synchronicity

in the enormous, multi-room bar/restaurant, a group of friends and I wander around. it's not that packed. there's a little girl, 3- or 4-years old—bright, funny, wearing a lot of pink—she and I bond. we wander, enjoy our connection, laugh between us. when I need to regroup and leave, I realize her parents are nowhere to be found, and the place is now packed. we go back to the original spot where she appeared, and the bartender in that area and I are talking about them. he makes it clear they are problematic drinkers. this is not the first time. adult-to-adult, I make disparaging facial expressions and say something subtly judgmental. but I see immediately on her face she has read exactly what I'm implying. her parents return downstairs, but she has disappeared. a friend and I leave the building to look for her. we go down a dark, barely-lit street to look for her and, in terms of living things, see only a concrete enclave where a raccoon and cat like Koda (one of ours) scrounge.

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I constructed a personal retreat for the first full week of February. it was important enough to name it Please come home. my second morning in Tieton, I woke with this dream. early mornings were for writing and meditation. late mornings and afternoons, I generally went out to appreciate the natural beauty surrounding me. this particular morning, I went to the Oak Creek Wildlife Area. the refuge holds about 9000 elk. during winter middays, a truck takes a group of 10-15 people to the middle of a field as the elk come down from the ridge to feed on hay dropped across the land where they gather to eat. there's one child on the truck. she's 3 or 4 and in pink.

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