My New Vacation

Wow.
I mean WOW. One of those surly gods on Mount Olympus just stirred the pot. I'm having a sweet vacation but not the one I expected. It's been a week and a half since I've had the emotional space to write so here I go:

Saturday, the 14th, was the day I peaked on the craziness scale. Naomi had called with a recommendation from my brother that I come home. That my mother was declining. Mish, Caspar, and I had spent most of the 13th running around, doing paperwork, in San Antonio, another seaport an hour or so to the south. We just squeaked through, getting our bikes put together and running, with no time to spare before the wharehouse closed for the weekend. For some stupid reason, I took charge of getting us home, having studied the road map on the way there. The 3 of us were on our bikes and the wonderful sisters who drove us there were behind. I was sure I saw a short cut but somehow I left San Antonio on the wrong road and by the time I stopped we were half way to Santiago and still an hour from Valporaiso. I hit the wall emotionally. I was beyond even being able to speak and meakly followed the rest as they worked out a route back to Valporaiso.

The next morning, the 15th, we spent the morning tracking down somewhere to store the KLR that we had spent all the previous day getting out of storage. I'd already switched my return flight to the night of the 15th and as the day wore on my chances of making the flight were waning. Finally Mish, probably from self protection because I was so dreadful and stressed to be around, sat me down and asked "What do you want right now?" And when I put my fears of losing my friends by asking too much of them, I had to say that I wanted to see my mother. All else was secondary. This is where one finds out how true his friends are. Mish and Caspar told me to just pack and get ready to go to the Santiago airport and they would take care of everything else. When I fully accepted their offer, a massive weight lifted. The effect was immediate. Not only did they take care of getting my KLR into storage for a year, but they even arrainged, with more help from the most sweet, friendly, and helpful sisters, to drive me to the the Santiago airport, park the car and stay with me til I made it through Aduana. As I said, Wow.

The whole time my Mother was in the hospital, the University of New Mexico Cancer Center, I will keep private. Just to say that the nurses, doctors, and staff who worked there were the kindest, most patient, and attentive that I had ever seen. All of my siblings were there, Naomi and Megan came for 3 days, Doug and Deborah came for several days, and only when Mom went home on the 20th or so (my memory is already fuzzy on the exact day) did every one return home. Since then, Mom and I have been at the Ranch and it's been a real treat to spend this time with her. Rosalinde and Al are right next door and are an integral part of Mom's recovery, as usual. Hiking, staring off in to space, reading, chatting, make up our days. Not being in any hurry is such a joy. I've been saying for years that I want to visit the Ranch more, and here I am. A true vacation. Just not the one I thought I was going to have.

We'll see.

D