You have to know where you come from to know where you're going. (Lindsay)

August is "Happiness Happens Month" so it was only fitting that we fill these 31 days with visits to our friends and family members.  If May was a bit hectic in its planning, June was a deep breath in the mountains, July was adventures in new places, then August was certainly about reconnecting with those we love.

It all started in Prince Edward Island and a visit to a dear friend.  Elise and I spent three months together at the Chimpanzee Conservation Center in Guinea, West Africa in 2005-2006.  This is a sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees; survivors of the illegal bushmeat and pet trades in Africa.  They all have stories but most make their way to this haven as young babies (1-5 years old) and spend 10-15 years learning essential skills from one another, the international volunteers and native Africans.  Volunteers are required to spend at least six months - enough time to learn how to A) survive around and B) assist these amazing animals.  While most days you feel like a nanny with very hairy children, some days may bring a chimp attack complete with boulders thrown at your head and a bite to the back of the neck because you looked at someone's new girlfriend too long.  Combine the stress of trying to integrate with a group of wild animals with the complete isolation of the sanctuary (the closest African village which has no electricity or services is hours away on a very bumpy road) and you inevitably form strong bonds with those around you. 

Elise showing the babies something essential to their survival. 
Or maybe she's just eating her lunch.

Elise showed up after I'd been there three months.  I remember being excited because she was the first volunteer coming from Canada (the rest were from France) and mistakenly thought I'd be able to speak English again.  Not only was I wrong but her Quebecois accent was the most difficult for me to understand.  We spent many an afternoon miming weird gestures to one another.  The international volunteers were incredibly patient with my minimal understanding of French.  When I said, "Dan should go in my butt!", they politely taught me how to say, "Dan should ride on my back!".

Dan on my back.  Not in my butt.

 

Elise is one of my favorite people.  She has a confidence and empathy I've never seen.  She says exactly what's on her mind but not in an overbearing or pushy way.  She literally has children named after her in Africa because of her ability to connect with people.  And yet, we'd lost touch over the years and I hadn't seen or talked to her in seven years.  We arrived at her apartment, the door flew open and I was immediately in her armpits (hugs are appropriate in this scenario).  We spent hours reminiscing and cooked a 10pm dinner with plenty of wine.  Keira was thrilled at the amount of drinking that occurred because it allowed her to snatch a baklava out of Elise's boyfriend's hand. 

The weekend brought an oyster festival on the western side of PEI, camping in an awesome spot and a day at the beach.  As she forgot her bathing suit at the campground and needed to borrow a sports bra from me, I was flooded with memories of swimming in the Niger River, shrieking at every movement which even remotely resembled a hippo or crocodile.  Good food, wonderful province and promises to do a better job staying in touch.

Then it was on to Baxter State Park and down the coast of Maine.  In our previous home, we rented out two bedrooms in our upstairs over the years and were fortunate enough to have Anna move in with us for six months.  (the roommate lottery is a scary venture)  And while she and her husband, Bobby, had since moved to Virginia, we were thrilled to hear they had returned to New England just a week prior.  One of my favorite nights in Boscawen was an all night board game marathon that had me literally peeing my pants.  (Board game: "What part of a man makes him more feminine?"  Bobby: (reading an answer from one of us) "His vagina".   And out came the wine.  Through my nose.

So we had dinner and walked around town catching up on our ever changing lives.  They were kind enough to adopt my grandma's cat when my beloved grandma passed away because our pets were not accepting of another cat joining the clan.  Abby lived in our office at home for a month or so while I tried every attempt to keep her out of the shelter where I worked.  One day, Anna came to me and said, "I like Abby.  Let me talk to Bobby."  And my reply, "Yes.  Please.  Thank you."  And so it goes.

Abby getting ready to move to her new home.



Just an hour or so down the highway and we stopped at one of our favorite "pit-stops"; Jim's Aunt & Uncle's place in Wells, Maine.  Some of the most gracious people, I swear.  We were there about ten minutes before his Aunt Molly started talking about her frustration because she was finally a match for a bone marrow patient but couldn't donate because of a pending shoulder surgery.  And then it was on to how they could help an acquaintance's son with college.  It's just who they are.  I was so inspired I told Jim I wanted to donate my kidney.  He rolled over and fell asleep so I took that as a yes.

Their beach house is cozy and there is a constant (and I mean constant) stream of people coming through.  When others (including ourselves) might buy a retreat to spend time alone, they open it up to anyone in their lives who might need a break and can't afford the otherwise exorbitant fees of vacationing in Maine in the summer.  It is a gift that we get to spend many weekends and random days in "their peace in Maine". 

Keira searching for clams on the beach.

While I was blissfully enjoying a rare, fast internet connection, I noticed that our most favoritest yoga instructor needed help stacking wood the following day.  So off went our now standard email (copy/paste) - "Do you have a driveway?  Can we sleep in it?  We will offer X if the answer is yes".  She wrote back a very colorful "HELL YES" (that's not really what she said but I can't write her response on this blog because children are watching)  So it was off to Concord and our old stomping grounds.  Being Tina, she wasn't there when we got there so we parked the camper, befriended her dog and drank wine until her teenage daughter came home and invited us in.  We stayed up until midnight with her girls making Friendship Bracelets.  (Which is crazy because I was just telling Jim about how I used to sell these bracelets in the lunchroom in 6th grade.)

Now this is what I call a team effort.

Woke up and went to yoga class and then stacked wood all afternoon with a very nice hodgepodge of Tina's friends and a sick but determined teenage daughter.  Many glasses of wine later and it only collapsed once.  Success!  We've been going to Tina's "Yoga for Athletes" class for the past four years and it's one of the things we miss most on this trip.  I've laughed hysterically through that class and cried uncontrollably.  (the class was on Wednesday nights and was my mid-week relief from the stress at work)  I've listened to dear friends snore through Savasna and shed a tear themselves.  And it was all good.  At the risk of sounding like a hippie yoga person, it truly does just take paying attention to your breath to experience your life.

Drinks at Margarita's with another ex-roommate of ours, Daryl.  (Daryl Barrel)  Living with Daryl and Jim was like getting to see back in time to when Jim was a small lad.  "Mom, can we ride bikes?"  He was our last roommate and one of the most long-term and we thankfully lucked out in the lottery with him.  He was quite understanding of our, "umm, we want to go on a road trip but we don't know when and we have to sell the house first so can you clean your room" crap.  He even helped restrain small kittens on the dining room table when I needed to draw blood and put a smile on his face every time I brought another obnoxious dog home and said, "umm, I don't know if he likes men yet".

Feeling refreshed and sore, it was back to the homebase - good ole Swanzey, NH and the Monadnock region.  We are, at this stage, planning to move back to this area when we return.  (Of course, there are always mitigating factors so no promises people!) but we both love this area.  Inevitably, Jim logs onto the real estate website when we're here and we end up driving by a few properties before I remind him that we're still on a road trip and I don't care how pretty the house is, I'm living in a tiny camper.

We spent the week in the hay field of the faux in-laws, teaching Jim's six year old nephew how to snap his fingers and say, "oh no you did - n't."  Kathy: You. Are. Welcome.  I love knitting in this house because they have the only non-toddler chair in the world that I actually fit in - I mean, sitting all the way against the back and feet fully on the floor!  It's amazing.  We washed our sheets for the first time in three months and hung them on an actual clothesline - ecstasy.  Took Ivy and Keira for a trail run in the woods behind the house which always fills me with smooshy happiness because it's proof that with time, my dear girl can hang out with another girl off-leash and actually enjoy it.   Round out our visit home with a family reunion and a night of Scrabble (alright, I loathe Scrabble but the company was good) and all was well.

Jim's family is vast and continues to multiply.  Thankfully, they are also hilarious.

We were scheduled to be in Rhode Island for my very good friend's wedding.  Ben and I met in college as bus drivers (yup, we drove buses - who lets college kids drive buses?).  We spent our last summer on campus not just sharing an apartment, but a room because there were five of us crammed into a small three bedroom apartment.  He slept in my closet which is as hilarious as it sounds.   "Goodnight Ben.  Goodnight Lindsay."  A normal exchange made funny by the closing of a closet door.  Oh, the adventures we had.  Phone rings.  "Hello?"  "Lindsay.  I woke up in a shrub."  "Of course you did."  Ah college.  But we've changed so much since then.

Then.

And now.
See.  Growth.

After a weekend of stuffing our faces, it was off to my favorite place to eat brownies.  Mom's house in upstate New York.  I spent about four months living in her basement after grad school waiting to get a job so I'm always happy to return and see how far I've come.  Crap.  I still don't have a job.  Anyway, I joke that I've desensitized my mother to my adventures at this stage and she hardly notices when I do something crazy anymore.  2001: Mom, I'm going to Australia for six months.  (she cried when I got to Los Angeles)  2005: Mom, I'm going to Africa for six months.  (she didn't freak out until week three of not hearing from me).  2013: Mom, we're going to sell our house and live in a truck.  "That's nice dear." 

As they say, the apple doesn't appear to fall too far from the tree.

Upon consuming an entire pan of brownies, a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a box of cupcakes, our blood sugar told us to move on.  Facebook has been an incredible gift on this trip.  While I usually use it just to see what people are doing and to post excessive pictures of animals, it really has allowed us to find people with whom we've lost touch.  My parents divorced when I was very young and I was about five the last time I saw my dad's sister and her husband - Aunt Ruth & Uncle Otto.  A few years ago, I found my cousin on FB.  Turns out my Aunt and Uncle live in Michigan and were literally on our way to another family gathering.  So after 27 years, I saw them again.  Crazy.  Amazing dinner over a dose of catching up and breakfast the next day with more catching up and promises to stay in touch.

Then it was up the coast of Michigan to my Aunt Kay's and Uncle Bob's new camp on Hubbard Lake.  I use the term "camp" loosely as it's a three bedroom, two bath lodge.  Our mini family reunion included my Aunt Cindy & Uncle Rob (my mother has two sisters and they all look exactly the same so it just feels like I have three moms running around), my cousin Heather and her kids and my cousin Nicole's seven year old daughter who quickly became Keira's shadow.  I normally see my family in an exhausting, four day out and back around Thanksgiving so it was blissful to spend a whole weekend drinking and swimming without a job to get back to.   I love to see my family because A) they know how to make a good drink and B) they tell me hilarious secrets about my mother. 

Can you tell which is my mom? 
Neither can I.

And so we're off again - away from the comfort of places we know and people we love and while I'm crazy excited to see what's in store for us as we head across the Upper Peninsula, through Wisconsin and on to our first big park in South Dakota, it has been a true gift to spend time back in our roots.

"A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors;

for the expression of all his history, and his wants."
Ralph Waldo Emerson