We May Be On To Something

Of course, when we told people we were moving from Los Angeles to Washington State, they had an idea why. A more relaxed pace, cleaner, more breathable air, and the outdoorsy lifestyle that brought me and Brian together in the first place. Plus my mom.

The part I told some people, but not everybody, was this...I was going crazy in Los Angeles. For the usual reasons, yes, but for some more unusual ones as well.

Home schooling itself was a challenge.  But then there was the reason I'd started home schooling in the first place: a daughter possessed of a highly intense and idiosyncratic intelligence, coupled with a seemingly never-ending variety of behavioral and health challenges.

Sleeplessness. Lack of appetite. Obstinacy. Irritability. Frightening bouts of hysteria, or tantrums, or something, during which she would be completely overcome by uncontrollable emotions. We saw it all.

Except when she was outdoors. Except when she was in the natural world she loves: the creeks, trees, animals, insects, winds and rains that always calm  her down and bring out her mellow side.

While still in LA, Brian and I visited with Deena Metzger, poet, healer and "wise woman." We were overwhelmed and confused - about Trinity as well as about the direction our lives were taking. She asked if we would consider relocating to a more natural setting for Trinity's sake. We said yes.

Tonight, she took her first bath in months. Over the last few years, she'd developed an often paralyzing fear of water due to the painful abrasions and rashes that plagued her skin. Consequently, she rarely bathed. Tonight, she said, she took the best bath of her life and wants to take a bath every night if she can.

Then she added that maybe all her fears were just associations with life in Los Angeles and that "In my new life, I love the water and my trauma is gone. This is the new chapter of my life. If my life was a video game. I  moved to the next level."

You really had to be there. But that was the main idea.