Today, Western Washington is legitimately warm.  So feeling the heat is an incredible sensory experience, linked with people at the Falls in bikini tops, enjoying the tranquility, the rainbows and mist of the crashing water. 

I never stop being surprised by physical warmth... what it means, what it carries.  I went on a trip with over a dozen teenagers who are very well trained in fire safety (honestly).  There was a fire pit, and one of the girls was moving the fire with tongs, walking around inside the pit in her flip flops.  (Note how far "training" goes with teens.)   I calmly announced, "Liz, your shoe is on fire."  She, equally calmly, slipped her foot out of the thong and picked it up for analysis.  A red ember was imbedded in the sole.

How cool is that?  A red ember is imbedded in our souls too!  : )  I think I realized the strength of the metaphor this year.  I suppose there are few humans that have missed the incredible fire caused by passion, love of another person.  It certainly causes obvious heat, from flushed cheeks to all worlds pornographic (which I'll leave for pig latin, thank you DeeDee).  I can't imagine child birth or experiencing a death in the family without equal temperature.  Tears must be several degrees warmer than the body; it certainly feels like they are, even if it's an illusion.

In the course of spiritual growth, there is a rise in heat that is truly unexplainable.  Some may find the metaphor comforting.  Some find meditation in the flame.  Many write in eloquent passages about the fire that consumes our misgivings and frees us from our bonds.  John of the Cross is first in my mind today.  The fire can be so real.  It can cause us to burn from the inside out.  It can rush like bolts through the core of our being, and flush over us causing the skin to drip.  It can melt our thoughts, and twist our minds, straightening the iron bars of truth that have been misaligned by years on the planet.

And so I am reminded.  The beauty of the day, the heat of the sun, melts me.  I want to stop and never move again.  I want to stand in the rays and remember every moment of fire.  I never want to leave the embers that revitalize my soul.

It's not a typo. 

We have this third dog.  I think she's sorta like having a third eye.  Her name is appropriately Luna, celestially and terminally a space case, middle name Tick (Luna-Tick, ya) just to alleviate question when she falls out of the window pursuing moths.  She's both bored with planetary life and incredibly astounded by it.  Every "moment" catches her attention, separately, amazingly.  "Ooo, an ant, ooo, a light spot, ooo, a hair going the wrong way, ooo, my tail wags, oooo..." and on and on and on.  She has the facial expression and ear movements to match her awe (all husky).  Luna is a constant reminder to all of us, stay in the moment! 

The bored part comes in when the heavenly moment doesn't draw her focus, and then she seeks spiritual stimulation, in the form of string theory... or rather, shoe string theory.  She's addicted to shoes.  It's a problem.  There is no twelve step. 

I think that we're on the fifth pair, maybe the sixth.  Humans are NOT quick learners.  We leave the shoes in her realm, and they become stringless at least, detongued once and again, decimated at times.  I'm afraid I must admit, she has obliterated many sole mates! 

That's really where I was going... Soul mates.  Do you read blogs in order from top to bottom, or from earliest to most recent?  (Better question, why do you read blogs at all?  And why are you reading this one?  Hmmm.)  My mind leapt from embers burning in our souls (last blog) to this.  Ok, admittedly hard to follow.

I have a book on Soul Mates.  It's a friend of many cases of books... ones that I hope to obtain the information from by osmosis, because I certainly am not reading them.  But still the question lies open.  What do you think?  Are we born with a soul mate?  The idea makes me laugh audibly.  One soul mate, one person on the planet who happened to land in the same era, the same area, the same life circle, who complements one totally and completely... no way!  I am such a cynic, hee hee.  But the concept interests me in a broader scope.  We are so obviously surrounded with people who fill that role in small puzzle piece ways.  Is that by chance or design, or both?   I am reassured to feel that if a Luna-Tick comes by and removes a couple sole mates from my realm, there will be others provided to serve life's purpose.

One can't help but smile!  This IS truly a small town, so much so that it's well described in every fiction novel written.  Tonight, we celebrated the opening of.... (drumroll)  I bet you're thinking the new mall, or a grand temple, or at least a major super market.  Sorry.  Tonight, we celebrated the opening of... a road.  Yep.  Now, this isn't just any road.  And no, it's not something splendid like the path to enlightenment (or I'd give you the address!).  It's literally pavement, through a forest, hmm... and then I guess it's rocks for part of it, but ya, an actual asphalt road.  It has been closed for a few years, washed out by a flood.

It makes me consider as I type, what roads have been washed out in my life?  Is there good or bad to that, or are the new courses a way to embrace novelty?  If I take a wrong turn and land in the raging river, is there something wrong with experiencing the falls and icy water?  And, wow, where have the roads in my life reappeared after they were absent?!!! 

When following the intention and plans of that 'something beyond what we comprehend', road maps work more like Mapquest than the Thomas Guide.  The boulders and wash outs may be a bit more obvious, but I still go to the alternate routes with reluctance.  It seems melancholy somehow.

At any rate, this particular road (the Mountain Loop Highway) has been reopened for travelers.  Perhaps we should all celebrate our journeys with the same zeal as Granite Falls.  Break out the ribbon and scissors, bbq the innocents, and blast off a boat load of colorful explosives... you're on the road again!  May your journey be well documented : )