#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Me and Lilia walking Thoreau Lake and sitting near the Potomac River

Today, a favorite day of the trip. Out of the city, staying near Lilia in Reston, VA, in a hotel. A hotel with good coffee and no line. Yes, it was hard waking up with this lost hour. I wrote my weekly writing email to subscribers, and then it was time to meet Lilia. We had coffee sitting outdoors in the very mild weather, here at the hotel. And with Kuzma, her companion Labradoodle. All day we talked, walked, rode around. We had a long walk with birdsong and trees and lakeviews under a silvery clouded sky and I was SO HAPPY to be in nature! The hotel and convention center in Baltimore were food deserts and nature deserts and the noise and crowds wore me out. The panels and poets and writers stimulated me very much. But my body and spirit needed birdsong. I just stared and stared at trees for awhile, soaking them in. We ended up taking a walk in a national park on the Virginia side of the Potomac River for quite awhiile, sitting on dry rocks by the rushing water which was such a filling up sound. I loved the feeling of the cold coming through the stone onto my lower back. I let the rock revive me and the rapids revived me too. I was sorry to say goodbye to Lilia as she will be moving out of the US into Canada soon. But I am glad I have had a chance to see her where she has been living since she moved three years ago from Massachusetts. And it will be the right move for her. Gosh, it was such a lovely and nourishing day. Tried to visit my cousin nearby in Virginia but he was under the weather. Home tomorrow. Frank is home and I have a surprise waiting for me. And Wave too.