{Going to forewarn you that I’m talking about everything that’s on my mind today…so pay attention…lots of different stuff, including that thing called sports.}
I spent most of Day 55 going through 100s of photos from Paris, Rabat, Meknes and Volublis. The next Moroccan post that I go back to is the one that everyone in Morocco (that I met) is waiting for…my tour of Fes.
I forgot that most of my tour of Fes wound up on my BlackBerry because I had exceeded my photo limit on my SD card for the camera (oops…forgot to transfer all of the pics onto the laptop). So now that all of those BB photos are transferred to Facebook, I’ll collect them later for the slideshow.
It’s funny about inspiration…when you’re doing the things you love to do, you feel even more inspired to do other things…and well, inspire others along the way too.
This weekend, due to the lovely October snowstorm (really, the universe just likes to keep reminding me why I’m destined for the desert…not one single sign says to stay in NYC), I got a chance to get through some of my photos and bake two batches of cornbread (one with jalapenos, the other with the corn relish I canned earlier this summer).
There’s a part of me that says…continue/finish decorating the apartment like I planned before I left the country (as if I wasn’t leaving). The other part of me says not to worry about decorating and continue on, because I can ship it all to Morocco when the time comes. I’m just in that uncertainty period where I start to ask myself again and again…am I really moving to Morocco? Am I really in love with this guy? I must be insane…
Then I look up and see a sign saying, “What is your heart telling you?” My heart is telling me that I’ve already committed my heart and soul to someone in Morocco. All of the signs in my life are pointing to Morocco. So I guess I should stop questioning myself, right?
There’s something I haven’t discussed yet as one of the main reasons (besides love) why Morocco has become the new destination in my life.
When I was out in the sand dunes with Hamid, I was telling him about cancer…as in “I have cancer.” He looked at me funny when I said that because he didn’t know what the word was.
I tried to explain it to him. The entire time he kept looking at me, trying to understand this sickness…this disease. He didn’t understand it at all. Then he says to me, “The nomad people don’t have this cancer. Sure, they get sick every now and again, but we have plants to cure the sickness.”
Do you see what’s passing through my mind after that? Nomads don’t have cancer. No one has ever had cancer. No one has ever had any of the symptoms I described to him. No one has had tumors…they die of either an accident or old age.
I’m thinking…maybe there’s a cure here. Maybe there’s something about the nomadic lifestyle that prevents people from having cancer.
Maybe I can be cured.
The Sahara Desert has mystical and very magical healing properties. I can’t even begin to re-tell all of the stories I was told about the Sahara’s healing properties. People just lay out in the sand and then they’re cured. Don’t ask me how it works…it’s magic.
I’m sure if most pro athletes that suffered from severe muscle pains and injuries headed to the sand dunes of the Sahara, they could walk away in 3 days time completely healed (as some people have told me…they leave better than new). All of this is accomplished without surgery or drugs.
I can even attest to the magical healing properties of the desert. It healed my heart and my soul…and then made me fall in love with the guy sitting next to me just a few seconds later…someone I never would have dreamed of falling in love with (I mean…come on…me, a girl from NYC, fall in love with a Muslim Arab nomad…who does that?). That’s why I keep talking about how I’m not sure if the Sahara was playing tricks on me or if I really did fall in love with a nomad. She seriously does this to people!
As my time grows closer and closer to leaving the US, there seems to be a bucket list forming. Take Christmas, for example…on Friday, I thought about what kind of Christmas tree I was going to have…but I like this idea so much better…
What’s great about this option is that I can give the trees away to someone when I move away. The trees can either be kept in their home, or they can pull the trees out and plant them in their yard. I can even give one of them to my brother to plant in his yard.
What I also like about the trees in the pitcher option is that they are very much alive and thriving…which makes them even more beautiful to look at. Who would have thought of putting pine trees in a pitcher or a vase? LOVE IT!
I also found another DIY gift for my friends. Since this will be my last Christmas with them, I wanted to make the gifts more personal and something they will remember me by (photos are definitely part of the gift bags).
I found another recipe that all of my friends will love and enjoy. Peppermint stick cocoa! 
Doesn’t it look delish? It’s very simple to make and the jars are very easy to find online at either Sur La Table or Crate & Barrel.
I’ll have to figure out an all vegan/vegetarian option for this recipe. I think a certain former Canadien might like something like this too…if I can figure out how to do this in a vegan option. {Maybe I should just Google DIY vegan gifts.}
Speaking of hockey…I return to hockey this Wednesday. I also wasn’t scheduled to do the Winter Classic…but my editor is now telling me that it’s a possibility, because you know…it is my final season. Not getting my hopes up, because I’m okay if I don’t go. I’ve got All-Stars later that month with Winter Adams…and then that whole…Morocco trip in April (going to cost more than the last trip).
Speaking of the final season…I’m watching the NBA lockout right now, because like most of us on the 2012 NHL lockout watch are doing, we’re watching what the NBA will do, because it is a precursor to what will happen during the 2012 CBA talks. So union reps, I’ll be looking to get some input on what you think and see as the NBA talks continue and how it will relate to the future 2012 talks. For those interested, the NBAPA tweeted this article which is very much worth the read. Just a pissing match…and the NBA benefitting off of a bunch of jocks that aren’t so smart. Oh, I pray the jocks get smart with this one or face getting screwed.
I did mention back in July that one of the reasons why this is my last season has a little something to do with the upcoming lockout that I think many of us are expecting to see. Then again, I had a feeling in July my world was changing and it was time to move on to the next phase in life.
The weird part in all of this…the movers and shakers of the NHL have been sending me emails and messages about the NBA lockout. If it wasn’t on my radar before, it’s now on my radar.
Next, I see NBA people are following me. I even got an email about some NBA job openings in Minnesota. I don’t think my life is moving towards the NBA, but right now…all I can say is that what’s happening now…the universe is dropping it into my lap saying, “PAY ATTENTION.” And if I haven’t started paying attention…the who’s who of the NHL are telling me to “PAY ATTENTION.”
Maybe you should be, too.
