Sad to say, the pink suitcase is still sitting in the bedroom corner. Waiting, begging to be rolled through some airport corridor or onto a teakwood deck on some glorious vessel. And just as sad to say, this would-be traveller is plopped in bed. And in the event you think this will lead to something naughty, I can only say: Wrong! Shame on you!

I'm in bed because I'm sick, sick, sick. I've had a fever, and chills, and no appetite whatsoever (which for me, is almost unheard of!). And worst of all, I've been stuck in this little corner of my little world for a little too long...

But from this cushy, if limited, position I can still sip on hot tea-with-lemon-and-honey, and I can still write a blogette (and no, that is not a "girl" blog; it is a mini-blog) to let you (whoever "you" are) know that I am still in the land of the breathing... and dreaming...

On the subject of "who you are," I believe I had my first two international readers last week! The first was a gentlemen from Sydney, Australia who identified himself as Delusional King (aren't these online names intriguing?). He said he works in a club in Syndey, just 5 metres from the waterfront. Then he told me about his homeland, New Zealand. In a ragged-yet-heartfelt way he discussed the ruggedness; the open, clean air; the virtues of north versus south; the unlimited scope of natural beauty. And through his unmanicured descriptions I was reminded of how wonderful it is to be exposed to people whose vista and vision of the world are so different from my own that they carry me along the miles in their words. I doubt I will ever run across Delusional King again, but he opened my eyes (at least a little wider) to the attractions of a land a world away. One that I will visit one day -- dragging the pink suitcase behind me.

Another Aussie, now living in the U.S, also visited this spot this week. I will only say that her name, like mine, starts with a V. And she's an intuitive. She's a whole new world in herself! She "knows things." She seems to fly beyond the parameters of Earth, through the heavens with visionary glances of what was, what is, and what will be. I'd surely like to book a ride through her universe! V. says I have some happy, unexpected miles ahead of me. Travel, it seems, can come in many forms. Passages of the body, passages of the heart, passages of the spirit...

G'night.... Keep dreaming...

P.S. To Purple Frisbee: Your kind comment put bubbles in my champagne!

At precisely midnight, as the year surrendered the mantle of lucky '07 to claim its identity as great '0-eight, I was posted like a sentry, on my little deck, out under the stars... just as I was last year.

It's the time when I send sweet wishes up into the sky and across the world to people in distant places. I toast the goodness of life, and I call out hopes and dreams to the universe, with this little glow of belief inside of me that such supplications will fall onto a benevolent ear. And somehow, I actually do convince myself that the director of this big, undefinable confluence of life and death and joy and sorrow and laughter and tears will find the grace to grant me the fulfillment of one, maybe two little human desires. And suddenly, life seems to be full of endless possibilities.

Perhaps I'll find myself in a corner of the world never before darkened by this particular human shadow. I think of that... something so simplistic, then realize that the entire world could change on just that occasion. I mean, yes I will see the world, but the world will also see Val, and whatever value I bring to this planet. Maybe I'll just share a laugh with a stranger, or maybe I'll tell some starving street artist to keep with his vision, or maybe I'll dance on a beach after midnight to the sound of the ocean breaking on shore... There is value even in these things, right? And thus, the world alters and adjusts and changes. Stars realign. Sands shift. The globe spins at a slightly different angle. The very rhythm of life changes tempo just a tiny bit....

To get me going, I received a special Christmas gift: a set of pink luggage. And all because I wrote (in my very first entry on here) about that memorable pink suitcase recalled from all those years ago. And so it is: A dream was sent out into space, and the wish was fulfilled.
Real.
Solid.
Substantial.
Standing right this very minute in the corner of my bedroom.... embodied in a luscious pink suitcase and matching carry-on.

Ask. Believe. Travel to the limits of your dreams. The cost of expectation is merely dogged human hopefulness....

May you all thrive and find fulfillment in this great new year.....