No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. – John Donne
As we boarded the green and white ferry in Anacortes, Washington this week, we were surrounded by relatives heading to the San Juan Islands for a family reunion.
I reminisced with my siblings about times when we couldn’t find our vehicle on the car deck and we ran around nervously as everyone started their engines.
I reminisced with my cousins about different Orca sightings and how no matter how many “whale watching” trips we booked, they surfaced when least expected.
I reminisced with my husband about our wedding on Orcas Island and how it was the only time both of our families were together.
Finally, I reminisced with my children about this time last year when we were exploring the Swedish Archipelago. We talked about the similarity of the flora and fauna between here and there. We quietly remembered how the island of Grinda grounded us when we were so far from home.
I realized as we docked on Orcas, my mind was in the Baltic Sea. I was thinking of the tar on the pilings and the creaking dock as we waited to depart so many months ago.
Sweden seems so far away from here … So far away from home, yet intimately familiar.
I love knowing that these reflections are not full of longing to be somewhere else but rather a thirst to make further connections, to seek out more similarities, and to appreciate the differences that propel us deeper into the unknown.
