Day 489: Family, Friends, and Fun

As my time in Connecticut grows short, I am getting in the last of my visits. 

Today I saw my dad’s older sister, and tried to arrange for them to video chat, but the video part didn’t work, so they had a regular phone call. It was a joy finding out she is glad to be in an assisted living facility. 

I got a massage with energy work from a sister who was in the coven, then met up with her again later at a drum circle.

My mother’s younger sister, Zia, treated me to dinner, a martini and wonderful conversation. She also gifted me hard boiled eggs from her brother’s chickens, flowers from her garden, and a bottle of raspberry beer. 

I arrived at the drum circle late, and instantly wished I had kicked my ass there before tonight. The view overlooking Brownstone Quarry (now an adventure park) was spectacular. The private property on which it was held looked like a mini Stonehenge, with rock formations everywhere. I found a strip of grass back from the circle where I could dance barefoot, with my tambourine and long full skirt, until my hip, feeling so good after the massage, started screaming. Debbie Lynn, my cousin whose skirt I was wearing, was there with her drum and her hula hoops. She had been trying to get me to go every week for a month. Drum circles are out of my comfort zone because I have not mastered even the most basic drum beats, and my hip prevented dancing. Or so I thought. I can’t listen to drum music and not move my body in some fashion. The sound is too primal. I am paying for it now as I keep shifting my position in the chair. But it was worth it. I was playing and having fun.

An absolutely fabulous gorgeous spectacular sunset distracted me from the pain on the drive home. 

I got in a last visit and long goodbyes with Amy and Debbie. It’s so affirming when two people you love, from two different parts of your life, meet and bond … at an earlier drum circle both had invited me to attend. 

I am not good at goodbyes. My daughter taught me to say “later” instead of goodbye when talking with her. I think she’s on to something.

[Thanks to Amy Dubenetsky there are lots of photos of me on Facebook, along with others from tonight.]