Mice and Men

You know Mr. Jingles from The Green Mile? Umm.... let's just say that we have our own little Mr. Jingles. But he isn't as cute, and I have no intention of setting him up a mouse bed or practicing tricks with him in hopes he makes it to the mouse circus.

Our Mr. Jingles has decided to set up house under our gas burner. Yeah. How do I know this, you ask? Last night when I came home, I turned on the light and saw a small gray object move with the speed of lightning from one side of our outdoor kitchen, to under the gas stove burner. I freaked and made Francesco move it (standing from afar, with a broom-stick) and Mr. Jingles races under his feet to behind the fridge, climbs half way up the fridge wire, leaps to the top of the wall, and then leaps onto the roof. I kid you not. This IS a circus mouse, and he left us to clean up his nice little home, with all his "stuff" he left behind.

I pray Mr. Jingles does not return to his former home tonight. It has been disinfected, and there is not a crumb or turd to be found. On the other hand, he could return to find that the maid service has attended to his fine dwelling. I hope not. I do NOT like dirty mammals in my food preparation area. Grrr.

Self Love

My life is extraordinary. In all humility, that’s what it is…it is in no way ordinary. But it isn’t just my luck of the draw as some may believe.

I planned it this way. I purposely evolved into this place, this lifestyle, this mentality, this me. The choice was to be my own creator, or to just watch the clouds go by from deep within my hole in the ground… and that little circle of sky just wasn’t cutting it for me.

To make life beautiful is an absolute necessity for me, and I mean that as literally as one could possibly put it: I cannot afford to mess with unhappiness, stagnancy, and norms. My will for life decays before my eyes when I get stuck. Leah has been horribly close to not surviving on account of her little hole in the ground. More than once.

I came to realize (and I am still in the midst of this realization) that I have an emergency on my hands. I have to create conditions for myself that are so good that they leave no space for the flat-lining that I have dreaded most of my life. I have to wake up to sunrises so beautiful that I will never open my eyes dreading another day again. I need to be so active that I forget what it feels like to be paralyzed with nothingness. I have to see the plants, the flowers, the birds, and the the ocean so often that I never forget I am alive. That’s what it’s come down to. That’s how I have magnetized toward this little island. And no what my next steps may be, I promise myself this today:

I always will take care of myself. I will honor my needs… and if my needs seem extraordinary, if my needs seem rare, uncommon, over-the-top… then let my LIFE be extraordinary, rare, uncommon, over-the-top. And in this way, I will heal myself. And in this way I will grow. That is self love.

How sweet it is...

Francesco and I just moved in to our new house a few weeks ago. I still haven’t gotten to taking some quality pics of it, but I definitely want to show everyone. It’s small, with an outdoor kitchen and sitting area (with a hammock we added ourselves), and is just perfect for us. We have a gate that opens to a small pebble path that leads to a light embedded in a stone altar. On top of the altar is a huge stone pot with my new adopted friend… a baby frangipani tree. Frangipani is a tree found everywhere in Bali. It blossoms the most beautiful pale white flowers with yellow centers, that have the most wonderful aromatic sweetness, better than honeysuckle. Just devine. These flowers are so special to the Balinese that they are used in daily offerings to the gods, and in ceremonies on the sides of both men’s and women’s ears.

It has become my favorite flower in the whole word, and I wear them often in my hair, as they are bountiful. So you can imagine my happiness to see that we had one in our front yard. But our tree (I named her Leila) hasn’t bloomed yet, so I am making it my mission to care for her and make sure she gets all the love and water necessary in this heat and sun. I’ll be posting pics of her along the way… and soon we will be having breakfast with the sweet smell of frangipani in the air. I can’t wait!

Full Passport! YEAH!

During our last meeting with our trusty Indonesian immigration official, Ali, we discovered something that I think is totally awesome… my passport is full! Yes, FULL! The space taken is definitely not all from single entry and departure stamps, and much of it was visas and extensions, but still I'm happy.

I got this passport in 1999, when I was 16, and at age 25 now, I was due for a new one in a year anyway… but I think it’s cool that I beat my deadline! Go me! Now the only annoyance is that I have to apply for a new one at the American consulate here… and have it back in time for my trip to Singapore on May 12th (called a visa run because I have maxed-out my 6 month stay). Yearly goal I set January 1st, 2007: visit a new country every year for the rest of my life. So far, so good… let the journey continue!