Atlanta

I'm still recovering! Oh, it was a wonderful time, but so much
to process! I got back late Sunday night, and then, of course,
I had to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, going in
early each day, so I really didn't have any down time. Today
I am off, but things have been a mess. The plumber was in
and out all day long, not to mention the drilling and pounding
that has been going on here for weeks. They broke a pipe
earlier in the week, and I haven't had any cold water in the
bathroom. At least the toilet works again now. I had to sweep
up (well, shovel really) the wooden slats and large plaster
chunks that were left all over my bathroom floor. And there
remains a big hole in the wall. Tomorrow I am told I will have
to move a dresser so that the electrician can bring up a whole
lot of wires through the wall. I am SO ready to be out of here.

I have put off moving as long as possible simply because my
rent has been unbelievably cheap here. The landlord stopped
by to check on the work and now says he would like to have
me out by May 1st. Well I called the apartment manager of
the place in Waconia this evening to see if there is any word
yet on when I can move in. I have been in a sort of limbo all
this time. People keep asking me when I'm moving and I
haven't been able to tell them anything. Lo and behold she
says she was just going to call me and let me know that it will
be available April 1st. Perfect timing, don't you think?

Anyway, after months of this limbo I finally have a definite
timeframe, and suddenly I realize how overwhelmed I am
feeling. I just want to burst into tears. Some of that, I am
sure, is coming down off the "high" of Atlanta. Where to even
begin with comments?? Perhaps I should have a nice quiet
little meditation session to pull myself back together first, but
I know that writing will also have a centering effect.

First of all, I'd have to say that going to Atlanta was a bit of a
"reckless" decision. Oh, it turned out to be quite affordable.
Still, it was reckless in the sense that I swept my usual
intellectual centering aside without any reservations and
went entirely with what my heart was telling me. I needed to
be there. I think this was a healing trip for me. I had met
some Michael students a couple years previously under
difficult circumstances that created a lot of negative fallout. To
be honest, I was having a lot of anxiety for several days before
the trip about what might still be unresolved that would be
triggered by meeting them again. Let's just say that all is now
well. It is very well indeed. And I hope that feeling is mutual.

I was SO glad to get to meet Joe at the Atlanta airport, and SO
sad that he was leaving immediately to be with his family in
Texas on the death of his father. The energy in person was not
at all what I had expected. The warrior casting that has
supported and defended me online through thick and thin the
last few years, is much softer and gentler in person. Yeah, I
know - men don't want to hear that they are soft and gentle,
especially military guys - but what a teddy bear! At least that
was my brief impression.

Speaking of the Atlanta airport -- who would've thought you
needed to take a train to get from the concourse to the baggage
claim! I walked and walked and walked and walked and didn't
really know if I was headed in the right direction at all. And I
really didn't know exactly where Kathryn and Joe were
meeting me. It was an adventure! But I arrived, and we found
each other. My luggage, however, did not arrive. Apparently it
had been offloaded due to a balance problem. The plane was
overbooked and overweight. I understand the airport had to
make quite a few deliveries the next day. It arrived after noon
the following day. In the meantime, I had borrowed a
nightgown and a change of shirt from Kathryn.

I had first met Kathryn over three years ago. She was still in
Canada then. But she drove over 300 miles to meet me halfway
in Illinois with a precious cargo in tow - one of the three kittens
that she had rescued and bottle-raised from about 10-days old
- named collectively Lion, Tiger, and Bear, Oh My! Tiger Lily
(or just Lily, as I call her now) was to become sister to Percy,
a cat that had also been rescued and bottle-raised. But that's
another story. I was thrilled to finally meet Lily's brothers,
Lion and Bear, along with Kathryn's other three cats. It was
quite startling to see Lily's face on Lion, while Bear shares the
fluffy mane and tail. Every time I saw Bear, I would think
"Lily" and wanted to scoop him up and cuddle him. Bear,
however, was rather shy. I did pick him up once without
thinking, and I think he was too shocked to protest! All of the
cats did remarkably well with so much chaos invading their
space.

One of the great joys of the weekend was the moment that I
realized Mardel was there. I have gotten to know Mardel from
Nebraska (as well as anyone can online) through the Tuesday
night meditation group and chatting regularly in Tinytown.
We ALMOST met last summer when I was driving through
South Dakota after visiting my folks in Rapid City. We had
planned then to meet up in Sioux Falls, but Mardel sprained
her knee and was unable to drive to meet me. Earlier in the
week she had told us in Tinytown that she just wasn't able to
come to Atlanta. I had really, really wanted her to be there.
Then when she did work things out, she didn't tell anyone
(other than Kathryn and Joe) because she wanted to surprise
us. Well, Mardel, hon - I was surprised all right! And every
time I looked at Mardel all weekend, I would get this silly grin,
and think "I am so HAPPY that you are here." It made my
day (week, month...) I'm still pinching myself...

What else can I report? Most of the encounters are so intensely
personal. It just doesn't compute into words. We mostly just
hung out in small groups here and there around the house.
And people would shift from room to room, and the conversations
would ebb and flow. And it was just all agape, and essence
contact, and communing. I found myself drawn repeatedly to
wherever entity mate Nancy Gordon was. Now our entity
(according to Michael) is not noted for being drawn together in
any significant way. I can count on one hand the number of
people who are both entity mates AND Michael students. But
it was "comfortable" being in her presence. And perhaps her
low frequency had something to do with that too -- acting as
an anchor, when all around me was such high energy. I had a
headache that lasted through Saturday. No amount of ibuprofen
made any difference. Now one could argue that it was from being
on an airplane or the weather or simply being around constant
noise and activity. I used to get headaches, though, during
online channeling sessions, and this felt very much like that.
I think that I have learned to ground myself adequately, at
least online, but this was simply beyond my experience. It was
the worst on Saturday when the most people were gathered,
and Michael channel Troy had arrived, and I think Michael was
also much in evidence, since Troy was doing private channeling
throughout the day.

I won't give impressions of each person who was there -- as I
said before, those encounters were intensely personal just
because everyone was so open. It wouldn't do anyone justice,
and I'd invariably slight someone. But I do want to say what a
joy it was to meet Troy! Although we never got to talk much
with each other, there was a sort of quiet, almost telepathic
exchange with Troy of gratitude, delight, acknowledgement...
I think we have some "connection" that I have felt online but
can't put into words -- it would be something like "little brother."
Or maybe it is just that we are both vegetarian Aquarians with
Leo rising? Hah! I am already looking forward to Troy's
upcoming visit to Chicago in May. I'll be there!