Boca Grande

I realize that I talk about my love of water and the ocean quite a bit. I know I write about it even more, as I've recently gone over past entries and noticed my association of self to water and the power I can connect to behind it. So it should go as no surprise that I so thoroughly enjoyed myself yesterday when I traveled north of Fort Myers to go to Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island. 

How did I find such a place? A friend of mine has vacationed there and their parents own a beach house, so it was a specifically recommended place to visit. These are the best places to go- the ones that you hear about from friends and family that know you well and want to share their own joy and experience with you. I have often thought the past few months about making a complete city by city guide of my favorite places to eat, things to see, noteworthy things about each place I happened to go, and compile it all together so that if I knew someone traveling to the same destination I could bestow them with my favorite things. While I have journal ed through this experience, I know that I have recounted thoughts, and feelings more then I have documented the what's, and the when's. It became a place I could recount much more of the emotional journey of the time away from home, time at home, and my vision, hopes, and desires for my future. I should have kept a side journal on each place I hung out in as to keep tabs of all the tidbits of information that we lose as we continue to move on from an experience. 

So anyway...Boca Grande. I loved it. The island itself is small and residential. I found my way to the beach and sat for awhile just enjoying the Gulf sway in and off the sandy beach. I people watched a little bit, as there weren't a lot of people to really pay attention to. I went to the lighthouse and took probably my favorite photos of the beach ever, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the park. After spending time on the water I ventured into the small town on the island and went in and out of the shops, and so appreciated the leisure of the day in such a beautiful place. 

I saw a puppy being photographed for a flier advertising its cuteness and looking for a home. I wanted this puppy, I thought I could buy this puppy and take it home...I thought again and knew that was a ridiculous idea. But I did stop and chat for a bit and told the seller that I loved the dog and she suggested I buy it, I responded by saying "will it grow up into a Great Dane?" and she said no, it was a Jack Russell pup. The only dog I am allowed to purchase is a Great Dane for Theresa, so I kindly declined taking the 7 week old Jack and went along my day. It was classically funny, and it was completely myself. It made me laugh. 

Make New Friends but Keep the Old... la la

The song is true. Make new friends and keep the old. No need to get rid of completely fun friendships.

Tonight I had dinner at Jessica and Lee's house in Fort Myers. I met Jessica in the summer of 1987, or '88? I can't remember exactly when, but it was definitely something like 20 years ago. While our friendship has suffered in the distance between CT and FL, and the growing angst of two girls who couldn't always get along during a 2 week visit...we have sustained all injuries and are still friends...its amazing. Last year I went to her wedding and I sat there then, I was amazed that this friend I made when we were just little girls was now wearing white and exchanging vows. I was thankful and humbled by God's grace in our lives and how friendship that is true never fades...even if there are times of life that we aren't close. 

It is no wonder then that we always come back to people who know us, and people that love us. We laughed about random memories of Pop Rocks, misc. stupid fights we had--and could enjoy that we've grown up but still had the childlike enthusiasm we did in our youth. She is preparing to relocate for her husbands job to the Atlanta area, and I could not be more excited--a car ride away! 

This night got me to thinking about who I will sit with in the future that I will be able to say "I met you 20 years ago"...who in my life right now will I know when I am in my 40's? In what capacity will these friends be? Will they play Aunts and Uncles to my children? Will we have been in each others weddings, or live near each other? I know that friendships in Christ there are no goodbyes, and I feel that message really resonate with me this week while in Florida. Having lunch with Sanne and Katie in St. Augustine and now dinner with Jessica I am reminded that rooting our lives in Christ means also rooting our relationships- and those endure circumstances, distances, hurtful words, and life just being busy. I am thankful for those relationships, and I try not to take them for granted despite my overly committed schedule.  

So to friends. The new, the old, the sisters, the brothers, the mentors, the late night ones you can call to talk about nothing, the friends you can't live with out, the friends you see once a year and pick right up from where you left off, the friends that encourage you to be better than the current version, and the friends that carry you through all that life brings... 

I am thankful for them all, and tonight especially for friends that make it through distance, time, and growth like Jessica.

St. Augustine Reunion

 Today I had lunch with Alyssanne and Katie in St. Augustine! It was fantastic! I met up with them and had a delicious meal and chatted about all that has happened in our lives since July. The greatest thing about it was the fact, the three of us have never lived together or even really near each other, but because of Young Life camping we met and became friends. Katie used to help out at Rockbridge on weekends, and we'd chat every time she was at camp, and we've stayed in touch through the years and then she interned at Windy Gap this past summer so I got to enjoy seeing her when visiting. Alyssanne was a year long intern at Windy Gap that I met last fall when visiting Caroline, and we just hit it off and enjoyed visits through the school season both at Windy Gap and up at my house in Lexington. Now that they are both living in St. Augustine we just had to have a get together lunch! 

The Lord has blessed me with many friends, and and lots of people that I have had the opportunity to love in all seasons of life. Yet, every so often we meet people that we just strike a re pore with and can pick up with whenever we see each other easily, no matter the length of time between the visit or conversation. Those friends are special, and these two ladies are like that. I enjoy them tremendously, and felt to blessed to be able to share a meal and our lives so easily this afternoon. It is my prayer that we can continue to stay involved and take advantage of the opportunities to visit with each other when ever we happen to be in the area!

The Ocean

I love the Ocean. Today I sat on the beach here in Ponte Verda, and took in the cool winter sun and watched the waves come in and go out with such a rhythm I just found myself staring. It was one of those afternoons that the hours quickly passed and as I went back and forth from reading my book to gazing at the waves I could sense my thoughts just travel.

Growing up in CT I was exposed to the water as a young child as my grandfather took us out on the sailboat often. I remember jumping into the water as a girl being caught by my dad and just carried along on the currents. There is just nothing like the sting of the salt water on your sun kissed face, or the sounds you hear when you dive below the surface. I long for the ocean sometimes, and there are few places in the world that I can sit for such lengths of time and just stare out into its mass beauty and power. 

When I moved to Virginia in 2003 I had the notion of moving to the coast and enjoying a milder climate with the Atlantic nearby. Yet, the Lord called me to the mountains and that is where I have built my life and created my home for the past four years. I did not love the mountains at first, but slowly the Blue Ridge sky line and majesty of the area stole my heart and captured my attention in a way I did not think possible. While my heart is in the Ocean to this day, my life belongs to the mountains...and that is something that only the Lord can do with this childhood water lover. It's amazing how our plans and destinations for our lives change as our callings are heard in different capacities. I wonder if I will ever find myself owning a cute cottage on the water, or if my life's happiness will always be contained in the mountain ranges I now love. 

We live in a country with such varying climates and skylines, that I am often impressed with the fact in a matter of hours we can travel from one cool day to a hot blazing one just by jumping on an airplane. Having spent so much time this fall traveling I have enjoyed the rambling hills that lead to flat farm land, the ways that the highway carves in and out of valleys and up to mountain tops...and now how the water can great you and remind you of a place you used to live and a childhood wonder you used to have while bobbing in the ocean. 

August

Dear August,

I came to visit you today. I took great care and put together a slide show to share my favorite photos of my time in California and beyond with my friend Linda. 

I pulled out the photos I took at the Getty Museum that overlooked the city below, and I remembered sitting outside looking out at Los Angeles, drinking a diet coke, people watching and writing about what I was thinking and feeling in my journal. I enjoyed the flowers all over again as I clicked through and pointed out my favorites (one of them is above).

I proudly displayed my photos from the beach in Santa Monica at sunset with the pier bustling along in business and accommodating all its visitors. I spent some time in San Francisco today looking at all the shots of the bay, the bridge, and enjoyed the memories that I created behind each one. While looking through Vegas highlights I remembered the amazing margaritas at the pool, the laughs with Jess and Kristin, and the sense of deep relaxation and contentment. I remember the good things, my best moments, the memories that are burned so deep into my heart that when I recall them in my mind the beauty captured in a photo sweep by in a snapshot. 

I came today and sat and spoke of you. The first trip of the Sabbatical, the first time away once leaving camp. I thought about the great meals I shared with some strangers, and how coffee was never dull when chatting to the other folks in line. I remembered how it felt to be lonely in a place far away from home, but secure at the same time. I recalled conversations with family and friends that I got to visit with while traveling through California. My heart was joyful when talking about you, and then I was sad. I missed you.

And while this experience has been grand, and full of introspection and emotion...today I longed for my seat at the pier (above, I sat with that man for two hours). I longed for the sun to rest into the ocean in the evening and I wanted to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway. I wanted you again, all that August gave me. 

Then I realized, I could go back. I could go to all those places again, in the same order, and recreate what I had the opportunity to do. But, it would not be the same...it would never feel the same, and I could never see it the same way. I've been changed and impacted so deeply by the past four months that I would be different...and while that is both a blessing and at times a difficult thing to grasp, I am glad for it. I am glad for the independence, the freedom, and the time I spent going and seeing, and experiencing you. 

But I am also glad for the time I got to spend in September, October and November. It was just different, and it will always be a different reflection of what I hoped to accomplish in my time away from working. I will long for those lessons and moments perhaps tomorrow, but today? I wanted you.

I am glad for it all. Today your pictures inspired me. Today your memory moved my heart. August, you were truly a trip I'll never forget, and the ways that I saw the Lord across the country and in the Pacific Ocean will always be timeless and without description. 

Miss and love,

Kari

Thursday

Thursday Thursday Thursday.

It's rather warm outside and I am bustling around the house trying to get myself together to leave tomorrow at 6am for my flight in Richmond to Jacksonville, Florida. I am spending the weekend with a dear friend, a lady I used to spend a lot of time with when we both lived in Ct. Linda Scott and her family extended their home in Ridgefield to me whenever I needed a place to stay with while visiting childhood friends and working Emmaus weekends. I have not seen her in about two years, which is way too long. 

I will spend the weekend with her at her home in Ponte Verda, Florida and then travel about 7 hours south to Naples to spend the rest of the week with my mom and friends there. This has been a trip in the making for quite some time, but thankfully I was able to get some really inexpensive airfare down to Florida! I was not pleased with the idea of driving 2,000 miles roundtrip and returning home so close to my departure for Thailand. So the Lord blessed me with Air Tran and less then a $200 round trip. 

So its just another day packing stuff up, trying to get organized, cleaning my room a bit for any one who might need to crash out our house while I am away...getting stupidly sentimental about leaving my dog and friends...and getting amped for the friends I am going to see. Nothing terribly exciting other then that, I'm just trying to get back into the habit of writing again on the blog.

House Dinner

Tuesdays are one of the main highlights of my life here in Lexington. There's just nothing else quite like 'em... and the biggest reason is because its the night we have House Dinner. Now, this started as a small idea, but grew unexpectedly the very first night that Theresa, Jen, and I were set to do a weekly meal on Tuesday nights back in Feb. of this year. The first night we planned it, Holmes got invited...which then turned into inviting Matt and Sunshine as well.So house dinner grew from the girls house to the boys house too, which honestly has been such a blessing. Every week we alternate who cooks, and now that there are a total of seven of us, it works out marvelously to get 6 weeks of Tuesday dinners without cooking. I love it. 

Tonight was my night, and so I made Chicken Marsala...and it went off without a hitch. Some weeks the table conversation is quiet, and other weeks it can be quite loud and gregarious. Last week we had Jana and Betty Cabell join us, in past weeks we have had Mandy's mom who was in town, or my dad when he was visiting. We can accommodate the changes well, and its always fun to see what everyone comes up with. You can count on Matt making something a little different in a culinary good weird foodie way, Theresa is typically healthy family cooking, I like to make something I never typically make, and who ever is next is usually questioned thoroughly about what they're thinking for the following week. 

In addition to the food, there is always a moment in there when I am sitting at the table listening to the conversations that buzz around a thousand miles a minute when I just think "wow, these are the days of our lives"...while a tacky catch phrase from a Soap Opera, its the truth. Four years ago when I moved here there would not have been the opportunity to do a house dinner. When I bought my house, it was my sincere prayer that the Lord would create a gathering place, would turn it into a home that welcomed anyone who wanted a place to belong, rest, laugh, eat, sleep, or live. In the past year I can see that prayer in more fruition and am so humbled by the way that people live in this home. We have our quirks, and that's not even referring to Theresa, Mandy and that I actually live here full time! But there are ways that I sense our hospitality is appreciated, for example: Matt sweeping off the leaves from the steps leading up to the garage, and Tex coordinating trash removal from all the small projects from the weekend and cleaning out the fridge. These are just two examples from the past few days that do matter to me, I do pay attention, and I so deeply appreciate these gestures that I did not even request. So while the empty cans of soda left on the end table, or the misc dishes from food consumed by guests can get tedious and annoying- the memory of small gestures like mentioned above are recalled to ease any sort of frustration. 

This house has brought challenges and joys but I am encouraged by the ways I have grown since April of 2006 simply by living here on White Oak Lane...and I am excited about the possibilities that exist in staying in Lexington, Virginia for a good while longer and the folks that will continue to make their way over to this house and hang out for awhile. Who knows who will be part of house dinner next year, as staffing changes at camp continue to cycle and people pursue other dreams...myself included. But tonight, over Chicken Marsala among six of my favorite people in this little town that I currently call home I said a prayer of thanks and a prayer of hope...a desire to stay, to continue to belong, and to continue to grow as we come to a table and share our lives over a meal each Tuesday night.