Doesn’t that just wonder you?

First, let me just say that Oregon is fabulous and, if you haven’t been there, I’d highly recommend it!

The weather in Portland was, mostly, lovely. I saw lakes and mountains and rivers and waterfalls and places where many of those things come together, which is a wonder for this Mid West/South East girl. I had lunch in Washington State, adding yet one more to my list of states visited.

I have crossed through “Tsunami Hazard” zones (Who knew?) and over Humbug Creek, East and West. I even discovered the Museum of Whimsy in lovely little Astoria, OR. Really!

One particular highlight was a visit to Fort Clatsop where the Lewis and Clark expedition camped in Oregon Country during the winter of 1805-06. The model of the original fort left me feeling awed. I’m not sure I could have camped there for half an hour!

Everything being contextual, the only things I really knew before about Lewis and Clark were that they embarked from Missouri and they were accompanied and supported on their journey by a Newfoundland dog named Seaman.

Now, though, I feel some of what they must have felt centuries ago. Mostly the forest.

Hushed. Primal. Upholstered in whiskery moss. Living. Breathing.

A treasure not just as a teaching tool, but as a silent call to cherish and heal our planet.

And, I suspect, a strong imperative to go buy a scrap of every green fabric in my favorite quilting store and make an Oregon quilt.

Later, a lovely evening on the deck, complete with campfire-like candles, telling old, old stories and sharing new thoughts, too.

And then, the Rabbit Hole.

A place where everyone was born whole and enough. Where the distortions which have led us astray can be unraveled and edited into new, more helpful stories. Where it’s never too late to add new tools to our boxes, making more and more things possible.

In her fabulous Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott reads from the gospel of Toni Morrison:

“The function of freedom is to free someone else,” and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Get it all down…

Or, as the Rabbits would say, Transformation.

It’s a good word.

One of the most amazing insights for me was that much of what the Rabbits shared was familiar to me but I heard it through new filters because I have been busy being transformed.

I’m finding more and more connections between being and doing, especially as I look toward the future. Just writing these words feels all bubbly inside. My sure sign of truth.

When I was a kid, my farm Gramma, Elsie, would come visit us wherever we’d just moved and she always wanted to go see things she hadn’t seen before. From historic log homes to caves to alligators, her comment was always, “Doesn’t that just wonder you?”

Elsie has been along with me on this trip and I am mightily wondered!

A magnificent rose garden. Sun with cool breezes. Pure determination on the part of a room largely full of strangers to grow and learn. Possibilities. Hope. Challenge. New understanding. New friends.

I even learned to LYFT!

Many, many thanks to my guides for tours of body, mind, senses, heart, and spirit. You know who you are. And thanks to the Rabbits for the invitation. I suspect the adventure will go on for quite some time to come!

For now, though, a long flight home. Time to ponder and plan. A nap, perhaps, which often goes well with change.

And then?

More risks to take, helping others free themselves.

Where are the Rabbits in your world calling you?