We took a long pause in Saint Michaels. One of those pauses that is evidence of time being a construct created solely for the matrix. We took a deep pause anchored by a long strand of “now moments” that ask you to be fully present to appreciate them in their timelessness. We took a deep pause expressed as energy that spins super-fast, all while staying in one place. We paused deeply while surrounded by the pace of people and their land activities; as frequencies of that energy that rarely seemed to pause. And those 10 days on the earth plane passed in the blink of an eye. A quantum blink.

From our arrival at David’s sister Kathie and husband Dan’s home on Pintail Point, until the last ride back to IRENE, we were treated to an abundance of generosity, beauty and love. I won’t attempt to chronicle the fullness of our experiences but I will list a few that standout, in no particular order:

• We had our own little guest cottage to retreat to (which David did daily for naps and to nurse an ear infection).
• Each morning we were served the most delicious coffee (dispensed from some contraption that would take up almost all of Irene’s kitchen shelf), served with Vermont maple syrup and cream.
• Kathie prepared and served up the freshest meals made with the best ingredients.
• We visited the Amish Market and the Easton Farmer’s Market and procured many of those ingredients from their neighbors.
• Got to cook on their fabulous AGA stove that is always on always hot and just an amazing piece of cast iron work. What a delight.
• One day I told Kathie about a new movie that I wished to see and that evening, she walked into the cottage and bought that movie “on demand”, just for me. White wine, a cozy couch and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris on a big screen. It was lovely.
• We were treated to an amazing meal at our favorite St. Michaels restaurant, Limoncella.
• And one night, we all piled into Dan’s fancy electric car and went to Justine’s to eat the best ice cream ever.
• Kathie took me shopping with her and gifted me with the softest sea-green sweater you can imagine.
• Kathie and Dan also welcomed David’s son Jay and his family and two dogs for two nights on their journey to Charleston, as they embark on a new life in a new city and in a new home. (They even took them to the Watermen’s Celebration the Maritime Museum and served up crab cakes afterwards!)
• They welcomed my dear friend, Wendy, too. It is always UPlifting for me to be in her brilliant presence.
• Mornings and evenings, we sat on the deck overlooking the Miles River and enjoyed the company of one another while feasting on senses on the robust beauty of the natural world. Inside and out, this home, like the meals and the company, is a treat to be savored.

IRENE stayed at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Marina in “downtown” Saint Michaels. She was tied safely to her slip on the Watermen’s Wharf (Dock W). She truly looked like she belonged there; an aspect of the mariner’s story and an artifact from the ongoing timeline. I visited IRENE on several occasions to check on her. There, I saw her through the museum visitor’s eyes and appreciated her tug boat roots alongside the many beautiful and significant boats on display. My favorite exhibit was the Fishing Shanty / Ark. A tiny floating cabin used by watermen before there were roads and fast cars, for living in while they were fishing for shad and herring on the Chesapeake Bay and far from home. They would tow the shanty behind their boat and haul it up on shore when they reached their new fishing grounds. In winter, oystermen and hunters would use them. When there were many in the same area, they’d be a “shanty town”. It reminded me of the life and art created by Harlan Hubbard back in the 1940’s, when he and his wife Anna, lived on their Shantyboat along the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. I was transfixed by that little Shanty / Ark and stood there after the museum was closed just to peer through the glass like a kid in a toy store window…. imagining sitting at the little table, sleeping on the tiny bed, making tea over the burner, displaying my favorite shells and flowers on the window sill; like an alter to life on the Chesapeake.

Time spent in the company of others also makes space for talking. Stories, ideas, books, places, memories, they are all on the table. I could listen to stories and other folks wisdom for hours. One thing Kathie said in a moment around the table, is that she views our life on the water as a “spiritual journey”. David and I never discussed the idea completing the American Great Loop or living a life on the water quite this way, so this was a new paradigm for me to consider. I am so happy she shared this point of view as it has given me a lot to ponder.

David says, “Yes. He does see his life on the water through a spiritual lens” and it resonates with him. I hear that however; the way I see it, “we” are not on a “spiritual journey” per se. Rather, “we” are eternal spiritual beings on a physical journey. In this incarnation we are born into separation form source energy and this life becomes a journey where an ego emerges to keep our physical bodies safe from harm and perceived harm. A mind develops to connect us to our experiences, to our creativity, as well as other frequencies and inspirations. The ego suggests that we are on a spiritual journey because if the we wake up and remember that we are part of the divine, the ego is diminished. We would recognize that we are all connected, we are all one. We are the higher power. We are the source. We simply forgot. I believe the journey we are on is to remember.