I Found A Slice Of Heaven!

Whitefish Lake, Montana. (More photos at the bottom.)

Remember I got sick last month and had to cancel my trip to Montana? (Refresher)

I had been excited to visit my friend Kathleen. Getting sick was a minor inconvenience but I knew I'd get out there before snow fell. Friends since tenth grade, we spent countless weekends at concerts along the Sunset Strip, always ending the night at In-n-Out.

When we were 19 we took a road trip to Humboldt, delivering my sister's car and flying home. We visited friends at every college campus from Santa Barbara to Davis.

Walking through the woods, we spent an afternoon reminiscing about bars we frequented and the boys we met in our 20's. Oh to be young again!

In a previous draft I detailed our friendship over the next 20 years. In and out of each other's lives, sometimes by choice and sometimes by accident, thankfully finding our way back to each other on her 40th.

Part of me felt the pressure (from myself) to write something of value, something that you could relate to your own life and think about. I convinced myself that only hearing about my trip was boring.

I was touched by how many people were sad when I had to cancel, that I wanted you to know I made it. But I am not in a place to share anything profound. Our story of ups and downs doesn't need to be told for the sake of having something to send.

Actually that's not true. It's not profound, but I do have something. While in Montana, Kathleen joined me for a full moon ceremony with my friends. We visualized releasing all the pressures of life, the pressure from ourselves and the outside world.

This is me releasing the pressure of writing for you.

(I'm writing for me and I hope you enjoy it.)

This is me releasing the pressure to meet your needs.

(I'm writing what I want to share.)

This is me releasing the pressure to stay on your radar.

(Maybe I'll take long breaks and you'll forget about me and that's ok.)

It's exhausting trying to anticipate and meet everyone else's expectations.

Glacier National Park. Yes, this is real life.

Now for the boring part - Montana!

When I was initially going, at the end of August, the weather was in the mid 80's. Perfect! When I checked the weather days before leaving (at the end of September) the weather was in the high 70's, still perfect.

But the scary thing was, the day I was arriving, it was dropping to 55!

I sent a screenshot to a friend (personally horrified) and she replied “gorgeous!”

I had to ask what she meant, I didn't see anything gorgeous about the low temperatures.

She reminded me that I'll probably get to see and experience Fall, leaves changing colors and a crispness in the air.

Ok, I guess that can be gorgeous. I had to shift my mindset. Swapping sun dresses for beanies and puffy jackets will be worth it, being that we don't have fall in LA.

While it had been years since we'd seen each other, I was confident it would feel like no time had passed. I was right, it felt comforting being back in her company.

Some highlights:

Knowing it was only for a few days, 55 degrees was pleasant.
A hike in Glacier National Park was stunning, even if we had to carry bear spray!
With a few days off from work she had more time to play.
So much lush nature.
Sitting in silence, absolute silence, on her dock.
Huckleberry ice cream (more than once.)
Snow capped mountains.
Playing dress up with her daughter's homecoming options.
Driving her boat, in the rain, before she had to lock it up for winter.
I thought about work once! It felt good to completely check out and have zero responsibilities.
Doing what we do best, talk about food and what our next meal will be.

I'll definitely go back and visit her (and my friend Kristin), once the snow has melted. My friend, I don't do winter, the cold kind of winter.

Without context (because I deleted it) this might not make sense, but trust there is value in it. Whenever I need space from someone, I remind myself of Kathleen. If we are meant to be in each other's lives, after taking some space, we will find our way back to each other.

Just like our electronic devices need to be turned off for a couple of minutes, sometimes we need a little distance from people to reboot the relationship.