My friend, Kinipela

Because it was this time of year

I will tell this story here...

an anniversary thank you

to the woman I met on a Thanksgiving night

five years ago...

Around my neck, I wear two pendants

one is a paddle and one reads

Kinipela,

(the other side of that, "sixasone")

they are my most prized possessions

and I am seldom seen without them!

On a beautiful patio belonging

to my favorite people,

we are gathered with collected food,

to talk and drink...

and give thanks

it's a long table of sixteen,

overlooking the darkened

and illuminated lake,

most of us, are artists and a few neighbors,

and some others I don't know...

it's a time of transisiton for me

having lost access to my partner

and kids,

I am just glad to be somewhere...

anywhere with smart, witty, clever people.

Coming at me in long strides

is a woman over dressed for the occassion

(not to mention Havasu)

she's tall and blonde gorgeous,

in all black,

with a thick "foo foo" waist slinging

kind of belt,

fur something around her shoulders,

more "foo foo" hanging from her ears...

and around her neck...

(okay, lets face it, she was "foo foo" everything)

stunning, really,

but I admit, I judged

and thought, "Who is this bimbo?"

Little, did I know then,

this bimbo?

was destined to be my dearest friend!

Jennifer sat across from me

with her husband, it was their anniversary!

And was the sweetest, most engaging

creature I had ever met!

I was instantly crazy about her!

We had just started paddling and were newly

excited about the sport,

she expressed an interest,

promising to come the next day

I doubted it..."SHE, wasn't the type"

Judging again!

Yet, there she was on the beach

and every morning after that,

for the next three years.

Then there were four others

and we became "Sixasone"

falling in love with one another

and the sport,

we won medals and were inseparable,

Jennifer, the wonder glue

we came together for her,

as an assignment, a predetermined destiny...

an agreement

because she was going to NEED us...

because... she had cancer...!

In that short time,

she gave me, US,

the friendship of a lifetime

our happy golden retriever type

she was my confidante and inspiration,

so unbelievably brave...

I would have walked to the ends

of the planet for her and back...

The last time I saw her

it was a "sixasone moment"

all together, last January

helping her take down the

Christmas decorations

in her house, she was weak...

it had an ominous sentiment of

finality to it...

but I was in denial,

had to be...we all were!

That day we felt like "us" again,

funny, together playful

Sixasone, she said...

"until I look in the mirror and remember"

she concluded!

The bracelets that we wore with

our theme song of U2s, "Its a beautiful day"

inscribed on it, didn't feel right to her

with her frail wrists

so we traded, mine for hers, hers for mine,

and I had to choke back the emotion..

it was significant,

and it was...

I never saw her again.

Now I also wear her paddle

and her name in Hawaiian

...Kinipela.

What I wouldn't give to be able to call

her as I always did...

and hear her say "hi, my friend!

Happy friendship anniversary, Jen!

I miss you more everyday!

Pam Piper Rain

For Simple Light

Sometimes like today,

I want to weep for the gladness

in the day.

For the simple light

and things like the October ducks

running the waters surface

like scattered leaves

creating a liquid chime.

And for the words netted

and woven together to say so,

tipsy with their affect on my spirit.

For friends old, new and gone

who support my wild ideas

or challenge me with their own,

those missing and not loved

nearly long enough...but leave me

inspired for all time.

Glad for this body

that skates, runs, hoops, paddles

with ease...

floats, bends and dances with courage!

For a dog who is pure joy, everyday

in her love of life and the next smell.

(except the day the scary drum

not only got bigger it also had hair.)

To be surrounded daily

by happy dancing brightly colored

stick women who help me

celebrate the simple, the faceless,

the everything.

Glad for a harnessed and leashed cat

walking faithfully

beside her beloved dog

trying to keep up on little feline legs.

(allowing me to even drag her at times)

For movies and dance shows

that make me cry and "believe."

For poetry that never ceases to amaze

and a canoe shaped moon

floating on hypnotic rippled water,

for drums who wait patiently

to be played....

Grateful for a day like today

to dance in delight

for the wonder of simple light

and weepy gladness!

Pam Piper Rain

Musical Noise

Dusk light on the beach

with drums, didgeridoos,

a menagerie of musical instruments

and the ever present... hoops and bubbles.

We sat in a line rather than a circle,

along the waters edge,

drumming to words like rain,

light, dark, and hurray...

(hurray? yeah, that one was hard)

There was a beat, a rhythm...(well, kind of)

a musical noise, maybe

(reminsicent of the cupboard pots and pans

and being twelve

or... more like five.)

A musical noise...that sounded surprisingly better

when I wasn't playing but listening

from a distance

(hope that doesn't mean.....no, I am sure it doesn't.)

We passed the drums between us

like musical chairs,

discovering the biggest had the smallest voice,

the lightest weighted one had the deepest tone,

I thought they each had a spirit of their own

(not sure anyone else agreed...too woo-woo?)

We didn't really attract any 'joiners' except

for a homeless girl who seemed content to

just hold the drums and feel

the lingering vibration,

(which is sort of woo-woo as well)

But there were bubbles in the dark,

beautiful sparkling

bouncing splashing orbs,

a farting instrument

(as annoying as the wig Ron wore in Thriller,

the one we finally burned)

stories about a frog lullaby and trash cans

that stood where there

had been a beach wedding years earlier,

a tinging triangle,

(the only instrument left to me to

play in the HS band)

and lots of teasing and laughter.

We promised to return next week

with chairs and fire wood

and maybe adult beverages

(which I am SURE will make us sound better)

and maybe a little dancing and Thriller reunion?

So it seems it has been created...

this "drum line-circle something,"

and I have a young dance instructor

with the ability to make big things happen,

to thank

and my crazy fun "let's DO it" friends

who can't and just won't say NO!

And that makes me very happy!

Pam Piper Rain

Photo by Ed Earley

(as always, thank you!)

Like banging your head...

When we walked into the Yoga place

yesterday morning,

I was already having a great week end...

not one of magnificence but tiny pleasures,

poetic moments of light and sweetness.

Like the two bowls of oatmeal

with melting brown sugar

a syrupy bed for the dried berries

to sleep, temporarily,

a pumpkin spice latte,

coating lips with foamy warmth,

calm water under paddles and voices of humor

behind me,

herons in flight or resting ankle deep in water,

a hula hoop demonstration in saturday sunlight

and my 'cancer fighting friend' on shore

with an apparent ring of light around her head.

All preceded by a night of singing out loud

with old friends and old songs

in a celebration of time passing,

the perfectly written movie,

that creates tears while smiling hard,

free popcorn, perfectly buttered

for three funny friends content to share

it all gleefully.

(Did I just use the word gleefully? hmmm?)

The yoga class is my first in twenty years

and Marlo, the dance instructor

is teaching it...

and yes, it seems I yoga like I dance,

(no surprise)

as bendable as old dried out stick

hurting, cracking

and did something just go pop?

won't EVEN try to stand on one foot,

but I can breathe...in and out

and I only mutter "crap" once

(out loud that is)

And I love the warrior pose,

so powerful and strength giving,

and when we are asked to

breathe in LET and breathe out GO

my eyes leak a bit

as I feel the 'one' who needs to go...go!

In a wing flapping flutter

of released energy!

When it is over,

I am all smiles...cause its over!

Describing it later as

"I liked it, not while I was doing it,

but afterwards,

kind of like banging your head

against the wall and

wow, that feels good to stop!

(sorry, Marlo)

But really? I was revitalized and peaceful

and walking on air...

And later...when I walked out with a new drum,

a new friend and the 'drum circle dream'

actually having a time and location,

as well as five people who have promised to show up

the weekend became...a magnificent one!

So if you have something to bang or play,

we will be at Rotary park

on the beach at sunset

making some noise...stay tuned...

Pam Piper Rain

Photo by Ed Earley