May 27th,2013
Lindsay:
It has taken me some time to realize that I am very lucky to have the bio-family that I do. It's difficult for the teenage mind to handle nuances and often it is far easier to categorize the world into dualites- good and bad, right and wrong- than it is to see it for the fullness that it often is. Since I knew my family wasn't perfect, that really only left one option.
Building snowmen with family at my great-grandmothers 90th birthday
Yet now, after many more years of life, after seeing a greater diversity of family interactions, after experiencing how my family has chosen to work with the struggle of children moving to soon-to-be all four quadrants of the country, of children choosing lives and lifestyles that are as diverse as Wall-street and rural intentional community, and most everything in between, I realize that I am pretty darn lucky to have the family that I do.
Apparently even when I was little I had an affinity towards bones
These thoughts are precipitating this morning along with some unusual May rain. It started raining about a week ago, and it took several days for the first moisture in more than a month to begin to sink into the already hard ground.
Earlier this month, I gathered with the other women in my family in San Francisco for our first (hope-to-be) annual women's gathering. So similar to the rain, it has taken some time for this appreciation of my family to sink in.
My family has a hard time sitting still, so we did many of the touristy activities: visiting Muir woods and beach, walking through Golden Gate Park, going to Alcatraz, sailing on a Catamaran in the Bay, looking at famous people's houses. But of course the purpose of the time was less about experiencing San Francisco and more about sharing our lives with one another.
Raising the sail on a Catamaran in San Francisco Bay
At 27, I am the youngest in the family. So most of the "children" have settled into a life-track, a career or a family. And while we connect as a family over the holidays, the times are often so brief that many questions are left unanswered until the next time we meet. And by that time, much more life has happened, and so some of the deeper conversations still remain to be had. In many ways, we are playing catch-up.
Can you see it? It's a grey whale and her calf!
However, I hold on to the belief that these women's gatherings have the potential to help remedy this. Of course, much will happen in a year, and not all the details will be filled in. But my hope is that with time, we will be able to find a way to let each other more deeply into our lives. That we can share the challenges and joys in our lives that are not specific to place and time.
So I will keep this as a short ode to family, and share now some images from the hike my sister and I went on near Big Sur.
Our campsite beneath the redwoods
Exploring a burned out redwood stump
Amazing view of the Big Sur Coastline
More amazing views of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range from Cone Peak
Me and my sister after a 15 mile hike