When I picture California, I of course think of sunshine and the ocean but I also think of Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchel. There's a sense of this easy bohemian lifestyle that seems so free and easy, like late afternoon sun. Now I'm sure babies wake up in the middle of the night there, the same as they do here, and our struggles will follow us like children, but there is something so intoxicating about leaving. And it's double since we're west coast bound.
There have been, however, moments since Jonathan's birth and during the arduous process of moving that I have felt a little lost. That this experience is happening to me rather than with me. I'm still feeling a bit like a farm animal that is required to produce milk on demand. In a land where my personal hygiene comes second, (if at all) where sleep is a long lost dream and it's all to be done with a smile on my unwashed face. This and the fact that my day and night routine will not change much, I will just be doing it in a state with better weather. All good reasons to feel a bit down.
But this is the part where getting over ones self becomes key to survival and counting ones blessings seems like a no-brainer. When the unforgiving late summer mugginess lifts from my tired eyes and I come to. This is incredible and life is good. Too good to hardly believe. I will miss Texas and the life we have forged here, but I cannot wait for the adventure before us. It will change our lives forever, as travel and new places always does, and it will be pure joy to watch the kids take it all in. In this moment I believe Robert Plant said it best, "Made up my mind, make a new start. Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart"...yes indeed Mr. Plant, thank you.
