somehow...

...We've managed to be on the road for seventeen days already.  We flew into Los Angeles and spent a week in an airport hotel that we never left, except to go to Trader Joes one time.  We connected with old friends who were there as well, and ate awesome homemade Indian food.  The reason we were all there was to spend time with Amma, who had come from India to receive, counsel, inspire, comfort, and hug people.

No matter how many times I see Amma, I always gain something more each visit, from listening to her talks, and mostly, from observing her.  She is the most amazing teacher I have ever known.  In fact her life is her teaching, and by continuing to live the life she is leading -- as the years pass, hugging more and more people, taking on more and more work, building more schools and more free houses, visiting more disaster struck areas and helping more people from the ground up, empowering more women, planting more trees, feeding more hungry people, etc. -- she is only more and more inspiring to me.  To watch her in action with so little sleep and food, no personal time for herself, so happy and open hearted and kind and patient with everyone who comes to see her, is absolutely mind boggling.

After our retreat with Amma we flew to northern California and have been there ever since.  We had to nurse a couple of illnesses, including one that came to befriend yours truly.  But all is well now, and since then we have been hiking, cooking, seeing friends, visiting our old doctors, shopping, eating summer fruit, and settling into our first house trade, across the street from yet another old friend.  Annabel has learned to skateboard and Shawn is in a really fun baseball camp.  The girls have taken hip hop dance lessons and the fun has only just begun.        

before

Before we left town there was lots going on.  There were outfits and shoes to be found for various special events.  Sky went to her prom with a group of friends. Annabel had eighth grade graduation where she won an award.  We had no idea.  It was such an honor.  The principal said, "This is an award for the student that exemplifies why we started this school in the first place, asks all the right questions, loves learning, and is a good friend to all."  

I worked hard in the gardens, planting lots of new hedges and flower beds.  We cooked and served one last meal at our local homeless shelter, taking time to pose for Amma's InDeed campaign, launched this summer.    

Gary and I had a nice night out.  We took a drive to the shore and then went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Although I have no photos, we had someone banging away in the house for several days, remodeling a bathroom.  Good ol' Tim.

And of course, because there was not enough excitement, we took Nina, Shawn's class guinea pig, in for a week.

mother/son day

Shawn finished school two weeks before the girls.  He had lots of friends over to play during that time, which was great for him, and allowed me to get things done in preparation for our trip.  But one day was reserved for just me and Shawn.  We left in the morning and had a special day,  Shawn's choice of places to go -- the local mini amusement park.   It was really fun, and Shawn got a hole-in-one in mini golf.  On the way home we stopped off at the farmer's stand for fresh coconut water, chopped open in front of us by a guy with a machete.  Which is just the kind of thing Shawn loves to see.

shawn's show

He played a game show host, a valley guy, and a rapper.  He did this show with his school.

corner view~somewhere else

Very soon we are leaving on a trip and we will be somewhere else very different from where we live.  There is lots to do to get ready and despite the craziness of getting it all together, when I think of the flowers I will be seeing when I get there, and the redwoods, magestic and free, the friends I will get to reconnect with, the berries and plums that will be ripe on the vines and trees, the new opportunities that the kids will have there, and going out to dinner with Gary in San Francisco, holding his hand as we walk down the city streets, I am comforted.  

Whenever I have a lot on my plate, I just keep telling myself, it will all get done.

boys hike

700 year old tree

photo by Shawn

We walk through magical places with friends.  The photos serve as a reminder -- they bring us back, because the experience quickly fades to a memory.

a new sky song

Skylar's new album has been released.  She worked very hard on this.  She wrote all of the songs, sang lead vocals and all of her harmonies, and played all of the instruments.  Then she recorded the entire album and mixed it to boot. We sent it to LA to have it mastered.

Sky, I am so proud of you.  The songs are amazing.  (There are seven).

The first song is titled, "Too Wonderful To Be Here."  Skylar wrote this one a while ago, when she was thirteen.  Click here to listen.

corner view ~ out & about

Today my friend Kapua and I took Shawn with some boys to a native forest preserve that few have entered.  We drove way up into the clouds where everything was cold and crisp and wet.  Kapua and our guide did a native chant before we entered the preserve.  We hiked for three miles, breaking for a picnic in the misty rain.  We saw trees that were 700 years old, and learned all about plants and birds that only exist in this forest, in all of the world.  We saw a flowering plant that is close to extinction, and I was happy to see that people have planted more of it, to try to keep it on the planet.  We looked for birds with binoculars, the boys all took photos with disposable cameras, and we sampled wild berries and tender fern shoots.

We had a great time.

shawn's birthday bash

So much fun.  So many kids.  Over twenty!  Swimming, trampoline, swingball, dinner, and dirt cake.  A million gifts to open.  A happy day, all around.

circling the world/giveaway

back cover of "No Turning Back" designed by Gary and Sky

Here is the final song to share with you from Gary's new album.  This song, "Circling the World" is described by Gary as "about our inner search to find faith in love."

My interpretation -- This could be romantic love, or Divine love.  I like to think of it as both.

The first line is, "Every mind, circles a world, tries to find the sun it left behind."

That has been my task in the last year since I began my daily meditation.  A beautiful challenge, one that I have to recommit to daily.  It's easy to leave the sun behind.  But it's always there.  We just sometimes forget.

A giveaway of the CD "No Turning Back" is happening this week on Facebook. Click here and like Gary's page to play along!

corner view~flowers

I walked around our property today and snapped this shot of red ginger, a flower I am going to plant more of very soon.  I think it is smiling and happy to be living here with us.

This variety of ginger is a magestic plant that thrives in our conditions.  We are working to get our irrigation system providing ample water for our plants, so when we leave town they will be happy.  It seems we are succeeding.

right reasons

About Gary's song "Right Reasons at the Time," he said, "I got back into Bob Marley for a while and re-listened to 'Three Little Birds.'  He sings 'Don't you worry 'bout a thing.  'Cause everything little thing gonna be all right.'  But we can't always be on the same emotional level as the high priests in this world. This song is about what happens when we ignore the message of the three birds at our door step."

what's up over here

It's Saturday and baseball season is over.  Shawn's team came in second place with seven wins and five losses.  They lost last night, but they weren't playing full guns...because they had secured second place no matter who won, the coaches from both sides decided to not play their strong pitchers and not steal home ever.  This allowed all of the players on both teams to play positions they wanted to, but weren't great at.  They had so much fun, even though it wasn't as exciting as the games that were more competitive and close.  Shawn played catcher for the first time ever.  Despite the loss, our competitive boy was all smiles.  The coaches gave him the game ball.

During this season I was so impressed with these coaches.  They had so much heart and good sense.

After the game we had a potluck dinner with the other team.  All of the kids got small trophies and the coaches said something about each kid which was very positive, and so good for these boys to hear about themselves, publicly. 

We leave in a little over three weeks for our annual summer trip.  We are starting to remodel a small bathroom today.  I have a new guy helping me with our garden, repairing the irrigation system.  This coming week I am going to plant some native plants, Sky's new album is coming out, and Gary is doing a radio interview that will air in New York.  This coming week, Shawn's last week of school, we have something extra every day -- a school conference, an exhibition night, a theater performance, a volunteer obligation, and a trip to the homeless shelter to prepare dinner.  Sky has prom tonight.  Busy, busy.  Fun, fun.

I am really grateful that today I feel healthy, and intend to stay this way.  Last week I took a class in "Aromatouch" with these essential oils called doTerra that I have been using for the family.  Incredible smells.  They are such pure oils I can't get enough of them.

Have a great weekend my friends!        

corner view~one day in my life

This year Mother's Day was a day I felt very loved by my family.  Shawn made banana bread in school that we had for breakfast.  It was really good.  He was really proud of it, which was so cute.  Gary took us all to see "42," a great film about the life of Jackie Robinson.  Then we all went out to dinner.  

I have been very busy lately.  The only thing I wish for is an extra day to get things done.  There is a lot to do and we leave town in less than a month!