20 October, 2007 – Vashon Island, Washington
Miles from nowhere…
Here’s how Saturday went… breakfast – goodbyes - car – ferry – bus – walk – bus – wait – ask – shuttle bus – off shuttle – customs – on shuttle – walk – lost – ask - walk – lost – ask - walk – lost – ask - walk – lost – ask – wait – ask – wait – ask – noise – noise – noise - bus – bus – walk – late – wait – finally eat something from a machine - ferry – car – Vashon High School theater… our next venue. We started at 8 AM and arrived at 6:30 PM.
Pete picked us up at the ferry landing and whisked us away to the high school, where he fed us his homemade pizza and we rested for a bit from the day’s travels. Pete went about the business of getting the projector and DVD player to work, but even though he had tested the whole system just two days earlier, he could not get the sound system to work. He struggled valiantly to wrestle the system to the ground and taser it, but it kept getting away. Finally, he decided to run home and grab his own system to use as a back-up.
We filled the time with announcements and information (a local young man spoke about the Bioneers conference he was attending, as well as other activities in the area) and Sally and I gave an extended version of our opening comments, and then went ahead and introduced the dialogue circle we would be having afterwards. Pete returned with his equipment and set up while we spoke, and soon enough he had great picture and sound ready to go. We dimmed the lights and hit play and off we went.
So, we finally learned the answer to a question that has been nagging us for a long time: how will it work to have a screening at a high school on the same night as the homecoming dance? The answer: not too bad actually, all things considered. The crowds didn’t really show up until the movie was into the fourth act, and even though there were masses of young flesh just outside the door, laughing and chatting and getting their pictures taken, it wasn’t so loud as to overpower the sound system, and soon enough they had moved into the gymnasium, far enough away that we couldn’t hear a thing. Whew!
The credits rolled and we formed a circle of stage boxes with the front row. Of the 38 or so who came to see the film, fifteen of us stayed for the circle. We spoke of all the things we speak of in such circles, of our feeling response to the movie we had just seen. We spoke of Vashon Island, and how it might fare in changing times. We spoke of hope and sadness and anger. We spoke of the current criminals, and the ancient forces. We spoke until almost eleven, then ended the circle and stepped out into the night. We went home with Maryrose and Dan and soon fell asleep in their warm and comfortable bed. I was exhausted, and it felt so good to close my eyes at the end of this very long day.
Miles from nowhere. Yes. It has been such a whirlwind that I’m no longer sure where I’ve been, where I am, where I’m going. The past and the future have blended together and faded from my consciousness, and I find myself ever in the moment, getting my information on a “need to know” basis, finding myself not “there” but “here” more and more and on and on, finding myself every day with new people, in a new town in a new home a new bed, waking each morning to a new sun and a new day. There’s a letting go that’s required of me. I’ve stopped looking for maps, stopped trying to orient myself from Western civilization’s top-down viewpoint high in the clouds. I’m just here, with these good souls, with this good food, with this sweet dog or cat, this living piece of land, this sky, these trees, this rain.
Miles from nowhere in particular, just on the Earth, walking my path as an animal alive, as a member of the living community, as a heart and a mind open to whatever is to come. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes I’m exhausted or sore and irritated. But mostly, I am glad to be here, in my body, in this time, in these places. Glad to be alive now. Glad to have this opportunity to serve the life of this world.
Our thanks to Pete and Maryrose and Dan for their hard work and hospitality. Our thanks to the people of Vashon Island who came to share themselves with us. We wish them all the very best on their journeys.
On to Eugene.
Tim
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