Malibu "roughing it"

There is very little roughing it going on in the hills of Malibu tonight. However, my students who yesterday were putting on their eye makeup in the middle of my sculpture class are now crowded around a fire, singing songs, and really joyful that they survived the two mile hike up here.

Something has to be said for that. I give all credit to the pacific ocean. Well done.

Home Part IV: I can tell that we are gonna be friends...

Adjusting, settling, finding home- three words that describe where I have been for all this time.

Hi, it's been a while... I know. I wish I could tell you what happens to me during the summer months that keeps me from this word box. I wish I could say I haven't had internet access or I haven't had time. Really, I've just been making friends with lots of different people and places, finding my place, and then driving away from it again (and again). From Pittsburgh to the Utah, Petrolia to Topanga, ever since I left Nashville I have been weaving in and out of the fabric of various stages of my life. And, loving the shit out of every moment of it.

I can't go back through it all. For one thing, it's just too much and I don't have the mental capacity to hash it back out again (and, I'm sure that eventually all will be told through various posts of remembering how epic the summer truly was). But mostly, it's because right now things are going really REALLY well- and I'd love to tell you about that most of all.

This is my new house. We live at the very top of it (actually you can't really even see our place in this picture but the house itself is so beautiful that I just had to share it) in a tiny little one bedroom with a back porch that makes you feel as though you live in a tree house. For us, it's perfect. The canyon holds a kind of community that is small and familiar yet exciting and vibrant. There are cafes and shops fives minutes away and in ten minutes you can find yourself on top of Tuna Canyon looking over the ocean and all of it's glory. My kitchen is the size of a wardrobe and mice eat my bread if I don't keep it in the fridge...but I really love it. Sometimes I pinch myself- who wouldn't?

Don't get me wrong...there are plenty of things that are overwhelming and scary. I miss a lot of things from my "homes" that I have collected over the past 5 years. But, as I sit at this desk writing in my little word box for the first time since June, I notice that there is a ring on my finger that was not there the last time I posted. A very important ring that probably contributes to the "home-ness" of this canyon, the apartment, and mostly of the man sitting as his desk beside me. It's a new path, a very important path, and a VERY exciting path.

So Topanga, you feel really good tonight. I can tell, we are gonna be friends.