Untamed (part 1)

Untamed
 - Adjective: not domesticated or otherwise controlled.
- Synonym: wild, unbroken.

"All I want is the wind in my hair
to face the fear and not feel scared
Wild horses I want to be like you
Throwing caution to the wind, I'll run free too"
  - Wild Horses, by Natasha Bedingfield 



I reread the book "Wild" recently, by Cheryl Strayed. I was going through my books and pondering some to send back to the US. I picked up the once-read paperback and turned to the introduction.
"I'm just going to read the introduction," I told myself. "The part where her boot goes flying off the side of the mountain."
I stood there reading the introduction, which touches on all the pain and exhilaration and grief and beauty which was to come. Then I sat down, and consumed the first two chapters.


It's a messy story to be sure. The true story of a woman going off the rails in a major way after a great loss, yet who subsequently sets her sights on the daunting and restorative task of hiking 1,000 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail. In the days before internet, she meticulously researched and planned every detail of what she'd need to pack and to have mailed to her at stops along the way. It fascinated me. I devoured the book, again. As I read, a slip of paper slid from the back of the book. It was the receipt, faded from when I'd used it as a bookmark. My eyes feasted on that bit of paper, lingering on the heading, Austin Bergstron Airport, and the date, April 7th, 2014. A place and time from home.

On January 8th 2014 I flew to Ecuador to begin life and work here. But first, I hit a major snag: an embargo, limiting each passenger to no more than two pieces of checked luggage each. I had four. Did I want to reschedule my flight for a week out? I was asked.
No. I made the quick decision to borrow a phone (for I'd canceled my US cell number) and call my Mom, asking her to turn around and come retrieve two of my suitcases. When she pulled up, I was manically going through the bags on the airport sidewalk.
"I packed for two days!" I wailed to my Mom while grabbing the things I needed most and exchanging them for what could wait. I already planned to fly back for my brother's wedding in April. I'd get the rest of my things then, and I did.

That trip back to Ecuador was a breeze compared to the first time. While waiting for my flight to begin boarding, I drifted into "BookPeople", a miniature branch of the well-known Austin bookstore. I purchased two items: a box of chocolate caramel pecans (pecans are a rarity in Ecuador, an expensive imported item when they can be found), and "Wild". I ate the pecans while cracking open the book on the first flight, and continued to read during the layover in Houston and long flight to Quito. Holding the receipt brought back everything from those two trips ... and made me want to take another trip of a very different kind.

I'm both a planner and a dreamer by nature. Sometimes the two collide and become the same thing and something both change course. Funny how I, who love order, can also embrace unpredictability.