What is this guy doing??? Taking a crap? Peering at something in the water? Pooping his pants? What does all this have to do with prison?
Well, this is Pete. The man I love. The man I will marry and raise children with. He is a total....goofball. This is a picture of why I love Pete. He makes me giggle. He lightens my moods. He sees birds feeding on the shore and runs over to imitate them (too bad I didn't get the bird in the shot). He is a ray of sunshine. Purely good intentions lead him through his days and his interactions. I am a blessed woman...a damn lucky woman. And even more wonderful is that by the end of this week he will be back in my loving arms and free from prison.
Okay, okay, so he hasn't actually been in prison, behind bars etc. An though he has been in my loving arms, he hasn't beenable to truly be there. He has had a heavy, pending project looming over his shoulders for over a year now. He has been waking before 6 a.m. to work at his computer for a few hours before gulping down breakfast and throwing on a nice shirt to get to work by 8:30a.m. Then comes his lunch hour. A quick drive to the library gives him one hour of quiet work time, only to rush back to work, no lunch in belly, no break having been had, and jump back in to reviewing permit applications and meeting with desperate parties. When 5:30 p.m. rolls around he is wiped. Some days he can manage to get some more work done before bed, but most days he comes home barely able to talk let alone do any of the many things that nuture his spirit (banjo, juggling, dog play).
So, this has gone on at varying degrees of intensity for months and months. The project, his final project for his Master's degree in Urban Planning, has been hovering for over a year. This is the prison that he is about to be free from. Tomorrow he meets with his advisor and hopefully gets a signature. Then he takes the 300 page document to be bound. And then, he will get back on the ferry towards Bainbridge Island. He will most likely have a beer and watch the water as the giant vessel glides over it feeling the wind on his face. He will feel a weight lifted and see the prison bars in front of him dissolve into the air. The walls also become thinner and thinner the closer he gets to the island. The salty air filling his lungs will soothe his tired soul. He will arrive to Bainbridge and drive home. He will lay on the floor and get attacked with kisses from our dogs. I will nourish him with a yummy meal and some after dinner loving. And then he will sleep. In his sleep his body will begin to understand that he can truly relax again; that he doesn't have to think about this project anymore. The added stress of his job dissolves as well. No thoughts, only rest.
And I will kiss his sweet face while he sleeps. He has been amazing through all of this. He is truly a warrior. A brave, strong, courageous, warrior. If it were me in his shoes, sitting inside all weekend, every weekend for months, while the sun shone bright and warm outside and my lover built a garden, it would have left me a depressed blob. He's an angel and I am incredibly proud of him. His work ethics and resilience are outstanding. Go Pete. Glad we won't have to have anymore conjugal visits. I await the real and whole man back in my arms.
