Estonia and Philosophy

Quoting the words of Rene (Laura's friend and Kati's boyfriend), "I never knew Estonia could be this fun!" I didn't really know what to expect going to Estonia. I heard it was a beautiful place, small but with lots of interesting things to see and nice beaches, but I have to admit, what really made this trip was the great friends I was with. After the amazing greeting from Kati, Laura and Amandine, and the three amazing days at Laura's house, celebrating 4th of July, the beach and Andy's arrival, we headed to Rene's summer house, in the middle of nowhere, which reminded me of Suffolk. There were fields with hay bails, the nearest neighbor a mile away, delicious home grown fruit and beautiful scenery. We ventured out at night into mosquito world, protected by layers of clothing, hats and ski goggles. Did I mention that Estonia is Mosquito Haven. We killed at least 50 mosquito's last night just in one hour. I'm currently in the airport and keep feeling like I'm being attacked! There's this beautiful baby sitting beside me. He and his mom are from Russia, and I haven't seen him without a smile on his face and not giggling the whole time I've been sitting here. He's such a happy baby!
After the summer house we headed up to Tallin, the capital of Estonia, where we stayed with Kati's brother and girlfriend for 2 nights. We explored the city and the midevil town a bit, enjoyed the nightlife of Tallin, went to the beach and spent time hanging out and having fun! It didn't occur to us how fast this week was going until last night when we grilled out at Kati's parents house and realized tomorrow we all had to wake up and go our separate ways. Who knows when we will all see each other again. But I think we'll find some way to have another adventure together!
There is a guy with a Red Sox jersey on the plane.. I totally wanted to give him a high five but I thought it might be weird if I started saying "YEAHHH. Go Boston!" and stuck my hand in the air. Ah.. I should have done it anyway! And of course I would have be sat in front of two little obnoxious kids who I swear keep hocking luggies and their parents aren't doing anything....I'm about to slap a little kid... WHY ME!?!?!
I can't wait to be back in hot weather where I don't have to worry about a jacket at night or mosquitos biting me and I can lay on the beach and watch the stars. It will be great to see Serajane again and I still can't believe it's less than 7 weeks before I go home. I still have an entire continent to explore before that happens though!
Who knows where I will be living when I get back though. We still haven't found a place yet, and I'm getting really nervous about it. I'll probably be homeless. Oh well, I've been fine traveling around with just a backpack this summer, I'm sure I could do it in Richmond too lol.
My tummy is rumbling for food, I only had 3 hours of sleep last night and I still have a 5 hour bus/ferry ride to Zante when I get to Athens.
I want to explore an idea Laura had when we were talking yesterday. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I have a philosophy. It's called Kristi's Tree of Life. It's based for me and anyone else who wants to explore it but it pulls in ideas of the world with my touch on life. I really should write the philosophy out so I don't have to explain it each time someone asks me. But on a side note, Laura and I were talking about this Russian writer who explained a tree. He wasn't only writing about this tree being present, but he took 10 pages to detail this one particular tree. Its smells, appearence, etc. I started to think about this a little as the conversation went on, and as we were looking at the tree that was standing beside us.
I mentioned to Laura that it would be easy to explain a tree in very few words, for example the tree I was looking at was fairly tall with two main branches, a trunk, and lots of green leaves. I went on to say that if I had to go into more detail I would comment on the flower pot hanging from it and the hammock attached around its base. But what really got me thinking was when Laura said it could be described even more simply, just by saying there was a tree. I guess it doesn't have to be explained what kind of tree it is, what it looks like, how tall it is or any more details, it can be up to the imagination of the reader. But is it really just a tree, or does a tree have more to it than simply being "a tree?"
What if this tree had some purpose, maybe not to your life but to someone elses. Does that tree become worthy of describing? Maybe the tree reminds you of something, in that case, it has a story behind it. Would it be then you went on to describe the tree in order to relate it to the background story? In any case, I guess I conclude a tree is not just a tree as long as it has some purpose to someone, but we may never know if it does or not, so we should look at every tree in detail, just as we should with people.
This particular tree reminded me of my old house (I never thought I would have to say that). I pictured my family in that house for the rest of our lives. Although I would grow up and move out and move on, I always saw myself coming back "home," swinging on my tree swing my daddy had made me years before, randomly walking through the same woods I used to play in as a little girl, looking at my old play house, the tree fort I attempted to build and taking a dip in the pool. I wanted to bring my furture husband "home" to see all of these things, to see where I grew up, to see my childhood and experience it with me again. I wanted always to be able to feel that humbling feeling of walking through the door to memories, my bedroom walls painted pink and a hole in the door from when I was angry and kicked it in so long ago.
But things change and sometimes we don't have control over them.
This tree reminded me of all these things, all because it had a hammock attached to its base. As I lay there swinging, I thought about the times I used to go out on a breezy summer day and fall asleep in the hammock as the squirrels climbed up the trees beside me and the birds flew from branch to branch. I lived in the middle of nowhere it felt like when I was young, but my heart became fond of it. Now I drive by almost heartbroken as that swing I used to swing on everyday was the first thing they cut down, my playhouse is gone and even if it still stood, I could no long jump from the second story into my pool. I know I will never be able to shoot my bb gun to the birdfeeder pole target, roller blade on the front porch or head to the back yard to walk over the graves of my animals I had growing up. I can't spray paint the old clothes line whenever I want or ride the lawnmower down the road to Kortni's because I'm too lazy to walk. I still remember the old tile floor before we changed it, the burn I put on the new one and the snake that got caught in the mouse trap while I was sitting at the bar. It would never be the same.
I'm now a wanderer and I soar with the wind. I have no base.
This tree stood there, letting me admire all of its details, and I found in that tree something more than just a tree. I found a story.