on the road at last!

(Just obtained access again to the computer, so this posting is from the beginning of this week, on Monday, January 17th...although it is posting today, Friday, January 21 )

and now, almost two weeks later, I am officially on the road, already having arrived at my first destination along the way to my new life in Monterey...still astounded, surprised, and impressed with myself for taking on this adventure offered to me...

astounded that the journey into the relative unknown-ness of this new life has begun...

surprised at the quickness with which I have changed my life simply by saying YES! to this opportunity...(as a mere three weeks ago, I had not even the inkling of an idea that I would be moving to Monterey)

impressed that I actually managed to get out of town with three bellman carts full of bags crammed into (literally) every square inch of Gracie (my still newish Mini-Cooper convertible, which upon purchasing I had never imagined driving across the country)...note to self: make sure when packing the back seat in the future that I have remembered to do so with the driver's seat in position to allow myself adequate leg room (as I discovered I had not, driving out of Miami Beach with my keys resting on my right knee, laughing at myself...)

I begin to think about sharing my adventures along the way in this blog, establishing a framework of reference to relate my experience...

music, being as ever, a large part of my experience, I will share the cd's that accompany me across the miles...

yesterday, in order, as I tore through a sunny Sunday afternoon across Alligator Alley toward a promised sunset picnic on the beach of Manasota Key: (near my friend Peggy's place in Engelwood, south of Sarasota...)

the soundtrack from "Legally Blonde" - TOTALLY girl-power and forward-propelling...

Lucinda Williams' "West" (obvious reasons)

and k.d. lang's "hymns of the 49th parallel"...(Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" & Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" moving me as ever...)

today, a restful day of bathing and relaxing in the peaceful backyard of Peggy's open-air screened-in Florida room as the day remains blessedly rainy and quiet, reading & writing, appreciating this process of reflection, and stepping at long-last out of the predictable routine...

I select the first of my souvenirs from each city in which I plan to briefly sojourn, being: Engelwood, FL; Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Phoenix, AZ; Riverside, CA (don't ask, I find my sister there with her boyfriend Dave); Los Angeles, and then on to the mystery of Monterey...

today I choose a pine-cone picked from many that lay on the needle-strewn backyard lawn of this piney paradise of Florida's western/gulf coast...the first of my tactile record-keeping of this amazing journey...

and last (but certainly not least), the first mention of my angels met in passing...those kind souls gracefully and generously guiding and escorting me on my long way home, back to California...

yesterday it was Mike, tending the quiet front desk of the Inn & Suites in Engelwood, granting me access to the internet (to re-read the e-mail with Peggy's current phone # and address, providing me with a map and re-iterating the directions to meet up with her, carefully listened to in our overheard cell-phone conversation)...feeling like Blanche relying upon the kindness of strangers, I drive on to my first meeting with friends, heartened by the humanity of fellow travelers...

more later...

with joy-in-motion,

Christina