sparkled with unexpected delight

...in which our plucky heroine travels to Seattle Thursday evening, for several days of helping some friends with their move from where they have been living for many years into an incredible house that they are buying.

Now mind, my current health meant that my help consisted of walking over to TJ's and getting more empty boxes and dozens of eggs to hard boil (protein finger food), washing and packing kitchen things, cooking, and a small amount of child-minding whilst the more able adults and stalwart teens ran things back and forth. But the long weekend was a real joy, for a whole assortment of reasons. On Friday, after a day of this, my pals suddenly announced that we were to be going out with them to see a live performance by Cabiri that evening; they had been able to get two additional tickets to see "Gods of the Night".

a sampling of the kinds of theater Cabiri does

The show we saw was based on Babylonian celestial mythology, and it was spectacular, in both senses of the word! The combination of various kinds of aerial acrobatics, dance, color and light was one of the most amazing things I have been gifted to be able to see, and to watch the drama of Inanna's journey on stage was particularly meaningful. If fortune allows, a trip back to Seattle later in the year to see another Cabiri performance would be wonderful; the combination of skill and story are incredibly resonant. I always cherish the bits that I find that are pieces of the world I want to live in, this was an entirely unexpected one.

Some of my Seattle friends I have known for years and others that I had only met once or twice, but I've always wanted to spend more time with them. The young children are three years older than when I last visited, and the older daughter is just about eighteen; how thoughtful my friends are as parents, and the attention with which communication happens in their family, is impressive to watch.

I realise that there are just as many subcultures for younger folks as for adults, but the whole passel of friendly teens that came over to help with the move were so very different from the teen world of my own youth, that I went home sprinkled with a dusting of hope for the future. On Saturday night, after hours and hours of packing/moving/etc, we were all draped exhausted on some of the remaining chairs and floor, when the young adults started playing Truth or Dare. I'd only ever read of that game, but this was not perzacktly like what I imagined; rather than discomfort, the idea of the game seemed to be to ask Truth questions that would bring deep, intriguing ideas out where they could be seen and talked about. In only a short while, the teens had included everyone in the room, parents, visiting adults, and the six year old... No one had the energy to even request a Dare, but the conversation went round till it was apparent that sleep would be necessary for the next days efforts. It was, for me, a most unusual evening.

When it came time to head south to Portland and my Acorn Cottage home, there were new friends, stronger connections, and a whole slew of new ideas to mull over...(not to mention some seriously Sore Legs and Feet, and somewhere in there my eyeglass nosepad broke) In time, the legs and feet will rest, the glasses will be repaired; the true lasting effect will be another strand of connection is strengthened. There are extant invitations for visits from up north down here, and promises to return...