Another voyage

And another voyage is coming up - my love and I will be reunited soon, after a long too long absence, and time will no longer separate us.

As always, traveling towards somebody implies traveling away from others. As much as it has been within my power, I´ve prepared Tess and Yarrow, with the help of many (Mieke, John, Ongel, Grandpa, Niki) for the next few months, after which Niki and I will travel back to Australia together, to arrive on Yarrow´s birthday! (Can´t promise a cake, but we´ll happily be the candles...)

Tonight I gave the girls a survival kit, hoping it will help them (and me!) to deal with no doubt difficult moments of absence... We´ve set a time during the week (Wednesdays between 5 and 7 Australian time) to see each other on Skype, just to ensure that there is at least one time during the week when we can ´meet´, and as often outside that time as necessary or desirable of course!

The survival kit includes:

1. a card with a special message of love, dedication and support telling them how proud of them I am for journeying with us (and including mysterious letters from themselves to their future thirty-something selves and, lo, a letter back from their future 30-something selves to themselves... amazing!);
2. a golden-coloured Honey Jade precious stone to keep in their pockets, to hold and touch;
3. a pocket book covered in a facsimile of a silk print, which I´m asking them to write a thought in every day - any thought, poetic or practical, down-to-earth or inspired, a quote or an original thought: anything to mark the passage of time and the experiences they go through. Tess has already entered her first thought!
   
4. a 2010 calendar with puppies on for Yarrow and kittens on for Tess, in which I have written all the movements Niki and I will be making over the next few months and, especially, when we shall be back in Australia, comings, goings, dates, trips, conferences, visits as well as their birthdays and we´ll add days of festivity and celebration as we go along. They can hang their calendar in their room at the Grange and look at the cute dogs and cats at the same time...;
   
5. a big fat book each from the Vampire Nook in the bookshop in town, which I think both of them immediately delved into ...
   

On top of that, I´ve given Tess and Yarrow, as well as Anjes, access to this blog so they can post their own stories, photos, music and videos about The(ir) Journey if they want to. No pressure, no obligation, but it makes the blog a bit more than just my thoughts and ponderings.

Finally, because these two possums are such avid readers, I´ve given them the opportunity to buy a new book every week (I mean, one book won´t take them a week because they often read more, but it´s the thought that counts :), to keep on wiling away their time at their leisure, and for the benefit of their imagination and pleasure in reading.

Allons-y! OK, that´s French, not Portuguese, nor English, but hey - I´m sure they´ll understand...