ma center, san ramon

Sky and I went for a day of service and connection and programs and Indian food. We were preparing for Amma's upcoming visit. The people were friendly, the food was tasty, the hummingbirds were adorable. There were so many of these wondrous creatures, getting their vital nutrition. A perfect metaphor for what the ashram does for people.

my boy

It's been a while since I posted live music from our family. Here's a video of Shawnie drumming to a Paramore song. He loves comments if you have a YouTube channel. :)

tropical holidays past

Seems like forever since we were there. But we were, and we celebrated together, and it was nice.

san francisco day with sky

One day last October Sky and I decided to drive into the city and have lunch at a restaurant that her friend worked at. Jane's on Filmore. Great food. We had chia seed pudding, avocado and egg sandwiches, salads, green smoothies, a Kouign-Amann pastry.  After lunch we walked around the city through parts of Golden Gate Park. It was warm and sunny for San Francisco, and we were both so inspired by all of the new sights. Little did we know that day just what San Francisco had in store for Sky.

los altos hills part one

Such a sweet small town with an ice cream store called Tin Pot Creamery, mansions and tiny old homes down meandering roads. We had a great time. Annabel started her band here. The two youngest kids started big schools here. Sky and I took some nice walks here. We met some new friends and kind neighbors, learned our way around thanks to cell phone map apps, and slowly found our way to a temporary, but decent new life here.

feet disguised as people

Annabel's second EP has been released on iTunes and in general, into the world.  Four new songs...check them out here https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/feet-disguised-as-people-ep/id1048288523

or here https://soundcloud.com/forestsong108.

She's continuing to write songs and study guitar, bass and drums. Some days I literally cannot keep up with her pace.

seventeen

Wow girl.

You have really grown and expanded your life this year to reach out to more corners of the world. You are on the verge of many things. And things will unfold perfectly, as they should, just you wait and see.

You are a math loving rock musician.

Since your last birthday you released two albums, “Conveyor” and “Feet Disguised as People.” You have written songs for a local theater production. And started a rock band. It's really funny to me that you said this morning, "I thought by age seventeen I would have done more with my life."
Hello???!!

And in this last year you found Kai, your math tutor that you work with for fun, for hours every weekend. You are researching binary star formations with two highly respected astronomers. After moving to a new place, you started in the fall in a huge new high school and took the transition in stride. You love school for the most part, because you love learning!  You are taking challenging classes and getting good grades -- physics, math, theater, creative writing, college nanotechnology. And you have made lots of new friends in a short period of time.

People love you.  You are unique, funny, sweet, positive, interesting and loving. You have a brilliant mind, and you see life through poetry, through mathematical formulas, through logic, and through magic.  What a combination.

So when you say, "I thought by age seventeen I would have done more with my life," to me it's a testament to your inner drive. I can't wait to see where that takes you.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/conveyor-ep/id983742879

https://soundcloud.com/forestsong108

art school

Much like her birth and in pivotal moments in her childhood, Sky made a fast and clear decision very recently for a change in her life.

About a month ago she began questioning her decision to go to the college she had been accepted to, and was deferring at, because she was unsure of the academic path in general for her. We encouraged her to major in art, theater, or dance at the college if she wished.  But still she felt college wasn't for her.

So we talked about options, different careers etc.  Nursing, technology, photography, psychology. And she became very excited about the idea of becoming an art therapist.

So about two weeks ago she began looking for art schools, instead of traditional college, because art schools are fine prerequisites for graduate programs in art therapy.

In one week she finished her application and portfolio, submitted it to just one school, toured the school, was admitted to the school that day, and offered a nice scholarship on the spot, and she accepted.  Within three days we were dropping her off at her dorm.  Sniff sniff.  It all happened so fast!

We are all going to miss her so much.  Right now she is having so much fun getting settled in her room, getting to know her very sweet roommate, and getting ready to begin classes.  I am basking in the glow of her happiness.  And luckily, she is less than a two hour drive from us.  We'll visit, and I know she'll be back.

But it's a big change.

And yet, Sky -- art school?  I'm not surprised.  Are you?