My “relationship” to Henry David Thoreau started back in high school when my favorite teacher of all time, Lowell Young, quoted him with passages like… “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” I have always wanted to make a difference, live deliberately and not come to the end of my days with regrets. My blog name reflects this in borrowing again from Thoreau.

I was born upon thy bank, river
My blood flows in thy stream,
And thou meanderest forever,
At the bottom of my dream.

It is a time for searching, dreaming and meandering. Today was the first day of the drive, heading toward California via Oregon, leaving my beloved Seattle. I was surprised with an unexpected reaction of being lonely. And this is only day ONE! But even so it was good to feel emotion and know that as I flow down the streams of highways I am alive and human and striving to live a fully present life. It also goes to show that Seattle still holds my heart with so many there that I love. As I forge across the USA I will be connected to the northwest with elastic strings. I can stretch out taut on the line, but the gentle pull of love will remind me that home truly is where the heart is. Bon Voyage Beloveds.