Roadies

The rhythm of my life is dictated by EDB's, B/P's, FH and FHT's. I saw a natural break coming. In my sub-C, I ordered it. Alisha's baby was born early, early on March 16 (a wonderful day to be born) and Erin's baby is due April 28. That translates to 4 weeks off call. Wheeew. . . the giddiness of being untethered. Now what? Now where? Bri's mom, Beth extended an invite to Laguna Niguel. Meditative, uninterrupted, cup-filling time at the beach. Are you kidding me? Are you freakin' kidding me? Seize the day, Cath. GO! With Cherry Chocolate cake, love and hugs from Alisha and her mom, we were off. Two midwives and a Passat filled with our guts. The camera, the iPod, iPhone, old Birks, a stack of books, longings for peace of soul, peace in our relationships and intentions. Good ones. . .

The reality of "road trip", uninhibited, boundary free, "road trip" didn't really settle on us until somewhere around Page, AZ. We followed the night into the woods, into Sedona. No artificial lights allowed. They believe in sky light. The reward: more stars than I have ever seen at one time. The Milky Way. If this was a movie, the soundtrack would begin. Uncle Graham Nash singing "Milky Way". Nice. Our first night was spent with Aunt Peach. She welcomed us with these words. "You ladies are always taking care of everyone. For now, let me take care of you." And she did. Heaven.

From Sedona, we traveled to Phoenix. It was our pleasure to spend time with the Francis girls, three of them pregnant! It was my joy to put my hands on Diane's baby belly, listen to her little one and begin my care of this beautiful woman. We met with a great midwife, Wendi, who was more than willing to provide care in between our visits. I love midwives!

On to Laguna Niguel. There are not enough superlatives to describe this place. I wore out cool and beautiful in the first 5 minutes. Beth is a a gracious, amazing woman. She provided me a cozy room of my own that was my home for 7 days. I miss it. I miss her. I miss the Blackwelder boys, the Blackwelder kitchen and family scripture time.
While there, Bri met with a family friend, due in July and did a home visit prenatal. She wants a home birth. Carly, an MCU grad practicing in San Diego will be taking over her care with Bri attending if the birth gods allow it.

Our first stop on the road north was this French bakery. Our intent for a health spa vacation made a U-turn at this point. We loaded up; chocolate croissants, chocolate dipped macaroons and almond meringue puffs. The quest for delightful French pastries was just beginning.

Only in Big Sur will you find a Spirit Garden. This full woman did not go unnoticed by the midwives. Neither did the human sized nests, a stage full of bongo drums, African art
or the shop full of treasures.

Same day, another bakery.
Monterey, Mt.Shasta, Oregon, Washington and the babies, birthdays and very special belly will get blog moments of their own. Later.

Late Wednesday night as we were loading the car for an early Thursday take-off, Bri asked me,"Do we really have to go back to real world?". My thoughts went back to the week before on the sand of Thousand Steps beach. We had pledged out loud to remember that moment; lying under the sun with all of the pleasures of the beach around us.
We knew what we were coming home to. We filled our vessels to the brim.
5 AM on Thursday morning, we headed south. It has become tradition on this part of the trip to stop at The Boise Food Co-op. It is a delightful place. The routine is to browse first, make final choices, order lunch at the deli and sit at the counter to simply enjoy, give thanks and carry on. On to the last leg of Chick Road Trip.

Somewhere in California we passed a loaded Suburu Forester with the bumper sticker
Midwives Help People Out

The driver looked tired. Like us after an all night birth. We were wishing that there was a universal sign that sister midwives could flash each other at such moments. Somewhere around Burley, we passed this cute Beetle with a Birthing From Within logo.
Birth junkies rock!
What's that universal sign midwives?

We are home.
Our cups are full, our lives are good, we are grounded, we are flying.
We know who we are.


"get out the map,
get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down
we'll leave the figurin' to those we pass on our way out of town. . .
why do we hurtle ourselves with every inch of time and space
i must say around some corner i can sense a resting place
with every lesson learned, a line upon your beautiful face
we'll amuse ourselves someday with these memories we'll trace. . .
i'm gonna clear my head
i'm gonna drink the sun
i'm gonna love you good and strong
while our love is good and young"
IG


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