Letter from Lethe

Dear Friends,

This Blog is such a neat experience for me, I so love reading and re-reading everything here. My life here in NZ is so different this year, I can hardly believe it. As well as doing 'whale watch' (we are convinced that whales will swim past our window and we will see them - they swam past on Easter Sunday and we missed them!!!!), we now do 'Mountain Watch'. Since the weather has got colder, and there is more snow around, it is easier to see both Mt Taranaki (it was the mountain in Tom Cruise's 'Samurai') and Mt Ruapehu, the highest North Island peak on the horizon. I love the volcanic abilities of Ruapehu, as well as its beautiful and soulful majesty.

We've had an extra gift this week, the mountain ranges immediately around Waikanae have a little break in them, and there is another peak behind which one morning just clothed itself in snow!

I'm 50 next week. Identity crisis again, I'm sure I just turned 23. Now I'm going to copy you what I wrote to Sue this morning, it’s fresh in me to share it with you here:

"Today is Tam's practicum, I always start to celebrate even before the practicum, it’s a great thing to open the door at practicum time. I know Katy tried to ring Tam last night, but none of the phone numbers worked that she had from last year. We've dreamed for weeks of coming up with the money to fly her over for the practicum, but its clearly not meant to be this time. But our light is burning away here for Tam and for the group.

It makes me think of when I did my practicum, and the times now when I have to do a Practicum. i.e. open a door to reveal myself, get through my ego (a million times over) and meet people waiting patiently on the other side of the door. Trust in the process, go with my warm-up, meet the warm-up of others. Feel afraid, and so what about fear, get moving anyway. The riches to be encountered are waiting, life needing to be lived, growth to be grown, relationships to be acknowledged, deepened, joy to be celebrated...
many many things.

Yesterday I had to have a drama with myself about having a birthday party. Frozen chook Lethe! Got my feet moving first, went for a walk, got my mouth open, started to warm up with Katy, as soon as we started to write down who is coming, the people became more important to me than my own stuff, and I started to warm. I went to the fruit and vegie market, brought some pumpkin and leeks and made an enormous pot of soup which is now in the freezer ready to go. Today we will sort out bedding, mattresses etc, since some people are coming a fair way and will stay the night. In the morning we'll put on the bbq and do bacon and eggs for whoever’s around. My plan is that it will be a beautiful clear night, full moon (June 30th) and we can enjoy the ocean while we have breakfast! Plan B will be it blows a gale and we'll be round the fire instead. "

So friends, that’s it from me. This is good to write, its good to have a way to connect with you, and you with me, not so fearsome at all now that I come to do it!

Much love to you, from Lethe