2010.05.27 07:00 - Humbling

The Guardian for this meeting was Storm Nordwind. The comments are by Storm Nordwind.

Storm Nordwind: Good morning Lucinda :)
Lucinda Lavender: Good Morning Storm!
Storm Nordwind: How are you today?
Lucinda Lavender: I am pretty good:)
SophiaSharon Larnia: good morning :))
Storm Nordwind: Good morning Sharon!
Lucinda Lavender: Good Morning Sharon!
Storm Nordwind: Come to bring style and sparkle I see Sharon
SophiaSharon Larnia: *smiles*
Storm Nordwind finishes munching a slice of toasted homemade bread and settles down to be sociable with friends
SophiaSharon Larnia: yum Storm :))

SophiaSharon has an important announcement to make.

SophiaSharon Larnia: I decided to go to the Nova Scotia retreat
SophiaSharon Larnia: I'm so excited
Storm Nordwind: Wonderful!
Storm Nordwind: There was previously some doubt?
SophiaSharon Larnia: well, on several counts
Storm Nordwind: It's quite a big decision. I wonder if people realize quite how big sometimes
SophiaSharon Larnia: nods
Storm Nordwind: May I ask what tipped the balance? :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: I just thought about it too much, had to make a decision one way or the other ^^
Storm Nordwind smiles broadly
SophiaSharon Larnia: and not let my social anxieties get in the way
Storm Nordwind: When one takes the risk - and it is a risk - of opening to others in an environment like that, one is very often surprised by the level and depth of kin-feeling and support :)
Lucinda Lavender: I have had that experience as well:)
SophiaSharon Larnia: nods. I do understand that, that helped to make the decision!!!
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Storm Nordwind smiles again

Practicalities of travel.

Lucinda Lavender: Do you have anyone to travel there with?
Yakuzza Lethecus: hey everyone
Lucinda Lavender: hey Yaky!
Lucinda Lavender: u...
SophiaSharon Larnia: no, I'm not going to drive, the stress of driving that distance isn't worth the few $$ I would save :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Yakuzza
Storm Nordwind: Good afternoon Yaku
Storm Nordwind returns the gratuitous box that Yak manifests on his arrival ;)
SophiaSharon Larnia: ha
SophiaSharon Larnia: I can still do the 9 sec the whole way though :)
Storm Nordwind: Quite right about the driving I think
Storm Nordwind: How far is it?
SophiaSharon Larnia: 680 miles *grins*
--BELL--
Lucinda Lavender: will you fly or take a train?
Storm Nordwind: 680 miles? Oh! Well... er... yes... I think that's what Americans call a "no-brainer"
SophiaSharon Larnia: fly, the amount of time on a train (>12 hours, with exchanges etc) isnt worth the time saved
Lucinda Lavender: ah
SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs! I was really thinking about it!
SophiaSharon Larnia: i mean $ saved
Storm Nordwind: In the UK, it would be cheaper to fly that distance than take the train!
SophiaSharon Larnia: hmm not here :) Ive looked extensively
Yakuzza Lethecus: what´s ur desination ssl ?
Storm Nordwind: Ah... we had a bunch of competing low-cost budget airlines
SophiaSharon Larnia: Nova Scotia yaku, for the retreat
SophiaSharon Larnia: that would be nice Storm
Storm Nordwind: I forget that in Canada there is 30 times the land area of the UK but only half the population. Economics are different there!
SophiaSharon Larnia: and some people here are fighting hard to prevent the amount of tax, too

Places we came from.

Lucinda Lavender: As a child I was brought a present from Nova Scotia...
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh?
Lucinda Lavender: it was a wool plaid kilt.
Lucinda Lavender: I was probably 4-5.
Storm Nordwind: How appropriate :)
Lucinda Lavender: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: alot of scottish people landed there??
Lucinda Lavender: I wish I had one onow...
Lucinda Lavender: I think...hence the name?
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles.
SophiaSharon Larnia: My grandfather's family landed in Maine
Lucinda Lavender: From where?
SophiaSharon Larnia: Scotland
Lucinda Lavender: :)
Storm Nordwind: My grandfather's family had their toes deeply curled into the soil of England, century upon century
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
Lucinda Lavender: ah:)
Lucinda Lavender: there are somebery beautiful places there...
SophiaSharon Larnia: my grandmother of the other side did too, but I dont know as many details
--BELL--

A sad story that turns out to be hilarious.

Lucinda Lavender: I friI went to uk with my husband some years ago...walking tour idea filled our heads. I then spral fractured my leg. withing the first 24 hours...
SophiaSharon Larnia: omg
Storm Nordwind: Oh dear :(
Lucinda Lavender: I did the trip.tho.
SophiaSharon Larnia: wow
Lucinda Lavender: no hiking.
Storm Nordwind: An unfortunate coincidence, or lack of practice building up to the walk?
Lucinda Lavender: knocked over by a cyclist in the high street of Oxford.
SophiaSharon Larnia: whoa
Storm Nordwind: Oh!!
Lucinda Lavender: it turned out ok tho. I came home pregnant which was the hope
SophiaSharon Larnia: ^^ hahaha
Storm Nordwind: hehe!
Lucinda Lavender: knocked down/knocked up
Storm Nordwind laughs
SophiaSharon Larnia: :))
Lucinda Lavender: qhite a feat with a full legcast
SophiaSharon Larnia: ^5
Storm Nordwind puts his hands over Yaku's delicate ears
Lucinda Lavender: :)

Future journeys.

Lucinda Lavender: We would like to go back a walk more
Lucinda Lavender: in the pennines
Storm Nordwind: Beautiful and bleak
Lucinda Lavender: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: I would like to go to
Lucinda Lavender: Will Nova Scotia be like that?
SophiaSharon Larnia: Ive never been over the atlantic
SophiaSharon Larnia: I dont think so
SophiaSharon Larnia: ? Storm
Storm Nordwind knows the Pennines well but not enough of Nova Scotia to comment
Lucinda Lavender: more tree on this continent...maybe
SophiaSharon Larnia: the romantic that I am, I want to go to the uk and scotland and see if any particular place feels 'right' somehow :))
Storm Nordwind: less extreme weather in England I expect
SophiaSharon Larnia: ah
Storm Nordwind: choose your time carefully, if you ever decide to go (especially to Scotland)- you are welcome to consult me first!
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles, thank you !

Talking of weather, my last 24 hours has been spectacular.

Storm Nordwind: I'm just getting used to the violent high contrasts in my semi-desert new home on the high plains here
SophiaSharon Larnia: wow yes
Lucinda Lavender: violent...
Lucinda Lavender: with weather?
Storm Nordwind: Yes... let me show you a tweet i posted last night to that effect
Storm Nordwind: "It's the end of May. The temperature was 28°C/82°F here today. But 10-15 miles north, this was happening http://is.gd/cqRyv #coloradoweather"
Storm Nordwind: There are 20 pictures in the slide show. Some quite stunning - you'd think it was winter
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh wow, I cant see them all on this computer, but i got a taste, yikes
Lucinda Lavender: yes!
SophiaSharon Larnia: is it the mountains there?
Lucinda Lavender: It has been cool in the west...
Storm Nordwind: #11 and #16 look like winter
Lucinda Lavender: :)
Lucinda Lavender: just as we were relaxing in to spring.
Storm Nordwind: the mountains rise immediately to the west of the city, to 14000ft
SophiaSharon Larnia: and change the air currents
Storm Nordwind: yes

How nature sets about humbling us.

SophiaSharon Larnia: one time, i was sitting in my backyard, and heard the wind coming, like it was a body complete in its own right
SophiaSharon Larnia: it was kind of scary
Storm Nordwind: Being being a being?
SophiaSharon Larnia: humbling
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles, yes
--BELL--
SophiaSharon Larnia: another time, my sump pump was running and running, and it wasnt raining, then it commenced to rain for 3 days
Storm Nordwind has to go look up what a sump pump is! ;)
SophiaSharon Larnia: ah its that thing in the basement that pumps water away from the basement when the water table gets high
Storm Nordwind: Wikipedia is my friend ;)
Lucinda Lavender: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: the ground water had filled the water table from the rain from far away, the thought of that was humbling too
SophiaSharon Larnia: i felt so small
Lucinda Lavender: There is so much going on that we cannot see...
Storm Nordwind: When nature extends her hand, it puts us in perspective and forces a sense of proportion
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
SophiaSharon Larnia: even seen in the everyday, and not by climbing a mountain
Storm Nordwind: yes - especially when it visits you by surprise
Storm Nordwind: the tornado sirens here are a real wake-up call - literally and metaphorically
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh my
SophiaSharon Larnia: I hope you have a nice cozy hidy hole ^^
Storm Nordwind: Yes. It's here :)

Winding up.

Lucinda Lavender: good day all! says Lucinda who going to try to learn to either type slower or check before sending her words:)...
Storm Nordwind: haha!! I know the feeling - Good Day!
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye Lucinda!
Lucinda Lavender: bye:)
SophiaSharon Larnia: have a great day
Lucinda Lavender: thanks same to you all...:)
SophiaSharon Larnia: what did I miss :))
--BELL--
druth Vlodovic: hi
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Druth :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: sorry in IM
SophiaSharon Larnia: welcome
druth Vlodovic: np :)
Storm Nordwind: Hello druth - sorry we were arranging books on a bookshelf :)
Storm Nordwind: Please excuse me gentlefolk. I've been here an hour and must go and attend to one or two things
druth Vlodovic: cya
Storm Nordwind: Namaste
SophiaSharon Larnia: _/!\_
SophiaSharon Larnia: i need to stretch my legs too :)) bye Yakuzza and Druth :))
druth Vlodovic: bye