Back to Normal .....

(Cumberland River, Tennessee)

Back to Normal? My friend, Michelle’s Husband Torry actually asked me this. We were standing at a live venue in Nashville, listening to my new favorite band the Avett Brothers. http://www.theavettbrothers.com/site.php Banjos and stand up bases being whaled on like a electric guitar, their body language was of a rock band not a progressive blue grass band. The crowd was a mix of Vandy plucked frat boys and southern new age hippies….a unique breed commonly characterized my scraggly hair and natural clothing, river sandals, the ability to make a good home brew, usually seen munching on gorp, and of course a thick southern accent that rings in your ears as they say “dude”.

I paused and kinda giggled. I actually have no idea what normal is anymore. I did not know what to say or know what to think… I just said I guess…well not really.

Normalcy, something I had too much of in my past life. Monday –Friday…Get up at 5:30am-sharp, work out-a bike ride if I was lucky, go to work for 9 hours and stare at a computer screen and try not to get too stressed out that I have to run and hide in the bathroom- if I was lucky, come home and make dinner- if my ex-husband was lucky, my evening excitement was looking forward to my favorite reality show-if it was my turn to pick the show, and well going to bed early so I could study-that always put me to sleep. Weekends were not much better. Saturday- clean the house, go to the grocery, do my homework, brush the cat, go the gym. Sunday…study, and wait around till my ex-husband woke up from working the swing shift as a police officer, then yes…..the highlight of my week was a bike ride, maybe a mountain bike ride if I was lucky, with my ex-husband. This was Normal, my normal and I was happy with it. Because I can be happy with anything.

This life that I lead now is not normal to me, but the longer I live in my new skin, see with my widened eyes; I begin to feel that I will get use to this new normal. Ever day is different, my office moves as I do, I ride in wonderful places with different people everyday, scale beautiful rock walls,

(Kings Gap in Tennessee)
eat dinner at trendy restaurants with friends, make 3 course Spanish meals for my family,

attend cultural festivals on weekends,

see live music during the week days, commute to yoga class on my bicycle 4 days a week, rummage at local flea markets,

have tea parties with my grandmother, get all dressed up to go see the new art exhibit at the museum, spend the afternoon taking a cat nap with my cat calvin, I take my dogs for walks, I plan road trips to see old friends, and plan with new friends adventures to explore foreign lands.

Yes I do get overwhelm. If you know me personally, you know I am a goal setter, and I tend to set too many goals that eventually consume me. I have learned allot about balance, something I struggle with every day. I actually follow a list, I drive to follow a life list of 5 things to do everyday to bring life balance to my new world. No matter if I am in Nashville, Spain, Washington, Atlanta, Italy or in my car driving to the next destination on a road trip; I plan my day with 5 things “to do” in order to bring normalcy, routine to my life. With this way of life, anxiety is minimal, I appreciate all that I have now, I have reached a happiness that I never knew was possible

With living my life this way I focus on the day, live in the now, but am still conscious of the future. Five simple things having to do with work/school, my family/friends, my spirit, what I put in my body and well.. my bike; all brings balance and a normalcy to this life that I lead….I will maybe share more about them with you in the future.

So ya... now that I think about it... back to Normal...... I guess I never actaully left it.

Amor,

katelyn

Little that I learned, a bicycle ride too..Tour de Wiskey, Isle of Islay 20 miles

When you travel on a budget, you spend time in hostels. Budget housing, a bunk bed in a room with dozens of other people, no towels or little soaps provided, sharing a toilet and shower with dozens of other men and women, but free internet, a lounge to get to know other travelers, and a kitchen to prepare food with people from all different countries makes up for disparities of hostel living. With this, you begin to see similarities or little quirks of people depending on the country they are from. I hate to generalize or be stereotypical, but tell you the truth you can almost tell where someone is from before they even say a word..just by little things.

I find it funny, the generalizations of Americans that have been shared with me by people I have met while traveling. Ruben even shared some with me; what he learned with his time spend in the train with travelers from all over the world. I was told you can spot Americans by their shorts. A kiwi (Australian) told be that American men wear those “God Awful” long cargo shorts with all those pockets. Ruben said he knows American girls by the short-shorts and big-big pack packs. I was told Americans can also be spotted by our perfect white teeth and out habit of chewing gum. You can spot an American at a club by the way they dance. Ruben says the girls move like snakes and talk really loud with a high pitch voice. So enough bout Americans I want to share what I have learned about Scotland; about the people and the land.. and yes I am guilty of all of these things that are “typical” American traits…

So the first thing about the Scottish is the “Scottish Face”. I do not know if it because of the cold or rainy weather, but a lot seem to have a certain facial expression. Squinty eyes, no smile, and look not very happy at all. Ruben and I have tried to replicate it, but I think he does a lot better job then I do.

Admittedly a Scottish women told me that Scottish do not smile and the women tend to be mengie (not attractive). Ruben said Scotland is the perfect place to go on holiday with your significant other, you do not have to worry much about them going off with anyone…I have to disagree about the minginess sterotype, because you know I have a high percentage of Scottish blood. heheheheh
I cannot forget the sheep. Yes the scottish love their sheep. They take great care that you do not run any of them over. They constantly remind you and I find this kinda funny...

Liz told me that a Scott’s life expectancy is in the low 60’s because of all the drinking and smoking. Wiskey..I guess keeps them warm from the cold and may help with overlooking the minginess of their date? I had the opportunity to see where this wiskey comes from. Ruben and I took a day on the Isle if Islay and did the Tour de Wiskey, however we only made it to one distillery because of the rain and cold. Ruben and I visited one of the most popular and left with 6 bottles that we carried in a backpack.and I visit the smallest in Scottland with only 3 employees.

Fascinating really, how the Barley is smoked,

fermineted into a beer, and then distilled in to wiskey.

Interestingly enough, at the Bilmore Distillery, the wiskey it is placed for years in bourbon barrels from Tennessee and Sherry barrels from Spain.

I must say my favorite thing about Scotland is the concrete. Ya funny I say this, but with out concrete roads, I would not be able to cycle and see all the beauty that the rain brings. The areas of Scotland that I have visited and cycled have single lane roads with passing pull offs. There seems to be minimal cars that travel on the roads, especially compared to the Italian and Spanish country roads that are frequented by speeding mini cars and motorcycles.

When you go to Scotland, be prepared and bring calamine lotion. For 3 days, Ruben thought he had fleas. After camping he ended up with hundreds of little bites, and I only had a few. The bites continued for days, we went through all the clothes and sleeping gear but no fleas were spotted. When asking Liz, she started to laugh because we had not found fleas, but the typical Scottish flying mini nat that has plagued this land for centuries, forces children to wear head nets when they play outside, and I was told actually drove the Romans out of the land when they tried to invade and almost made a moden day Spaniard go insane.

No not all of the Scottish talk like the Scottish guy from the Simpsons, but allot do.-especially in the north. So be prepared to listen really hard and say excuse me, can you repeat that. At one point I asked a bar tender at the bar if she spoke Spanish; I thought I would understand her more if If we talked in Spainsh.

And the young…where is the youth.. They are in the cities. I found it funny that I did not see one “children at play sign”, how we have in the states, but “beware the elderly”! I must say a frisky elderly couple..that is grandma appears to be if you use your imagination>>>>

love always, Katelyn