Finding my Soles

I once read a story about a woman who met Joseph Campbell.  She described to him a trip that she was planning in Greece.  She was going to have certain experiences, in certain places, at certain times.  When she had finished telling him about her plans he said something alone the lines of:

Madam, I truly hope that nothings goes according to your plan.

When I was 20 years old I ripped apart a calendar that my mother had forgotten to give as a gift.
I planned to use the pages as wrapping paper.  One of the pictures was an aerial view of a monastery, with only rocks for company.  I don't tend to keep calendar pages.  This one went on my bedroom wall.  It still hangs from a tack on my cork board.  It was the beginning of this journey.

I'm in Meteora.  Nothing is as I expect...

I have showered with a grasshopper the size of my hand - tip of middle finger to heel of palm.
Butterflies landed on my forehead while I was lying atop a rock. 
A vulture...at least I'm assuming that's what huge black raptors are in these parts...landed within 10 feet of me while I was sitting eating my lunch on a mountain hike.
I have been smiled at by nuns.
Scolded and kissed on the cheek by old men.
Taken for a drink of wild cherry juice on a plaza at midnight.
I have eaten cheese pie on the steps of a church, watching children play in the village square.
I have been lost in the woods 7 times in two and a half days.
I have been bitten by mosquitoes the size of crane flies.
I have cursed my endlessly runny nose.
I have awoken as church bells greeted the dawn.
I have climbed more than 300 stairs without stopping (after reaching 300 and realizing I was hardly over halfway, I felt it was discouraging to continue counting.)
I collected recipes from a local woman.
I picked wild mint on one of the trails where I was lost.
I have wondered why orthodox icons have such tiny lips.
I have pretended to be Australian once and German twice.
I sat in a cafe, missing my mother and drinking overpriced Nescafe.
I drank local wine while eating local beets and enjoyed EVERY bite!
I have visited the monastery from that calendar page...plus 5 others.

I could amuse you all with anecdotes - as there are quite a few.  Instead, I would like to say:

Thank God(s), the universe, the creator...whatever guides us or doesn't, that nothing is as I expect.  The very best things come to an open heart.  I've finally embraced that I am living proof of that.

Mother, thanks for forgetting to give away that calendar...and for teaching me to find adventure! 

Here's hoping I never have to shower with a 'hopper that huge again! 

(I promise, I'll bring the funny next time.)

--
Lindy