"and she will be free,

 like the leaves floating in the wind and the stream."

- Josh Abbot Band

    Once a month my girlfriends and I get together for brunch. To catch up and slow down, all at once. Often enough we just sit quietly, chatting about whatever comes to mind: books, life, food, kids, dating, significant others, marriage, goals, travel...you name it, we cover it. One thing we do religiously is we take turns picking a question for all of us to answer while we're there. Its goal is to get us thinking, but also to helps us all continue to get to know each other. As adults, we know that we're constantly changing and growing. Even when we think we're not. So its our way of not loosing touch with each other, of learning and reacquainting ourselves with each of us at the table.

    We had our monthly brunch this past weekend and the question was, "If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and what would it feel like to you?" 'Feel', not 'look', nor 'be'....feel. 
The answers my friends gave were as different and diverse as they are. In the city where it's frenzied and feels like dry lightening on a summer night. On the Mediterranean, where the water is bluer than the sky and every day is a lesson in carpe diem. Deep in the woods where every breath is a blessing, and she can turn into something parents tell their children about as a lesson and a warning (surprisingly, this was not my answer -- although some days I feel that in my soul). I chose the country where the craggy mountains meet the mercurial sea, where you can taste the salt in the air and the wind can turn from a whisper to a roar. Where we live off the land, where life is a juxtaposition of easy and a demand. Where living must simultaneously be seized with both hands and savored -- slowly, and with great care.

*the pictures are not mine, they and their sources can be found on my pinterest.