BIONIC WOMAN

Today I decided I want to own doves.  I can't stop thinking about how soon I can get them.  I like everything about them, what they stand for, how they sound, their little button eyes... I may not be sure where exactly I will be living in one month.  But I know that I will have doves.

Suppose I should also mention that I am happy to be alive.  Spent an exhausting, disheartening, lonely, terrifying, maddening 5 days in the hospital.  Now that I am out, I am bursting with energy and inspiration- hope and confidence.  It's incredible what dark things having E Coli (or some other nasty bacterial infection) can do to one's outlook and self-image.  The Bionic Woman title comes from me wondering if I am bionic or radioactive now that I have been pumped full of so many heavy drugs at the hospital.

Sunday I am finally heading up the coast with a dear friend of a friend to check out his 60 acre ancestral shamba which has been left somewhat uncared for for some time.  All I know about it is that there is some sort of living space there, it is not really close to town, there is solar power and a generator and 10 or 15 goats and a number of mango trees.  Naturally, I have no clue if this will materialize into a future for me, but I am looking forward to it nonetheless.  I am already wondering what type of soil they have there and if water is available.  Two pretty crucial pieces of information and the water issue sounds questionable.

The brightest part of my day (other than feeling like 10 million bucks), was receiving an umbrella (not manufactured in China and therefore should last longer than one day without falling apart) from a dear dear dear friend in the states.  She is my hero.  Haven't opened it yet since I am waiting to get home, but it opens up into the picture of a flower with the center of the flower at the top of the umbrella.  How could one not be in a good mood while walking around in the rain with a giant flower directly over their head???  I should note that I am madly in love with this Mombasa weather.  Yesterday and today it has been balmy with some rains and the nights are cool.

I noticed some ginger had sprouted on my counter while I was away at the hospital, so I am going to try to plant and grow it.  Who knows anything about growing ginger?  I think it is a very loooooooong journey and I may not see any result.  Have to give it a shot though considering my taste for it.

Game of Change

How do I feel like I am living in the Truman Show movie sometimes?

Today, Maurice, a man with the kindest smile, fixed my Massai sandal that had busted on the side of a lively Mombasa street- in the heat- in the dust while I sat in my friend's car and we ordered food from the windows around the corner from where my sandal was being fixed.

Incredible.  Africa, if ever I have a passing thought of leaving you, you sure know how to win me over completely.

I also learned where the chenza street is (think of pile of fresh tangerines in wooden hand carts in back alleys that somehow serve as streets).

And I just realized my laundry is on the roof and I am rushing to watch a football match.

Tomorrow: relocation exploration.  The ever elusive path slow-ly unfolds.

I had a dream

That I was dancing with a new friend from here in Mombasa.  He and I were wearing motorcycle helmets and being totally ridiculous to 90s music in a small room.

That was while I was sleeping.

While I'm awake, I dream of the following and more:

Having all the elements of the sustainable life I am working toward.  Seems like there are too many to list.

Sinking my hands into soil mixed with compost and transplanting seedlings that I watched growing daily from just little seeds.

Pulling weeds.  I think there must be something wrong with me.

Running on the beach again with Jack, except he's grown up and well-trained.

Swimming in the sea and feeling the salt tickle my skin.

Teaching children to work with the Earth.  And one day teaching my own children to work with the Earth.

Becoming a modestly good sketch artist who sketches plants in their various stages of growth.

Eating American tortilla chips and homemade salsa.

Riding a camel.  I don't really want to do this, but I like imagining how scared i would be jerking forward and backward up so high in the air.

Filling my apartment with homemade flats that have seeds nestled inside them.

Hugging my grandmother again.  She is my hero and nothing compares to her hugs.

Creating a compost pile all by myself.

Building a greenhouse from 100% recycled materials.

Designing and maintaining my own seed garden and seed bank.

Learning to make more things with my hands.