I am not up to speed yet on the additional posts so look for them in the coming week.
It is spring like here and 65 degrees, Cardinals on the bird feeder and the prairie is calling.
Thank you all for your love, your help and support on my journey. I hope to see you in June.
Faithfully,
Maya
Wow Maya, what a great job you have done getting this blog up and running. Looks like you could teach me a thing or two about blogs!
Glad you, the cats and Matthew are all safely arrived-especially with that weather. We have had plenty more weather here and still more to come over the weekend.
Keep in mind that the most toxic part of Fast food is the guilt. One ingredient not listed on the label.
Hugs to you and gratitude that you are sharing this passage with us.
Nancy L
PS Care to share more about the wheelbarrow?
Sally,
I’m sorry to hear about your mother, but I feel happy that you are there with her. What a blessing for the two of you to share the experience of her passage into spirit.
Sending you and your Mom much love and support,
Lauren
Wow, what an amazing journey Maya! The day after you left I heard that they’d closed airports in NYC and realized you’d headed right into that storm, after we’d all smiled and laughed and said, clear roads ahead! I’m so glad you and Mathew did so well and safely manouevered all those strange slices of American life!
I’m so glad you are settled in, the cats have their paw pads in place, you can warm up and get good at those Jeopardy questions!
I’ll look forward to your inner adventures to come!
Much love, Elizabeth
Maya,
My deepest thanks to you for the wisdom you continue to share. As I grow, transform, my joy is tinged with sadness as this journey is one I must travel alone leaving those I love confused and at times frightened. May they look inside and find their own paths so we can soar together.
Sending you and your Mother some good wild Maine energy as we prepare for yet another spectacular snow storm.
in peace,
Susan
Maya,
Thanks for keeping the beat, great job. I am so thankful for the work we did together. I’m thrilled for your okey experience of non-time, messy deep love, and rekindling.
I’ve started Pearce’s book, and continuing the practice from Michael Brown’s The Presence Process. This morning I became aware of a deeper feeling in my heart, and I allowed myself to hang out there by keeping my mind fuzzy. Because of the work we did together, I honor these vague misty sensations without needing to understand or explain them. But in my journal I wrote “as opposed to a whiter shade of pale, I’m longing for a deeper purple richness…maybe my shadow, and I can feel it coming on, oh so slowly and surely, like a low-grade fever.”
With your road stories you are enticing me to drive down there to see you, you know. The 4 hours from Boston to Camden were just a warm-up. I bet Marita would loan me her fuzzy white slippers…would those work? And you’ll have a new recommendation for “the best burgers”…Cappy’s is way in your rear-view mirror!
But I can’t go near springtime yet, I’d probably revert to my old ways of “walking on sunshine”. I’m so glad it’s cold and gloomy here. Perhaps this winter I will finally birth the deeper darker heart experience I crave.
Best, Bob