Moments

A friend asked me about the moments that made my holiday. That's a nice question that helps me savor things.

So, here's my list in random order...

Moonrise-- We sat outside in the warmth and watched the moon come up on as many nights as possible. It was captivating each time.

Table art-- The photo above shows the mosaic table we made in the days leading up to Christmas. It was fun to break tiles and put them back together and see the ocean colors appear as a new puzzle that we get to keep.

Cinnamon rolls-- Byron's Christmas Morning cinnamon rolls are legendary in our family. Jesse made them for us this year and Byron proclaimed them the best ever. I get a sugar headache just thinking about them :-)

Thirst--Unknowingly, Jesse and I each gave the other Mary Oliver's volume of poetry, "Thirst." We both love it but neither of us owned it. Now we both do. I liked mornings at the beach when we read our favorites to each other.

Fragrant gifts-- Byron carved 4 wooden kitchen spoons for me from Olorian collected off the forest floor in Loita. Olorian is African Olive and is precious to the Maasai. Loita is precious to me and the smell of Olorian makes me happy. Also, the spoons are beautiful.

Feasting-- I loved the moment Liz tasted the freshly grilled marinated meat that Byron had prepared for us Christmas Day and the way her eyes got big and it looked like she had just fallen in love. I loved looking around and seeing friends, old and new, celebrating Jesus together.

Creatures of extraordinary beauty--The Carmine Bee Eater on the branch above our camp... The dark blue and deep gold crab Jesse found in the mangroves... Crazy colors just casually carried by these!

Starry night--We walked long on a dark and quiet beach, lit only by stars. Without a moon, the brilliance of the canopy above us was nuts. The tide had risen and the usually shallow crossing at the mouth of the river required that we wade chest deep in warm, salty water. I liked that it was 2 o'clock in the morning on the first day of the new year and we were drenched in powerful beauty.

Conversations-- Around tables, by fires, by the waves, in cars, in the kitchen, and wherever else they unfolded, they made me rich.

All the little moments string together and give us more to weave with.

What were some of your favorite moments from your holidays?

Sidai

"Sidai" is a Maa word used for good, well-being, pretty, beautiful.

It's fitting, then, that we had 2 days away filled with good friends, well-being, pretty places and beautiful views. We slipped away to Sidai Camp and just chilled for a couple of days.

Time for contemplative meditation, poetry and reading alone. Time for the togetherness of friendship and campfires and meals shared.

Esidai :-)

By "Beautiful" I Mean BEAUTIFUL (and Byron's back hurts)

It's beautiful at the springs. We camped there Saturday night with Tait and Hunter and Tehur (and Colin and Heather.)

Byron's back has taken a nose dive after the last 3 weeks of too many long hours on bad roads and too much heavy work, but even he was happy to be there. Better to rest on a blanket under the trees than to lie on the rug in the living room and get tempted by all the work he thinks he should be doing. But the drive home was painful for him.

We saw the physical therapist today and she was very good. We travel on April the 1st and so the goal is to have Byron out of pain and able to handle the long hours of travel between here and LA. The therapist had Byron figured for sure...

"The problem with people who have a history of back trouble," she said, "Is that they are used to it and they expect it to get better if they push through and so they don't necessarily do what they should do to treat it."

Um, yes. That is the trouble. She held her tongue nicely and didn't come flat out and just call him a dork for not taking better care of his back. He's fifteen and half years post a very successful back surgery... and he should know a little better.

So, back to beautiful.

Tonight, I feel 2 things simultaneously. I feel deeply content after a 24 hour stay at the springs with people that I love. (Tait and Hunter made us all crepes with multiple delicious toppings for breakfast on Sunday.) But I also feel sad about Byron's back pain. He looked lively this evening for a while when he was excited about some very cool solar lights he was looking at that are designed to save Africa. But he soon faded again. I've tucked him in now with a hot pack.

Heat, rest, stretches, brisk walking, ibuprofen, cold packs if he wants them... these are his orders for the next few days. With prayer added, I think we've got the bases covered.

I'll put this photo up as his desktop to bring on the memories of a happy weekend. I'm certain those will be good toward the healing.

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My Knee Makes Noises

My right knee makes a noise. My right knee, along with the rest of me, is just about to turn 44. I noticed the noise just a couple of years ago while hiking around the cliffs of the Algarve. There's no pain, just a sound like muffled velcro being pulled apart very briefly.

I mentioned this to one of my (many) chiropractor friends. He said, "Oh that's called blah blah blah blah decrepitous." He didn't really say the blah blah blah part. I don't remember what fancy term he used. I just remember VERY CLEARLY that it ended with the word DECREPITOUS.

I am so offended by this term! Why are we constantly being reminded that we are going down hill? Why, I wonder, can't the medical world give kind titles that reflect our station in life? For instance, why can't the condition that produces this weird crinkly noise in my knee be called The State of a Knee in a Person Who Has Gained Valuable Wisdom and Insight Through Living a Respectable Number of Years?

Just writing out my new name for this sorry knee condition has made me feel better about it already :-)