On top of the world! And all the steps to get there…

I may have mentioned that our epic view takes a few stair cases to get to, but I wanted to share more about just how many. Well I don’t know exactly how many, I haven’t counted, but there are no ways that don’t involve a lot of them. Except for taking a cab, then there are just the 2 flights in the house to the 3rd floor. 

We have several routes up the hill we can take and have title them The Parkour Stairs, The Death Stairs, The Lava Way, The Church Stairs, The Homeless Stairs, The Beach Stairs, and the Poop Steps. Most are fairly self explanatory. The Beach Steps lead to the beach. The most frequented Parkour Stairs- featured in our Halloween story, have many little steps attached to a large center stair way, creating lots of levels and hazards ideal for tripping and leaping from one to the next if you are 6 years old and made of rubber. The Death Stairs are the longest, steepest, and most unrelenting. The Homeless and Poop routes both have the same potential problem common to a large city and are best avoided at night for safety and adequate visibility. The Lava Way is the street way with one small steep staircase and lots of large cobble stone alleys that are ideal for hopping from stone to stone. 

The Church steps were closed last time we were here and we are super excited that they are back. They lead from the park or weekend street market  below and are a gradual grade, broken up by level terraces of grass and trees and old brick walls that lead to the giant historic church at the top. They are closed at dusk and were closed altogether as the church struggled with upkeep and keeping people from camping there. But now it is beautiful and quiet. With the large brick walls we like to bring Ollie there to play his favorite, bounce the ball off the wall and catch game. Alas, you still have to take the Death Stairs or Poop Steps to complete the journey home.

Overall, the physical challenge has mellowed. The first few weeks involved lots of sore muscles and huffing and puffing. Gaining buns of steel is definitely a great bi product. Although adding a few pounds of groceries is still a challenge for sure. A backpack has become a staple in my wardrobe. Realizing that you forgot something when you get to the door and need to return back to the 3rd story has almost become funny. Almost.

We walk. We no longer have a car. On one level this is so good. No money pit, no repairs, no searching for parking… For groceries I miss it. But I definitely would be terrified to drive in the crazy huge city! Poor Rio had the worst time adjusting. So much walking for little legs. But the complaining has subsided and he is getting used to it, just like us.

As with most things, the mental challenge is the real foil. In writing this I must admit I got a bit stuck. Am I really going to write an entire post about the stairs? While I am giving you more of a window into our surroundings and challenges, I think the stairs are a wonderful metaphor for our daily struggles in adjusting to our new life. I personally am putting one foot in front of the other and every damn one of them is uphill. And even when I get to the top, I just have to go down and up again. Over and over again. It is exhausting.

Over the holidays I hit a wall of exhaustion and found it pretty hard to put one foot in front of the other. Holidays are hard for a lot of us. And the end of the year is always a time for reflection. Instead of the previous year, the last 6 years since my son was born seemed to just smack into me like a giant wave I couldn’t seems to get out from under. The endless moving and trying to make ends meet in California where we just couldn’t get a break. The transition from a full-time working artist to part time teacher/performer, full time wife and mom.. Constantly waiting for a year from now when things would get easier. I ran out of gas.

And then, like you do. I cried and wallowed in self pity. On New Years eve we sat at our giant window and looked out over the bay and saw 10 simultaneous and epic fireworks displays from our incredible view. We reassured Ollie bug as he shook next to us. Rio stayed up and was in absolute awe. It was beautiful and my heart broke open. We are lucky. We have each other and so much more. It wasn’t just the fireworks that began my change of heart, I literally was so empty, that the only thing left to do is to start to refill.

So I plan to keep moving. Up and down the stairs, to the next house or apartment, with my awesome family, and with a new online teaching business. I feel inspired and excited about it. Moving heals all things for me and most of us, so that’s what I will do. I’ll help others while I refill my cup.  So let me know if you wanna work out. And keep your eyes out as I start getting some videos recorded so there are lots of ways to move with me. Thanks to all of you that have checked in while I go through all my ups and downs, it means the world to me.