Bus Livin'

I have welcomed the most spiritually radiant little girl into this world.

Her name is Imogen Tallulah.

We are back on our Eco Bus and heading North. I'm currently writing the program for our non-profit's next season which will start in October.

Balance is the most difficult thing to achieve, one tries to play so many roles, that it almost becomes easier to just not get up. But the heat wont allow that, by 9am we are sweating and up doing the daily bus routine like living on a boat there is constant maintenance and fine tuning.

We are currently "moored" at the very place I grew up. It is strange to see my children here. This morning I took Luciano to pick wild grapes and everyday he is swimming more and more. Today he dove to the bottom to retrieve his mask; in one breath he went down as deep as he could and then propels himself to the top again by kicking off the bottom. It was amazing to watch, like pearl divers in training.

Being here has made me fall in love with Florida again, it is so very hot and humid. But the air smells like sweet grass and a pine sauna. The insects are large and plentiful but only a reminder of the Earth's fertility. It urges me to breed floppy ear goats and fine egg laying chickens. But then I reminded of why it was so important for me to leave this place. Beyond my family, there are so pretty fearful and small minded folks here. Nando and I joke about them staring at him, but there is a lot of truth in it, we read their minds, "What is that Mexican doing with that white girl?" Perhaps this is regional since no one has ever considered that there could be dark skinned people from other places besides Mexico. But nonetheless, around here they also consider that he could be a full blooded Native American, in which case he deserves respect. So their reactions are mixed, and of course he is from Colombia and his father Japan. But this area is the most southern starting point for the real south, which implies a history of racism, slavery, KKK, and other sorts of discrimination, which still remains as a lite heir around these parts.

I certainly don't wont my children learning these things from other children, but perhaps this could be a nice haven to always visit, pick grapes, eat corn and swim in black water.

I'll be posting on our Bus Blog more frequently at www.ecologicalbusproject.blogspot.com