The Other Side of the World

Being at home is Surreal. Delicious. Sad (because it seems so short a time)

But

As I am (fairly enough) displaced from my Canadian bedroom, I did have a shaft of longing twinge through me when I got this photo in my in-box.

Doesn’t my NZ bedroom look so cozy and inviting?
Don’t you just want to curl up in the middle of that spiral on my big bed and read with the warm sun streaming down on your pages and a good friend curled up in the comfy chair to read aloud the best bits to?

I always, always, always wish I could combine places.

because as Sarah in Sarah Plain and Tall says -
No matter where you go, you will always miss something

Which I think, is the saddest, and most beautiful part of it all.

Hi everyone, I’m Jo. This is me, in Wellington. And guess who is behind the camera! It’s Mianh, who it was my joy and delight to spend 9 days with recently.
Here’s Mianh at Owlcatraz, after I had gotten over the flu, and before we set off on our road trip. As you can see, feeding ducks out of her hands agrees with her. Just like miniature canoe paddles beating at your hands…how…soothing?

Here is the lovely bed, where the lovely Geraldine had to put up with my ill self for a good 24 hours. Thanks Mianh, for having such a comfy bed for me to lie in for an extended period of time.
Finally, here’s Mianh, in what I think of as a quintessential Mianh pose. Seriously, if you are a person who’s seen lots of pictures of Mianh, haven’t you seen her in this position before? Its nice to know that wherever Mianh is in the world, no matter what swanky haircuts she has, no matter what she’s holding in her hand, you can still find her wearing black and making this pose.I’m tempted to put up all the rest of my favorite pictures, but I feel like I should leave some for Mianh…like the sheep on the road, and the cows on the road, and the giant cow, and the dead lamb…precious moments all of them.

Extracts of the last 2 weeks:

writing an explanation of placental separation on an exam, drenched from hair to jeans in NZ spring rain

scrubbing my floors

throwing beer cans at a theatre in Wellington

wandering blindly through a cave of glow worms

dipping in the cold Pacific

driving 200km in 8 hours along NZ’s Eastern Cape (read: winding, hilly, animal herds)

reading picture books in German to small children who appeared in my bed (pre 8 am)

dipping in the warm Pacific

watching the sunset on the beach under a palm tree whilst eating shaved ice & coconut

explaining Midwifery to every random person who sat beside me in airplanes/ports all over the world (THEY ASKED!)

eating a bagel from Tim Hortons whilst driving down the 401 (quintessential)

curling up with my mama & the dog & lentil soup in front of a woodstove

as they would say in The Idiots (read:obscure film reference) - Quite. A. Lot.

No wonder my head’s twirling.
And I’m having a nap.

pictures & stories to come

of New Zealand. (For this year)

and only 17 days of it under these long white clouds

the weather has turned her kind face towards us.

Last night I ate charcoal-oiled onions smelling like cool summer dusk, and watched fireworks spinning from behind a friendly wooden pole, and wrapped my arms around people who know me well enough to brush the hair out of my eyes.

A little boy took off my socks and shoes.
and put them on the floor, next to his.
and then I washed them all,
and they blew wet cotton flags outside my door.

a vibrant and lovely expression of humanity

and today I chose to cry for good reasons, instead of bad ones.

Last month. and with it the certainty -
I made something here

and

I will be just fine