mila rubie

may i introduce you to mila rubie,
a 2005 ruby red prius?

she is named after her favorite tibetan,
the saint milarepa..the singing yogi..
who understood the nature of reality
and lived his life accordingly...

if she were a person,
she'd be standing in a wide straddle
with her hands on her hips,
a bright, wide grin on her face,
her shiny red henna hair blowing in the wind....

she absolutely adores the open road..
has only a mild interest in gasoline..
loves to challenge her mileage..
and wave at truckers as often as possible!

she brakes for buffaloes,
picks up hitch-hikers..
(the latest being mo-mo, the mouse..
a hanger-on ..
mila is intently encouraging
her/his departure..)
does her best after she's showered...
chants blessings of love and peace..
(a bit of a flower child)
aims to please her driver..
who also adores the wide open
ribbon of hiways and byways..

we make a fine team..
i am ever so greatful for her companionship..
we commune in silence often..
though we are known to carry on lengthy dialogues..
such as:
oil drillings in the middle east,
the end of poverty worldwide,
all things poetic..
(she cherishes emerson and thoreau..)
quirky baseball statistics..
zoning codes in our home towne..
the value of standing on one's head..
fiber,
the string theory from a buddhist perspective,
the four food groups according to us..
the joys of traveling together..

we made it across the us..
in a week..
first time!
charlotte rose was impressed
with her grace and playful energi..
through big weather..

the only glitch to our cross country adventure
was a hiccup in my mind..
coming out of cleveland for some odd
unknown reason i took 76 WEST
as charlotte rose and rubie mila
silently held out their hands to 80 EAST
with a longing for home in their eyes and hearts..
it took us 2 1/2 hours to crawl out
of that wobble and back to our trajectory east..
mila confided in me later ...
the highways 76W and 79N
were in need of our cosmic juice..
we did our duty to bless the roadways
and made it to charlotte's home by 8:30 pm..

welcomed by her sister, my god-daughter, jenna..
her friends, raynboe and grant..
mama and pop..donna and karl..
andy, the cat..
scruffy, carlos and gloria.. the dogs..
the turtle..sidney 3 ..or 4..?

mila rubie is sitting quietly out front..
enjoying the stillness of her meditation practice..
wet with misty rain..
a serene, contented smile on her lips...

you always take the weather with you.....

well do i lie like a lounge room lizard
or do i sing like a bird released?
everywhere you go
you always take the weather with you~ crowded house

this is a song my 2 1/2 year great nephew, elliott,
sings with great gusto..right after hey now, hey now..

we just missed a wilde storm
w/ tornado warnings in chicago..
we will proceed with caution!
now in madison, wisconsin..
meeting a college chum of charlotte's
for double chocolate chip pancakes..
(traveling with a 19 year olde is funnnn!)

we head to chicago to meet another of her pals..
with a visit to the art institute..
~ reminiscent of time w/ my mama and sis..
seems we were often taking the train
to the institute when we lived in chicago area..
it is where sallie had her first lessons in needlepointe..
( i may be making this up yet i think it is authentic memory..)
who can say?
the past spreads out wide behind us
like some dragon tail, caught on fire...
leaving the forest of our lives charred & crisp..
...and where do we find the truth?

only now..only now..
the chanting wise ones sing..

you always take the weather with you..
it is so..

baaaadlands....

it's the grass..
the wind..
the spires of geologic fossil..
the prairie dawgs, the bighorn ..
the rise, rise up ..
the so low solitude of deep..

it's the sky..
the cloud bursts..
the lines that match the lines that match..
all the way across the canyons..
fortresses..castles in the air..
the air, the empty... the dust..

the grasses..the prairie grasses..
praise be! we are protecting them ~
from ourselves..

the badlands are waaaay baaaad..
and that is good..

roadies

the way you wish on a white horse:
lick the thumb on your right hand,
place your thumb in the palm of your left hand,
make your noble wish....
make a fist with your right hand,
pop your fist into the palm of your left hand..
pull it away as you open your fist..
sending the wish up and away...

getting about 48.6 miles to a gallon..
- highest 56.8-
cost of gas..
between $3.49 -$3.75

we have a new traveling companion..
momo, the masticating mouse..
he/she is munching the paper wrappers
of chocolate bars, paper towels, cough drops..
charlotte and i have emptied the prius completely
in hopes that our guest will move along to
more gourmet fare...

golden eagles winging the morning light our way..
a perfect om cloud blesses the mid-day bleu..
sunset raspberry swirl fingering the evening..

the road goes ever on and on...

o give me a home...

where the buffalo roam...
yellowstone

geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots..
rugged mountains, lava flows, waterfalls..
lodgepole pine, larch, alpine meadows and desert...

we were welcomed into the park by two trumpeter swans..
we saw bison..o their mighty heads and stalwart hearts..
mule deer, pronghorn and elk ..
our grizzly bear was chilling out on a bed of dandelions..

the wolves and bull moose kept hidden
yet we were content with our 'catch'..

yellowstone lake, filled with cutthroat trout,
is north america's largest mountain lake..
20 miles long, 14 miles wide
and at its deepest point, 430 feet deep..

old faithful erupted for a large surrounding crowd..
every 91 minutes or so the magma heats up
spouting a killer whale plume of wet into high heaven..

charlotte and i left the park fully charged..
we made it to buffalo, wyoming
where we sank into oblivion and slept
to the sound of a kenworth idling!

on we go to buffalo... new york...

traveling across the usa ~ one day at a time

'the most difficult thing is the decision to act.
the rest is merely tenacity.
the fears are paper tigers.
you can do anything you decide to do.
you can act to change and control your life;
the procedure, the process, is its own reward.'
~amelia earhart

i am / we are pooped!
at the gateway to yellowstone..
i am traveling w/ charlotte rose..
my god-daughter.. jenna's.. sister..
charlotte turned 19 the day she arrived
from new york..happy birthday!
we had serious pizza pie for
her birthday cake..

also traveling with us are:
finister, the monkey who wears an i love ny tee shirt..
cynthia, the pig who holds a pink fleece blanket..
flippers, the very large penguin pillow
and of course, babar..the elephant
who has been traveling with me
for 33 years..

right outside our window this evening are snowy peaks,
crisp yellow hills, pine and larch..ravens galore..
the light shifts, moving shadows across the knobby knee mountains..
the aire is cool..expansive..
a raven turns sideways into the light..
pink now, the hills are swimming..
the moon is waning..

soon the sunsummersun will be full..
to the brim with solstice grace
while we keep pedaling the prius
.......east.....

first hill

hello leading lady..
the large african american wooed
to me as i puffed up capital hill..
i stopped to inquiry as to the source of his greeting..
being pleased that i had paused for a chat,
he told me he sees plenty of leading ladies
on his daily walk up and down madison avenue..
he feels it is his duty to let the lovelies know
that their power and glory is acknowledged..
i gave him a bow and continued the climb...

coming up behind me was another gent..
walking his bike up the hill..
i teased...
you better get on that bike and ride!
he laughed and told me there was
plenty of ground to cover so he was taking a break..
we hiked up the hill and spoke about work and play..
l.j. then asked if i was married..
..noooooo..
what luck!
he was just out of a relationship..
i suggested he take a break..
he replied..
yes! let's!
the conversation circled around
the shape of my legs; the size of my bum..
trader joe's showed up just in time..
he rode down the hill smiling..

on the way back to pioneer square,
i found myself walking with a UW microbiologist...
she loves to walk to her favorite shoppes..
the polish place for sausages,
madison street market for everything else..
the gardens at seattle university for a rest..

the ease of street speak..

if you want peace of mind,
do not find fault with others.
rather learn to see your own faults.
learn to make the whole world your own.
no one is a stranger, my child;
this whole world is your own.
~ sarada devi