Time and Travel

Apologies! Lots of them! I know that I haven't written in almost a month, but things got crazy at work, and I went on vacation, and my new niece was born (Welcome, Abigael!) It took me a little while to catch my breath, but I am back! (Thanks to those of you who asked where the blog went--I feel loved!)

I don't even know where to start. Since everything begins and ends with the braces on this blog, let me start there. I had started to get to a place where I was ok with them, and then something shifted again. Maybe it's that whole one-step-forward-two-steps-back kind of thing. Every time I start to get insecure, something reminds me that really, it's not all that bad. As some of you know, I went to Alaska on vacation to escape our over 100-degree temperatures. There I was in a hotel in Anchorage sharing an elevator with a woman wearing a t-shirt that read, "Got Braces?" I looked at her and said, "Why yes, I do!" and smiled widely. She looked closely and said, "Where? Are those Invisalign?"

I almost choked on my own cackling.

As we got to know each other in the elevator, she told me that the t-shirt was given to her by her daughter's orthodontist and asked me what kind of newfangled braces they have in New York City that make them so unobtrusive. (Which made me cackle some more, because they are hardly unobtrusive!) Turns out the woman and her daughter were from Nome, AK and there are NO ORTHODONISTS AT ALL IN NOME. This means that her daughter has to take an airplane and FLY the 1,000 miles to Anchorage for tightenings each month. I mean, that's the distance of the Iditarod! I will hardly complain about going out of my way for my tightenings ever again! Needless to say things were put in perspective for me.

Wes Nisker wrote in his article, Evolution's Body that "We now have evidence that our bodies arise from the forces and elements that make up the entire universe, through a complex chain of interdependent events. Internalizing this understanding can help liberate us from the powerful sense of ownership and attachment we have to the body, which is a cause of tremendous suffering, especially as the body grows old and we must face its inevitable destiny."

I think we all inherently know that the body we have now is temporary. It will change and change again. My body now isn't what it was five years ago, ten years ago or even yesterday. How powerful we are to have the ability to make that change! As I near the one year mark with braces, I find that I am both amazed at how much has changed and disheartened by how much still needs to be done. But at least I don't have to fly to Anchorage for treatments!

The trip was nothing short of amazing, the highlight being the 26 Glaciers tour we took out of Whittier, AK. It was a shocking 43 degrees that day, but so many lovely things to see. This was my favorite shot:It was so quiet and cold and still near the glacier. We could only hear the cracking of the ice, and the occasional ruckus when a piece of the glacier splintered away from itself and fell into the water, leaving behind bright blue bits of debris. Even the body of the glacier is temporary--what seems so huge and solid, is actually more delicate than one could ever imagine.

And of course, the water is home to these cutie pies!:

I was so utterly charmed by the little baby sea otter on the mama's belly. They didn't look real! I kept checking the water to see if Jim Hensen was down there playing puppetry!