Quick trip to El Copal, a lodge in the mountains outside Paute. Paute is about an hour by bus east of Cuenca and is known for Uzhupud Garden, a 200 year old hacienda famous for its orchids (maybe a visit in the future) and for paragliding (probably not but who knows).
El Copal is a nearby ecolodge with cabins, hiking trails, waterfalls, and a restaurant that serves fresh trucha (trout). It’s owned and operated by the family of an Ecuadorian friend of mine.
It’s also where I chose to inter the remaining ashes of Kirk.
I had been sprinkling some of his ashes on various of my trips, and, his being all over Ecuador at that point, in the wind and water, I thought I’d like to have one place in the ground for the rest of the ashes. And, this being close, lovely, and spiritual, I went ahead with it.
I came to El Copal a few months ago with a group of my Ecuadorian and Venezuelan friends who are now my family. We had a little ceremony, buried the ashes on a cliff overlooking a beautiful stream, and planted a polyepsis tree — paper trees or árbol de papel in Spanish. They grow very slowly and are among the highest growing woody plants in the world. Very few trees can grow above the alpine tree line, and this one can.
So, like Kirk, a tough survivor.
I felt a pull to be here with him for a bit, and I returned to El Copal for two days and a night. I brought a commemorative medallion I had made and draped its chain over the small sapling of the paper tree. The paper trees grow very slowly – a few millimeters a year. And they last for hundreds of years. Hopefully this one will last, and the medallion will grow into the tree trunk.
I sat on the cliff with him, sharing the space with a group of four grazing cows and calves. And I talked to him aloud of my travels, adventures, dating, new friends, my family here, spirituality, and all the life I’m having that we would have had together.
I was never one to have much faith. But I have a basic faith now. And I am sure that Kirk, along with friends and family that have passed on before me, are watching over me and keeping me safe. I have an altar in my house, kind of a meditative space, that I’ve developed with advice from friends here. It has pictures of those deceased loved ones, and some keepsakes from them. And I spend a couple of minutes there daily. I burn a candle, and if I have specific requests for myself or my loved ones, I write them down, say them aloud, and leave them there. I’ve always loved ritual, even if I disdain organized religion. And I like that I’ve now added this reflective process to my life.
Next month I’m taking a more conventional trip — eight days in Barcelona and Madrid, followed by a cruise from Reykjavik to NYC. I’m a bit dubious about taking a cruise, as I generally like more basic travel and accommodations, and the ability to stay as long as I like, and leave when I want. But I thought I’d give a cruise a try, if only to check it off the list.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to like El Copal style traveling much better.
