The travel gods conspired against my conference roommate, Maine Writer. First she was told that her flight was going to be late. Then it was cancelled. So she got on a train, which -- based on the texts she kept sending me -- was only minimally faster than a dog sled. She arrived in the middle of the night, missing the dinner she had planned, where friends toasted her health in her absence.
She also missed the lovely, sunny weather that we all enjoyed the first day of the conference. During the three hours of sleep she got that night, a cold front rolled in. As she walked over to the conference center to give her talk, bitter winds slapped cold air against her throat, her forehead, and her bare legs. The toast to her health was clearly defective. By the time her panel ended, she was flushed and running a fever. Her usual throng of admirers, rushing up to talk to her about her upcoming book, didn’t seem to notice.
“Are you meeting us for dinner?” I texted her from the back of the room.
“Can you get me some drugs?” she texted back.
That was her conference: hours of traveling and a miserable cold, with very little time to spend with her friends. Yet, despite these dreadful conditions, Maine Writer remained loyal to the naked photo project. She knows the tradition: anyone who rooms for me has to pose. I was willing, at this point, to let her off the hook, but she insisted.
"Of course I still want to pose," she told me. We went together to the hotel spa on the third floor, which had a sauna. “This heat feels so good,” she said. "I've been shivering all day."
Then she stretched out on a bench, naked. “This is all I have the energy for.”
We’d been talking earlier about self-care, and I’d listed the things I do for myself: long walks outdoors, potluck meals with friends, making time to read and write and meditate. Sometimes self-care means just taking the time to be still and listen to our bodies. Especially when we’re away from home and miserably sick.
Read more about the history of the naked blogging project and check out the gallery of photos.
She also missed the lovely, sunny weather that we all enjoyed the first day of the conference. During the three hours of sleep she got that night, a cold front rolled in. As she walked over to the conference center to give her talk, bitter winds slapped cold air against her throat, her forehead, and her bare legs. The toast to her health was clearly defective. By the time her panel ended, she was flushed and running a fever. Her usual throng of admirers, rushing up to talk to her about her upcoming book, didn’t seem to notice.
“Are you meeting us for dinner?” I texted her from the back of the room.
“Can you get me some drugs?” she texted back.
That was her conference: hours of traveling and a miserable cold, with very little time to spend with her friends. Yet, despite these dreadful conditions, Maine Writer remained loyal to the naked photo project. She knows the tradition: anyone who rooms for me has to pose. I was willing, at this point, to let her off the hook, but she insisted.
"Of course I still want to pose," she told me. We went together to the hotel spa on the third floor, which had a sauna. “This heat feels so good,” she said. "I've been shivering all day."
Then she stretched out on a bench, naked. “This is all I have the energy for.”
We’d been talking earlier about self-care, and I’d listed the things I do for myself: long walks outdoors, potluck meals with friends, making time to read and write and meditate. Sometimes self-care means just taking the time to be still and listen to our bodies. Especially when we’re away from home and miserably sick.
Read more about the history of the naked blogging project and check out the gallery of photos.
11 comments:
Happy to see the naked photo project still lives! Lovely picture.
Great photo. The mirror played with my brain for a bit. Maine Writer is beautiful. I hope she didn't get too sick and is feeling better.
I had to move way over so that the mirror didn't show me, taking the photo. And she did get better, although not until after she'd travelled home.
Sigh. Travel is always a bitch, and then to get sick in the midst of it. She paid forward lots of karma, it seems. Love the photo. :-)
Oh Joe, I have just caught up on the posts i missed, and am feeling so grateful this morning to be here in your presence. We need loving humans in this world, and it gentles me and eases my heart to know you are among us. That is a beautiful portrait of your friend as her body was healing itself, such abandon she has before your camera. That is a testament to you, your heart, your spirit of acceptance of us as we are. I am sure it is that same spirit that bonded Biker Boy to you. That post had me leaking unexpected tears. How precious that this child knows he is valued by you, and that he landed in such a wonderful family, and has a call to save lives. And, too, the wild women post, that resonated with me. Is there anything more sacred than a bunch of women who love each other, who know every aspect of each other, out in the woods, by the lake? I am happy I stopped by this morning. I needed this. I needed you.
Beautiful photo. What a trooper Maine Writer is to keep true to your tradition!
Stunning photo. And tradition. I am so glad that she recovered, albeit not quickly enough.
Aw, thanks, 37paddington.
What a lovely picture, but I'm so very sorry she had a horrible cold-ridden conference.
As I noted at Flickr, I like this one a lot!
Years ago, I went to a conference in Vancouver in which I spent the preponderance of my four days there on my back, thanks to a herniated disc that decided to flare up.
That is a really beautiful photo. The pose makes her look like something out of a Greek myth; a goddess mourning her lover.
Post a Comment