Common Ground

Common Ground

It’s no accident that we’ve created our small intentional community that is our home on Mitchells Island. Something in me longed to be part of community for many years.
An old movie called “Witness, starring Harrison Ford (when he was still very dishy), had a scene in it where the Amish people raised a barn in no time at all because they worked together. I saw that movie 4 times and every time I watched it, I would cry when I saw the barn-raising scene.
Well, yesterday afternoon five of us “raised” our new garden. […]

I Left My Heart in Mitchells Island

I Left My Heart in Mitchells Island

Daniel and I had a beautiful last day in Northern California. Old friend, Melissa, took us into S.F. to lunch at the Legion of Honor Cafe in Golden Gate Park and then to the exhibition of paintings from the Musee D’Orsay – featuring Van Gough, Gaugin, and much more at the De Young Museum. Brilliant!

I kept thinking as I walked around dazzled by paintings like “Starry Night” and “Beach at Heist” how much I was missing the green vistas of our home on Mitchells Island. […]

Lechaim

On our last full day in the U.S., I was invited to a wine tasting in the beautiful Napa-Sonoma country where we are staying with friends. I was able to see the newly harvested grapes starting their processing journey through crush pads, fermentation room and aging cellars. We were hosted by Margaret Duckhorn, co-founder of Duckhorn Vineyard, http://www.duckhorn.com in a private tasting of a selection of beautiful wines: pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc….
It was a privilege to hear Margaret describe the various wines and the locales in which they were produced. […]

Sigh

Those of you who have practised yoga with me know I am a sigher. Why hold back? Sometimes yoga is so delicious pleasure begins to burble up from the belly, the kidneys, the heart, and who would want to stifle such an organic impulse. Add voice to it, and, voila, perfection!
I’ve traveled miles on this U.S. trek, now drawing to a close, maybe 450 miles in Arizona alone. Sighs have been too few and far between. […]

From Haigt-Ashbury to Marin County

From Haigt-Ashbury to Marin County

One of my favourite places on earth, Marin is synonymous with everything au naturel, from alpha sprouts to hemp clothing. Coming off the Golden Gate Bridge from the glorious city of San Francisco, you go through a tunnel entrance ringed with a rainbow that to me announces a shifting of the seismic plates from hard to soft reality. […]

Sadly, iPhone-less in San Francisco

I’ve kept my blogging hat on all across the United States and done it easily, even in the middle of hard Nevada desert at the Burning Man Festival, where WiFi was as weak as a cuppa American coffee.
I was able to stay in communication with my audience on my trusty iPhone. Now, I’m somewhat hamstrung because I know not where my device is. It could be in the seat pocket of a United Airlines aircraft; it could be in the pocket of a United Airlines flight attendant or cabin cleaner. […]

Lake Shasta

Our current port of call is our friends’ houseboat on this man-made lake in Northern California.
There’s hardly anyone about because this is the end of the season with cooler temperatures – maybe 10 degrees o’nite. But daytime in the mid-twenties.
So with a dearth of other boaters, it’s absolutely peaceful here and the houseboat’s flat roof is perfect for yoga practice and very conducive for meditating.
We’ve slept under the stars on the roof, bundled in our doona, and searching out northern hemisphere constellations, like the Big Dipper. […]

Off-line

I am at this time heading to beautiful Lake Shasta to enjoy an idyllic few days on a houseboat.
I will probably be out of range synthesis lake, but the real reason for “off-line” is I’ve lost my iPhone.
Is my yogic equanimity being tested? You bet. […]

Grateful

Grateful

Today, our last full day in Arizona with my family, we drove up to Phoenix for a late lunch/early dinner with Cary, Diana, Isabella, and Christian.
Daniel has been the main driver (right side of the road in America), but I did have a turn at the wheel the other day, after a hiatus of 35 years.
We’ve put maybe 400 miles on the rental car in 4 days, just driving locally in the main. […]

Age

Why don’t people hold age as a complimentary thing?
I’m not naive. There are so many difficulties; every sense is under siege -loss of hearing, vision, even sense of taste.
Gravity is going to have an increasingly deleterious effect on skin, muscles, and organs.
The result of the above is considered decidedly unsexy. If you are relatively unscathed, you are said to be “good for your age”. You are “spry” or you still have all your marbles.
It’s been a long time since anyone challenged my senior status. […]

Let's Talk About Talk

Let's Talk About Talk

W.A.I.T. – anagram for Why Am I Talking? My favorite expression of the year.
I have been in the company of a few non-stop talkers this year. I think I have listened reasonably well, although perhaps not made enough boundaries at times. Politesse is so ingrained.
At the end of a week of good listening and being polite a while back, I found myself complaining to my mate and then dissolving in tears. […]