Man Im behind on posting….. It happens…

This one tho, when we finally made it to the Mountain….

Every day we visit her from our neighborhood- Us and the girls on the walk with the dog, waving from afar, saying ‘Hello’… From the clear days when she looks massive to the ones she hides behind the clouds to the shows she puts on, lava spits and dragon smoke, its like we’ve become friends… There is scientific proof that people have an endorphin effect from staring or being among the Mountains- this rings so true for Me.

Eddie Vedder said “Sure as I am breathing, sure as I am sad, Ill keep this wisdom in my flesh… I leave here believing more then I had, this love has got no ceiling.” I found this quote to resonate deep with me… Iv mentioned before that this move has been hard on me, all of us here in different yet similar ways. I found a LOVE in Japan, its land, its Mountains…. I know this new home is temporary, just a short 3-4 years, and I will connect and embrace it- But I dont know if I could without Etna being in vision everyday. For me, it makes a difference. She is picturesque against the flat valley landscape around Sigonella, she is Home to the trees, big lush Pine and Cedar. I left Kyushu with the absolute knowing that my soul is pulled- to the forest, to the roaring peaks. Its exciting in so many ways that Andrew has also found this to be… Over our 13 years together we have somehow found ourselves on a very evolved path- Travel being a roll, yet also settling somewhere green and mountainous…. When your in the Navy and move every few years, sometimes continentally, you think about such things! But I know in my heart that this pure connection with mountains will forever Grow… and it gives us a bucket list of dreams and adventures to Come!

Anyway, enough of all that…. We have since been up to Etna multiple times, hiking and even biking a bit… This trip was a special one though… Our first of what will be very very many. Tea and Rye climbed up a crater wall, then ran back down, Madi loved every bit of walking on lave rock and finding the first flowers of Spring patiently awaiting the right condition to burst from buds- Story played in the leaves, and snuggled up into me and Dad as much as she could to keep warm… We also got not only a Family Shot (somehow!) but some of my favorite pictures ever of Andrew and I… Thank you Tea and Madi!

Hope you enjoy….

Thanks for peeking! Till next time… xoxoxo

Mt Etna….. March.2021