Freedom

A couple days ago I put the top down in my lil' baby car to run early morning errands. As the wind blew through my hair and warm Colorado sunshine beat down on me, I received a rush of memories of my first spring here in Colorado and the incredible freedom I felt at having had the courage to make my move here in 2000 -- all alone and scared to death, but I did it! What a rush!! And then I remembered a couple summers ago when my friend Irene was with me driving down from Mount Evens into Evergreen. She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said, "Let's just keep driving on forever!" In that moment I knew she understood. Cars have always been like that for me -- my freedom. As a teenager, I could escape my family and just drive wherever I wanted and no one had to know where I went. The tunes on my radio were all I needed for company. I've always loved road trips too, even by myself. There's something about being in a car and I feel free as a bird!

That same morning, I walked in a park in the suburbs that I hadn't visited since winter when it was a huge open field of brown with a small lake and a path around it. This time it had been transformed into beautiful spring meadow with blue and yellow wild flowers. The lake was almost hidden with tall rushes and trees. It was filled with water birds and ducks. A white egret stood by the shore fishing. As I walked I got a whiff of pine needles in the underbrush that took me back to my summers as a teenager and freedom at my summer camp in the woods. And just then, synchronistically, my music player played Suzanne by Leonard Cohen, a song I learned from a friend at camp when I was 14 and spent hours learning to sing and play it on my guitar. I was flooded with memories and feelings from my life.

What a gift this day had been. A reminder of all the experiences that have brought me to this place where I am today and gratitude for the freedom I have to live in this beautiful place and this incredible life!