I walk around the property, no one is here, the stars twinkle so bright, you would think you were transported back to a time where electricity and cities were minimal.
Something about this time of year, you can hear the ocean waves crash thunderously from my bedroom window.
When you say goodbye to something, you then notice all the little things you will miss. The waves, the stars, the way I can look out my window and see the moon rise over the hillside. The 2 (almost 3) year old who I have known since she was a wee baby, the parts of the job that feel like a moving meditation, family dinners, gracious guests.
Life has been.... God, I can't even give you the words to tell you all the amazing things that have happened since I returned to California. Shitty things too, but the amazing things made me laugh at the shitty things.
Opportunities just keep showing up and I am learning to ride the wave instead of control it. You can't control it.
I am leaving my job and home I have been at for two years and going to work at a place that I absolutely adore. I will be more in town which excites the shit out of me! This girl has no need to live in the woods anymore. Been there, done that.
I woke up early this morning and headed to the Post Office. "Hey, Lacey we have a package for you." They all know me. Small town charm has finally come to fruition. I have slowed down, no longer in Chicagoan mode but more like Tori, saying hi to everyone I pass.
I head to Bolinas to see my dentist and we share everything. They ask about my trip, I ask about their lives. He goes above and beyond and does some work that will ease this jaw pain.
I then get a flat tire and meet a man there who has lived there 30 years and is from the town next to my hometown. He invites in for tea and calls another local to take the nail out of my tire and patch it up. Toyota wanted me to tow my car an hour away, keep it over night (who knows how I was to get home and go to work the next day) and they wanted to make me get a new tire for $300.
Life ebbs and flows, doesn't it? The last few months had been rough. I always loved that line in that song, "the black cat is changing colors."
I feel so blessed to have the community, friends and family I have– I am a blessed woman to have so many kind and giving people in my life. It's so about the people and returning to West Marin, after two months away, I am seeing that I do, in fact, have community.