Quiet

I spent the night on Vashon Island with my long-standing good friend Beth.  We met traveling in Morocco in 1979, when I was 23 and she was a worldly 29.  We have been friends ever since.  She grew up out here in Seattle, and owns a beautiful little home on an island accessible by ferry only in the Puget Sound.  I rode my scooter there and back and it was a beautiful ride both ways.  I spent the night on Wednesday cuz I was too tired to ride back home.  Sleeping in her daughter's bed, it was so quiet that I slept through the night.  There were no lights out in the country.  I could sleep with the windows open and the cool air streamed over my body.  It was amazing.  I decided that I want to buy her house when I retire and go to live my days there.  I doubt she will sell it to me!  But it reminded me how ambient noise fills my life here and how this adds to my anxiety.  It took several hours to get to a place of relaxation.  I am so keyed up most of the time, and it helped to remind myself how rarely I just ...let it go.  I can do it in the moment, but not for the duration. 

I will go back, sooner, this time.