Rachel drove the final stretch in the early morning to get
us to Eugene. We parked in the
target parking lot and slep all together.
It’s very very peaceful to all be sleeping in the same den. When the people and the dogs are
sleeping, it becomes a collective ritual sleep… very sweet. I got to wash my face in Target – a
first for me. The boys used a
single burner on the blacktop to heat up water for the coffee. The dogs chased eachother on the lawn,
Rachel slept to recover from the drive.
Our
first destination this morning was to Rachel’s high school friend’s boyfriend’s
house. The boyfriend was sleeping,
but we got to use the kitchen to make breakfast – looked like a fra house when
we arrived.. Beer bong hanging from the winding staircase, beer stains all over
the carpet, lost panties stuck to the wall and a kitchen filled with dirty
dishes. We did all the dishes so
we could get some counter space and all worked together to make a potato onion
cheddar scramble, bacon, toast and coffee. We sat on the foor and at our breakfast. It’s so satisfying to build something
with a team – including breakfast.
Lauren was really kind and open to us, our time with her was relaxing
and fun – we spent a few hours in a park by her house where Eugene folks were
in Swim suits to soak up the 1% of sunshine they get in a year. We happened to arrive on a lucky sunny
day, playe crossword puzzles in the sun.
The boys played on the teeter totter. We spun ourselves on the merry-go-round, the dogs dug in the
san, cole slacklined.
After
this great visit, we hopped aboard the bus and rove east to Willamet National
Park where Rachel had remembered a special hot spring. Though it was Sunday and the park was
supposedly closed, we took the risk and drove the bus up a windy road along a
huge Emerald green lake. We found
some campgrounds and instinctually found our site, set up our tents and started
a fire. We’re such a good
team. I told everyone that I
feel very nourished by this experience.
It’s amazing how everyone just works together, when things need to get
sdone, someone sees the need and does it – we’re a collective and no one really
needs to be asked. For dinner we
made a tortilla stew. It was
Mexican-ish in taste, because we don’t have a large stockpot, we split p the
stew into two separate pans. One
had all the fresh veggies with spices sizzling, the other was a tomato sauce –
corn, pinto beans and spice.
Rachel made guacamole, she always finds a way to make the most luxurious
food with minimal ingredients.
Opened a can of chicken breast and put everything we made into
bowls. We sat around the fire,
eating, laughing and preparing for the hot springs to come… When the stars were
fully visible, we walked as a pack along a forest path by the light ofour
headlamps. The path rose and
fell,veered left and right, eventually ending at a tiny hut lit by a
candle. The faint light of the
stars illuminated the 4 teired rock pools surrounded by tall pine trees. We all stripped down and awkwardly
climbed over the rocks in the dark into the first pool at the top (the
hottest). There were a cfew people
there enjoying with us. This was
the oment where I felt like there was magic. Like we started on that special path of openness, allowing
those unforgettable moments in. At
one point, in the hottest pool, there were 3 women including Rachel and I, and
two men including Cole. The woman
started singing this beautiful song, like a loud angelic hum. Rahchel and I chimbed in and our pool
started beaming beautiful music from it.
We were so focused on the sounds that it drowened everything else out
and made our pool sacred. There’s
something bonding about being naked with someone, the five of us chose to be
naked with naked with eachother and it felt very respectful, like I recognize
you as a human, just like me. I
felt even closer to the group after this experience ahd have a permanent visual
in my mind of the dim night illuminating the hot springs.
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