Even The Rats Came to Say Goodbye

Susan and Michael’s Magical Pinyon

I’m sitting here in Santa Fe, in the beautiful home of the wonderful

Susan Todd

, in the area they have converted to their guest wing which includes a bedroom with a daybed, (Sookie is on the king-sized bed with me and Teddy is on the daybed across from us), a connected sitting room (Zoey is on the couch in there), and a connected bathroom (Jon is in there taking a shower right now while we also do some much-needed laundry). Outside the window to my left is a grove of Pinyon trees, one of which lost its inner branch creating the perfect seat.

The first thing I did this morning, after being nurtured and loved and fed and nourished by Susan and her husband Michael the day before, and then sleeping the best night’s sleep I’ve had in over a week, was go out and sit in the tree, communing with the energies and beings that fill this land.

We are at 7198 feet and have bounced between 5000 and 7000+ feet for three days. The sun is a bit warmer on my body and the air feels lighter. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel being up so high for days at a time, and well, I feel just like me.

Upon arrival, Sookie and Zoey got some cactus needles embedded in their feet and fur. Then we all got poked and stung as we pulled them out. It took Sookie a while to recover emotionally. She went and got in the car and wanted to leave. She did it again this morning, but I think that’s because it’s what we’ve done every day for the last three days. Staying somewhere for more than one night is another adjustment. Now she’s all snuggled up here and has forgotten all about it.

There is a metaphor here for us, being poked by cactus needles upon arrival, one I am still trying to suss out. Jon thinks it’s like bee sting therapy or acupuncture. I think there may be some other meaning, or maybe it’s just that we’ve never been to New Mexico before and were not paying attention to the cactus. This is what happens when you’re somewhere new, and I am loving being somewhere new which is funny as ultimately I will be arriving somewhere very old.

Zoey, Teddy, & Sookie and the Santa Fe River

Pluto went retrograde on May 2nd in Aquarius and will be retrograde until October 11th. It’ll move into Capricorn on September 1 and move back into Aquarius for good on November 18th/19th. It’s a bit on the nose for two Aquarians to retrograde back to their place of origin during this Pluto retrograde in Aquarius. I feel some serious introspection ahead along with the claiming of identities, ones already formed, ones in the process of forming, and ones yet to be discovered.

Our last dinner in Ojai was with a tableful of friends at Pinyon Pizza. The owners have become friends as well, and it was once again bittersweet to enjoy these people and the delicious food knowing we’d be heading out the next day. To land in the Land of Enchantment with Pinyons all around personifies the magic I am always watching for.

We had so many goodbyes and experienced so much love and support from our Ojai community that Jon and I are still processing it all, not yet even sure where it is we live. As I watched our belongings, what was left of them after selling off a huge portion, being loaded onto the truck by the two very efficient and friendly and all-around great beings, leaving Ojai began to feel much more real.

And in the end, even the rats came to say goodbye as we did a final clearing of the garage, four of them, running and jumping and stopping to look us in the eyes, saying to us, “It’s been nice sharing this space with you. Thank you for not harming us in the garage and the attic.”

Reminding me that I had looked up the metaphor of the rat as an animal messenger and the message was, “Time to get moving and get going.”

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