Day 74: Pepsi jingles, Florida life guards, and how the shark that stopped moving taught me a lesson that I learned

It is like I always say, "If you are struggling and moving and trying to make Life fit into the little shape you want it to, Life will find a way to slow you down and bring you back to where you belong, and hopefully it will be in one piece, and not missing a limb, but if it does, so be it." And that saying was brought into play by what has been happening to me for the past week or two.

Well, it seems I cannot keep track of every single day, but after Kimmy and I were reunited, we had a few days of friendship bliss, which consisted of the same fun times we'd had before, and new ones involving training Seeing-Eye dogs for the blind, creating jingles for Pepsi that Pepsi did not seem to understand the signifiance of, but time will tell, and setting a record of how long we could clean one single kitchen counter with a 409 Cleaning Spray, and 36 hours long is how long.

These times were fun, but Life decided once again that they could not last. And so it came to pass that Kimmy decided it was time to return to Taiwan as apparently she has a man there who intends to marry her, and she is not opposed to this idea. And I really was quite sad when I figured out this was happening, but I also had to try not to be selfish, as besides me, it seems most people in this country do not understand much of Kimmy's English, which has gotten a bit better, I must say, but still lacks many important words, even though Kimmy likes to communicate more in actions than words to me anyway.

So now it appears to be the case that Kimmy has left this country that I live in called "America" to many people, and so I departed on a journey to follow Kimmy and make sure she arrived safely in Taiwan because that is what friends are for. But of course, it seems there are many rules to flying on an aeroplane that I was not aware of, and it thwarted me at every turn. So then I tried to drive there, but I only made it as far as Florida, and did not have internet access there to contact my kind blogger friends who live there, and I wasn't even sure that Florida was headed in the right direction, and once I hit the water, I knew the car would have to be left behind.

And on my way to Florida, naturally, I tried to make friends, but I learned rather quickly that the people you can make friends with on your journey to Florida are not quite the kinds of friends you want to "bring home to Mom and Dad" as they say. So then I had to find a way to cross the waters, and so I was to leave my car behind with a new friend that had long hair but was a male that I met outside a very nice convenience store, but then the Life Guards of a hotel in Florida kept telling me there were not boats to Taiwan, but maybe I wanted to go to Key West instead. But I said I certainly did not want to go to Key West as Kimmy was not in Key West, and they said they did not know who Kimmy was, but when I tried to explain my tale, they said they really ought to be watching the residents swim in their pool and they advised me to go back to New York State or rent a hotel room there for the night.

Well, I felt a bit discouraged, as you can imagine, because I really only wanted to make sure Kimmy arrived safely. So then I appeared on the beach, and a man with a metal detector proceeded to tell me a tale about how he was attacked by a shark, and how sharks really CAN stop moving and stay alive, because he said the shark that attacked him stopped moving and sure had a grand old rest as he bit into his leg, and then swam off happy as a clam afterward. I thanked him for that nice shark tale and then told him I rather felt like a fish out of water, as I was trying to get to my best friend's house in Taiwan to help her arrive safely. So then he asked me a question about when her flight had left and other such personal attire, and I shared this information, as I felt he had certainly shared his personal attire with me about his shark attack, and he then said that Kimmy's flight no doubt had landed in Taiwan a week ago or so, and that she had either arrived safely or she had not, and my getting there wouldn't change a thing one way or the other.

And I really just think that shark man was placed on that beach so that he could enlighten me on my journey and bring it to an end, so that I too, could rest happy and secure, just as that shark had rested his teeth, on the man's leg, and it just brought a sense of peace to me and a connection to the creatures of the sea. And so I found the man with long hair who was now living in my car, who seemed not too pleased that I had returned to get it after all, but some friends like he just can't accept the fact that my journey had changed, so I told him I appreciated his concern for Kimmy, but this shark had to return to New York.

So now I have returned home at last, and my journey is why I have not been writing, but only had internet access on a "limited basis" before I arrived in Florida, and used that "limited basis" time just to check out a few of my best friend bloggers' posts, because you are all so special to me. So now that I am here, I am awaiting a letter from Kimmy any day, and in the mean time, I have decided to capitalize on the insight I had regarding the creatures of the sea and so I am going to try to visit the Long Island Sound every day now and collect dead fish, and perhaps make a project out of them, so that people can start to appreciate all the living creatures of the water world, who can teach us lessons about our journeys and ourselves, just as the shark and his man-prey taught me.

Love,
Orchard