where I've been

Well, well, well. Here we are. A. is in bed reading my book, the counter is covered in glasses and boxes and jars, and an oatmeal cake is baking in the oven, just beginning to give off that delicious baking smell.

My sister is here, and she has gotten me out of the little box that my life had become in the six blocks between work and here and the grocery store. We borrowed cars, yesterday and today, and went to the beach and the mountains. We sat at little cafes eating melts of avocado and spinach on seven grain bread. We laid on the sand reading books and talking. We clambered over mossy rocks and picked out smooth pebbles from the freezing water to roll around in our hands. We strode up the path just behind a woman talking about her experiences in South Africa. (I was eavesdropping. Blatantly.)

I feel almost human. "I'm so glad you are here!" I kept telling her today. "I feel free again!"

My friend S. works on Saturdays. I'm beginning to wonder if she'd lend me her car some or every Saturday in exchange for a weekly filled gas tank. Sitting alone beside a mountain stream once a week could make me a much happier person.