A Day Off

Country lanes...my favorite places to walk

Bob, my beloved, suggested - strongly! - that it would be a good idea to take a full day away from creating havoc (I mean social change) in the world the way I do on a daily basis...

Okay, so he twisted my arm and got me to take off this morning in our jeep for the high country, Silverton, Colorado.

The road up to Silverton from Durango CO

What did I take with me? 1) Picnic foods (mmm, jarlsberg cheese, crackers, fruit, cups of hot tea and coffee and homemade scones that Molly (my daughter, who lives on the property with us, along with my teenage grandson) made this morning and were still hot when we took off. 2) layers of clothes, since it might be hot and it might be cold and it surely would be windy by afternoon in Siverton, at 10,000 feet in the mountains.

Spring Meadow, Leaving Durango

What did I leave behind? First, my list, which I make either every evening or first thing in the morning over a cup of tea. Second, work of all kinds, including making and answering dozens of phone calls, emails, writing and editing, going through photos, transcribing interviews from the professional filming I did at the Tenerife Roundtable...arranging my next Skype call to one or another of the participants on 4 other continents...I left thoughts of the "Primal Period", and how what happens to humans during that time from preconception to the 1st birthday, and my preoccupation with how those experiences, and especially the mother-baby bond, shapes our lives...shapes families...and even shapes society.

One of the last steam trains,
arriving in Silverton CO

He was right, you know. A day off in the mountains was just what I needed. It's not that I'm a Type A personality - no, I won't cop to that. I love to play, be silly, laugh, read, take walks down country roads near where we live, cook and share great meals, watch movies, play scrabble with Molly and Kinjah...and I don't work all day long and into the night. But I will plead guilty to being a touch driven about the idea that it's possible to transform birth in the world, if enough of us just care enough to do something about it.

Historic downtown Silverton,
10,000 feet high

Sunscreen, a must at this altitude for an auburn-haired lass with Russian-Irish heritage and a melanoma history. I remembered that, but forgot the water. Even at 7,000 feet, where we live, it's so easy to get dehydrated. And both Bob and I forgot to bring water. Bad idea in the mountains, where you can be seriously dehydrated in an hour and your body won't even tell you!

We took Bob's jeep: noisy, bouncy but perfect for a 4-wheel drive road when we get to Silverton. The drive to Silverton from Durango is magical, especially in spring and fall. And at this altitude the leaves on the birch and aspen are just beginning to emerge. There's nothing much to do in Silverton but walk and look at the mountains and feel the clean air. It was windy. We took a side road and had our picnic. Then drove back to town for a latte before taking off back home. I didn't think about work for 6 hours and didn't make one "to do" note until we entered Durango. What a great day! What a life! It's easy to make me happy.

Back at my desk, I'm planning the next Birthing The Future Roundtable Retreat, a dialogue among 21 women and men from around the world, which will be in the U.S. in August. If you want to know about this project, called THE TIME IS NOW, write me:
suzannebirthing@gmail.com. I'll send you details about how we are launching a global movement to transform how we bring humans into the world and care for every mother-baby and you can be involved. In the meantime, do check out the Birthing The Future website, and Facebook.

Hoping your day is full of sweetness and enough nature to remind you how beautiful this world is.
Love, Suzanne