I was still in Stratham, New Hampshire staying with Tucker. A mutual friend of ours, Ryan, who owned a roofing company, offered us both the opportunity to help him out by re-doing a Burger King roof. It was an easier roofing job; we would have to apply two layers of a rubber paint coating onto a large section of the roof. When we first got there, Ryan and Tucker went up on the roof. Tucker used a rope to lower cinder blocks that had been up there, and I carried each of them to the work truck and loaded them into the back. After that I went up on the roof to help. Tucker cleared away the debris and swept as Ryan and I started painting the white base coat. We worked for about four hours before the sun started to hide behind clouds. We had to call it quits and leave the rest of the job for the next day; the rubber paint needed the sun to properly dry.
For dinner that night we headed to The Hive, an intentional community, to have dinner with some friends. We arrived and started making dinner in the community kitchen. Ryan was the main chef, but we helped with some chopping and peeling the garlic. He made a lovely kale and sausage dish. We put two tables together so there was enough room for us and everyone from The Hive to sit together. We stayed pretty late, and I was exhausted. When we got back to Tucker’s house, I instantly fell asleep on the couch.
The next day we had to finish the Burger King roof. Tucker and I arrived before Ryan and got right to work. We had to dry off spots where puddles had formed from the night before. There was a small section of roof left that still needed the bottom coat. While that part was drying, we started on the other half and painted the top coat. We worked for a few short hours while listening to music, singing, and chatting, finishing the top layer while the sun was still out. Ryan seemed happy with the work.
There was still sunlight left in the day. While Tucker and I had been chatting, I told him about all the different times I had gone to the ocean and how it was my favorite place in the world. He asked if I wanted to go to the little stretch of beach they had in New Hampshire. I happily said yes. We went and gathered up both of our dogs, and when we got there, let the dogs off their leashes to run freely. It was a chilly day, but Tucker had given me one of his jackets to wear. As we walked along, the waves came crashing in. We looked for pretty rocks along the shore and I filled my pockets with my favorites.
Tucker offered to take me out for dinner afterwards. We drove toward the restaurant down a long, winding road that stretched alongside the water. The other side of the road was lined with beautiful mansions. We arrived at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the ocean. We sat at a table for two on the second floor with a beautiful view of the beach. It was the nicest restaurant I had been to in a while. I ordered a delicious fish meal, and Tucker got steak and lobster. We chatted the night away, sharing stories of our travels, enjoying the food and each other's company.
The next day we decided to make pancakes for breakfast. We used coconut flour, coconut milk and added chocolate chips. While we cooked, we played different songs about pancakes as we danced around the kitchen, singing along. The coconut pancakes tasted amazing, and we ate every single one.
After breakfast we took the dogs to a nearby park we had been going to each morning. A nor'easter was blowing in that day so it was raining, but we didn’t mind. We chose a path that wound through the woods and up a hill. Tucker had told me that at the top of the trail was a fire tower that we would climb. Anytime he and I were driving and passed a water tower, I asked if we could climb it. Every time it was a “no” due to the fences and no trespassing signs. This seemed like the perfect thing that we were actually allowed to climb. When we got to the clearing the fire tower was in, the rain let up slightly. I carried Maggie up the multiple flights of stairs. Tucker had to coax his dog Nyx into coming along, but she eventually gave in and climbed up all the way up with us. As we got closer to the top, the rain started to come down harder and harder. By the time we made it all the way up, we were in a downpour with the wind whipping around us. The dogs didn’t seem thrilled, but I loved the excitement. The view was absolutely gorgeous, and the storm added to the thrill. Tucker sat on the grating with the dogs, wrapping Maggie in his coat to keep her warm while I took in the view.
We didn’t stay up there long, not wanting to torture the poor dogs. When we went to head back down, Nyx wouldn’t climb down the stairs. The mixture of the rain and steep steps was too much for her. Tucker was a great dog dad, and ended up picking her up and carrying her the entire way down even though Nyx is quite a large dog. I carried Maggie down as well, but she is a small dog and that was enough of a struggle. As we walked along the trail, the rain poured down even harder, and eventually we had to run to a nearby gazebo for cover. Realizing the rain wasn’t going to let up again anytime soon, we sprinted to the car. By the time we arrived to safety, we looked like we had gone for a swim.
That night we had to go to the store to get some things for dinner. I suggested Alfredo since it's one of my favorite foods, and I hadn’t eaten it since I had gone gluten free. We found gluten free pasta, chicken marinated in pesto, and all the things we needed to make Alfredo sauce from scratch. As we were leaving, we spotted a Cold Stone Creamery. Tucker asked if I wanted to go, and of course I said yes. We took forever to decide on flavors, but eventually Tucker went with a cake batter sundae. I decided on vanilla ice cream and added Reese’s peanut butter cups, almonds, chocolate chunks and coconut. It was creamy and delicious. We sat inside and ate until we thought our stomachs would burst. Luckily for us they had lids so we took the rest to-go.
When we got back to the car, which we had parked in a nearby movie theater parking lot, we started joking about sneaking into the movies. Neither of us had ever done it before, but it seemed like it would be fun. We decided that if there was a movie playing that we wanted to see within the next fifteen minutes, we would try it. The only movie that either of us had even heard of was the new “Dune” movie, and it happened to be playing in exactly 15 minutes. We took that as a sign that we should at least give sneaking in a try. We stood by the locked back door of the theater, waiting and hoping someone would come out, giving us the opportunity to slip in. Within two minutes two women exited the building. I went to grab the door before it swung shut, and as I did one of the women said, “oh are you coming in?”, and held the door for us. We entered, thanking the woman. We walked down the hall and past the workers without being noticed. We found the “Dune” movie theater and went right in. Once inside, we noticed that the seats were numbered, and had been assigned with the tickets people bought. We figured the least favorable seats would be the ones in the very front row, so we sat there with hopes that we hadn’t taken someone else's seats. Tucker had the great idea of going onto the website for the theater, looking up the movie, and from there we could see what seats were available. The ones we had chosen were in the clear. Once the movie started, we checked the website and moved back to a better location. We reclined our seats and enjoyed the entire movie, issue free. As we left the theater, we waved goodbye to the camera at the doors. It was late once we got back to the house, but we still made Alfredo while dancing around the kitchen. The cheesy, creamy sauce turned out perfectly. We enjoyed it as we watched “Adventure Time” together.
The next day was Halloween. We woke up early so we could attend a sweat lodge at Sacred Nectar. The tradition is for females to wear skirts and have their shoulders covered, so upon arrival I changed into a dress with a shawl. Men just have to wear pants. This was my first one where I would be doing every round. I had done two others previously that year, but they were held at gatherings and therefore were shorter and not done as traditionally. There was a fire going next to the sweat lodge. The fire had rocks sitting in the middle of it that we would use. We all climbed in, the men first, then the women. We sat in a circle around a hole in the ground. They used a pitch fork and carried in each of the large rocks from the fire, depositing them all in the hole. Once they were in place, we closed the doors of the sweat lodge, which made everything go completely dark. They poured water over the hot rocks, which let off steam. The air got thick and hot, making it hard to breathe. The sweat lasted about a total of two hours. It was broken into twenty minute sessions. In-between each, they open the door flaps and let a bit of fresh air in. Each session was geared towards a different thing: what we are grateful for, what we are praying for, but especially the healing of the world and its people. We sang and chanted, and went around sharing our prayers and singing at different parts. With each round, the lodge grew hotter and the air got thicker. Once the sweat was over, I ran and dipped into the freezing stream nearby. I always feel like it helps me to wash away any last bit of negativity I could be holding onto, and the cold was much needed after all that heat.
afterwards we joined everyone for dinner at the house. We said hello to our friend, Joy. She had recently arrived, had bags of craft supplies with her, and asked if anyone wanted to make chapstick. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m obsessed with chapstick; it’s my one addiction. I was thrilled. This day just kept getting better and better. She told us how to make it, mixing beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil with essential oils. Tucker and I mixed all the ingredients together and heated them up over the stove before carefully pouring them into the little chapstick tubes. We then put them in the fridge to cool. We were attached at the hip the entire time.
It was Halloween night, and also my last night in New England before heading to New York for a week. I had originally stayed because I planned to attend a Halloween party in Maine. But the sweat lodge had exhausted us, so we decided to stay at Sacred Nectar instead. Ashley was holding a ceremony there that we had been invited to as well. All the females that would be attending got together and created an altar. It had an animal skull, bones, crystals, candles and a large turnip picked from the garden placed at the top. My contribution was adding a little wooden chalice I had filled with different herbs. I placed it at the top left corner of the altar. Everyone gathered around in a circle. It was a windy night so we gathered as close as we could as we lit the candles, using our bodies as shields against the wind. Ashley started the ceremony and spoke of what had been happening around us, and how this was a time of release. After she spoke, we each went around and said something we wanted to release, and something we wanted to accept into our lives. On my turn I said that I wanted to release the walls that I had built up towards others. I wanted to accept love of every sort, from others and myself. Once we all shared, we went over to a big brush pile. As we lit it up, we were supposed to fully release whatever it was that we wanted to let go of, letting the flames consume whatever that may be.
The next day was the day I had to head back to my hometown, Fulton, New York, to take care of a few things. Maggie and I woke up early and hit the road again.
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