a life well lived.

She texted me late in the afternoon last early spring.  She and her friend were hanging out in my little town for a bit, just passing through, was I available to see her?

Oh for crying out loud.

Of course I am you dollface. We met when I lived in San Francisco and I hadn't seen her in years, but when I do we are the same 'cause that's the way we decided it would go.  She is peach pie and cream and I wouldn't miss seeing her giggly face for anything.

Many years ago, after walking the tracks with my belongings tied to the end of stick, I decided that a 1965 Mustang fastback does not actually sleep four comfortably.  Humph.  Hindsight.  Who knew?

So they came over. for chili. and a shower. I'm a sucker for house guests... and besties... and WILDLY FREE SPIRITS. I want to know it all. Tell me all of your stories.

She's home based now out of Monterrey, seriously I would never leave, but she piled into a car with one of her friends, some mangoes, bananas and a loaf of bread with peanut butter and jelly to sustain them.  They headed "east" by way of the mid west in search of some adventure in route to Maine.

This one was just a small spring trip, but at the ripe age of 62, she has already hiked the John Muir trail, a venture I believe took weeks to do.  She's done a mission trip in Germany with a side order of China and she recently came back from New Zealand where she worked for three months on one of those hippy organic farm co op situations where you get room and board in exchange for your work. 

She likes to bounce around a bit.  She says she never really worries about growing up stability or getting back on track when she gets home... she just figures it will all work out somehow. And so far, it has.

I love that.  It reminds me to take chances.  Adventure out and make my life an odyssey. In fact I'm a bit jealous.

I have to have reminders because I wasn't really raised with the value of exploration or stepping out into the unknown.  I didn't really have a sense of anything outside of my small community or my limited experiences.  I developed into more of a "safety first" kind of gal. A home body.

I think it's because the mantra in my home when I was growing up was "You can't do that".

Do what?

Everything you ever wanted to try but didn't know how to do or never saw anyone else do (to prove it could actually be done).  Anything that could get you possibly hurt, embarrassed or sounded vaguely like it could be a suggestion from the devil.

It was my momma mainly, while not exactly the Prophet of Doom, she tried to stop adventure in it's tracks.  She meant well.  Adventures into the unknown made her worry about her family's safety plus gave a higher probability of one of us accidentally bringing forth the Apocalypse.

Remember those cockamamie stories you told your parents when you were a kid about goofball things you were going to do?  Like dig to China?  Or walk to the shopping center. Well mine was received with "You can't do that" followed by the geological lesson about the earth's core and the obviously ridiculous inefficiency of digging with a stick.

It will suck the pioneer right out of you.

As I got older my sense of adventure returned with a vengeance.  Life showed me that it's okay to try things that I might get hurt at or heaven forbid embarrassed by.  I've certainly had my share of both.

But, so far dude, no four horsemen.

I can always use more inspiration though.  I need to be around adventurists like my friend and her band of merry women. She has always tried the things I always wanted to do.  Without a care.  She is not afraid or if she is, she's doing it anyway.  She rock climbs and surfs and camps in foreign countries  and hikes and takes vagabond road trips.

My odyssey will be my own.  It won't look like hers or yours.  But I know the things I'm wanting to try.  I know the things that get my blood flowing and make me feel alive and in the game.  That's what I'm trying to achieve.

A life of service and love and moments of pure fright.  A life well lived.

If I had to do it again, knowing what I know now, I would journey out more at a younger age.  I would see the world with welcoming arms beckoning me to unlimited adventures unknown.

I would pack up a car with three of my besties a loaf of bread and some peanut butter and I would make my way south in search of some waves.  I would do it without a care.  Because it really does all work out somehow.

I don't have it to do over again but I do have right now.

Adventure on fellow wild spirits.

Thank you for reminding me.

just sayin'.

BBQ and avocado chicken Quesadilla

2 whole flour tortillas

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

4 Tbsp. shredded chicken

2 Tbsp. BBQ sauce

1/2 c. avocado chunks

Heat a skillet up on medium heat. Lay 1 tortilla shell in the bottom and sprinkle half of the shell with 2 Tbsp. cheese. Combine the chicken and sauce. Top with 2 Tbsp. chicken. Sprinkle with 1/4 c. avocado chunks on top. Sprinkle with another 2 Tbsp. cheese. Fold the shell over and heat for about a minute or two. Flip the shell over carefully and heat the opposite side for another minute or two. Repeat with the remaining shell and ingredients. Makes 8 wedges.