COSMIC ASTRAL
INITIATION 1: Birth (May 1988 - June 1990)
Shortly after I signed Kerry's divorce papers, Steve called me up in some distress. His new lover had rejected him, and he wanted to take some time off: leave Iowa and drive west, maybe out to Orcas Island to visit our old friends John and Vicki. Steve had always found long-distance driving to be a form of meditation. Did I wish to accompany him? Did I! I was definitely up for a new adventure. I called Nancy to tell her I was leaving for awhile; we packed the trunk of Steve's new Mercury Cougar and headed west on Route 34 into the setting sun. Steve had something in his car I had never seen before: a portable CD player! Between songs by Enya and Christopher Cross, Steve expanded on his sad tale. It puzzled me; I had met his lover and been most impressed with her outer and inner grace and beauty; her aura glowed a lovely rose color, and she was one of the most heartfilled people I had ever met in Fairfield. Steve was a most chivalrous knight, a true gentleman; I felt they deserved each other and were destined to be together.
That evening we reached Council Bluffs, on the west border of Iowa, and booked a hotel for the night. The next morning we firmed up our plans and decided definitely to go on into the Pacific Northwest to visit Orcas Island.
I still had the Iowa driver's permit I had acquired last year, and though unfamiliar with the Cougar's stick shift, I shared a bit of the driving with Steve -- we put his car on cruise control; the long, straight desert highways were deserted and I had no fear of causing an accident. A few days later we passed through the Cascades and took the ferry to Orcas. We had called John and Vicki, who welcomed us to Orcas and kindly put us up in their guestroom in Olga for a few days.
Meanwhile, Steve's lover called -- when Steve had just disappeared, she worried greatly, fearing he had perhaps committed suicide, but then discovered I had left also, and thought to call Nancy to ask my whereabouts, and had tracked us to Orcas. It had all been a misunderstanding; they dramatically reconciled, and Steve was ready to return to Fairfield.
I was not, however: despite its unseasonable damp and cold, Orcas called to me even more strongly than before, and I felt I was supposed to stay here. John and Vicki introduced me to the landlord of an apartment complex in Eastsound, where I could rent a unit month-to-month. I asked Steve for a huge favor: On his return to Iowa, would he pack up my stuff and ship it to me? Yes, he would, and he did. As a token of my thanks I gave him my nearly-new portable color TV, and called my Fairfield landlord to give my notice.
(to be continued)
