At last....

At 8:30am, it's 41 degrees in our screened porch, and I sit with hot water bottle on my lap, baby blue angora hat atop my head, and a steaming cup of jasmine tea close at hand. It's a good life, really it is.

Have you heard about our Porch? My husband built it. It's amazing and a perfect nest after a year of travel.

When we first returned to New Orleans, I had ambitious plans to weatherize our little home, but a multitude of rental property projects, family gatherings, and general busyness quickly allowed my porch project to fall by the wayside. But we have a lofted bed that is walled on three sides, the fourth side I have insulated with an old sleeping bag. With a space heater and partially-working electric blanket, it is a cozy space for two. However, after a 34 degree night, we are eagerly awaiting our Christmas present from the folks - thanks (in advance) for the down comforter, Mom and Dad! 

So, for now, we enjoy our last few weeks in New Orleans. It has been a joy to have our friend Elisa visiting us from Ireland. The circle of couchsurfing is incredible, especially when you are able to host a traveler who once hosted you. Elisa's visit has prompted us to enjoy some of the special and unique aspects of our fair city, and to take a pause from the head down, blinders on, utterly focused, seemingly never-ending task list of repairs and roofs and projects. Poboy picnics in City Park, candy-making, early morning beers at the Mother-In-Law Lounge garage sale, and bonfires in the yard with neighbors and friends were just the diversions we needed. Can we continue the circle by another visit to Dublin someday soon?

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon and evening alternating between my current holiday card project, and stoking the ongoing bonfire (we are trying to burn through a few 'trash' trees in the yard). Apparently, my card project was just the push I needed to get my creative thoughts a-flowin'. I awoke to blog concepts piling up with great speed, henna designs, and quilt-making patterns all racing through my mind. Like I said, I'm a morning person. I'm not allowed to have coffee - I don't need any additional energy in the mornings.

The countdown to an Oregon Christmas is on....t-minus 15 days 'till our departure. 

And so we gear up to hit the road again, didn't we tell you that the journey wasn't ending?

Hope that you all are enjoying the holiday season and staying warm, wherever you are.

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Beverly Reminds of Seafarers

Beverly reminds me of Seafarers.
The Town rolls along on Hills.
New England Coast
Has a hard handhold on me.

Its small inlets,
Tiny Harbors which Present
Themselves against Frishermen's
Lodges, Anchoring and bringing Long
Long Taught lines ashore.

Beverly reminds me on
Seafarers returned Wet on Winter
Storms, Storms tossed on clapboards

With salt snow, spitting winds
Winters ghosts of Hawks
Owls of black ice night

Nice Lanie Beverly's Daughter
keeps Summer fruit
Autumn's gourds and orchards.

Vines that grow up beside
Flag poles and Halloween.

Wind is always here
Haunting sounds that
Rub against old doorways

Playing Riddles on our
Own Tides and Sentiments
Now three Generations.

Eliot guards the garden
Rugged rocky coast path
North. Eliot knows rivers

The way to fjord this Coast
With pebbly soft Grey
and Blue beaches
Guards the cold.

Beneath perfect round
Pebbles Death's rattle
Smiling mosses
Lit green in last wave
Retreats partnered in Sunlight

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Hot Pot on a Cold Night

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we spent the last day of 2009 wandering around CHILLY Nanjing, exploring the Purple Mountain and the Botanical Gardens within. Not exactly the best season to view local foliage, but we thoroughly enjoyed our walk. The Bonsai Garden was especially fascinating: twisted trunks and stunted growth and fairly grotesque in their beauty. Bonsai-making is an art that intrigues me to no end. It was wonderful to spend a few hours wandering through nature; staying in the dense asian urban jungles makes me crave grass and trees and open, natural spaces. Trust me, had it been just a few degrees warmer, I would have been barefoot. However, the temperature yesterday barely cleared 38 degree F.

We had a great dinner at a hot pot restaurant (wouldn't you know, our latest hotel is on THE hot pot restaurant street) and basked in the aromatic warmth of a simmering bowl of broth. Ordering was a challenge, as the ordering sheet was much like one found in a western sushi shop: columns of text with space to mark "1" or "2" next to each. No pictures. No english. Enter the "Point It" book and help from the restaurant staff. We ended up with delicious, thinly-sliced beef, spinach, sweet potatoes, noodles, and mushrooms. We sent the vienna sausages back....eww!

***If you haven't been to a hot pot restaurant, look for one in your city! You order a bowl of broth (sometimes divided into two different flavors), which sits on a burner in the middle of your table. The food you order arrives raw, and you cook it on the table in the simmering broth.***

I have been continually surprised by the COLD weather here in southeastern asia; last night in Nanjing was 29 degrees. I have been so grateful to my parents for giving us two lightweight sleeping bags for our journey!! Nearly every night I have been inside my sleeping bag, underneath the hotel comforter....with long underwear. Yes, I am a weenie when it comes to low temperatures.

Traveling is so different in cold climates, especially as a "backpacker." I realize now that nearly all of my travels have been to or within warmer climates: colombia, venezuela, mexico and central america, and Caribbean islands. And yes, I was born in Maine, grew up in Oregon, and should certainly have a higher tolerance for cold. But I don't. And I am SO looking forward to sloughing off these many layers (especially the wool-blend overcoat) as we continue our journey in a southerly direction.

I'm sure that many of you reading this post are looking forward to warmer weather as well.

Hope you have a great New Year's Eve, see you in 2010!!

xo

**See our travel photos at http://honeyserviceyear.shutterfly.com (password "travel")

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