life in san ramon

We spent the fall in northern California. We had secured housing but were unable to move in right away, so for a few weeks we stayed at Amma's ashram. The conditions of our house at the ashram were somewhat rustic, but I loved it. It was so beautiful there walking on the expansive grounds, sharing meals with residents, eating fresh plums and apples from the orchard, attending talks and programs by the swami, and yoga classes with some ladies. Shawn started school at a huge high school in a nearby town with over two thousand kids. It was a big change for him. He loved caring for the resident kitty, and learned to shoo away the raccoons that would visit our back porch.

end of summer, 2017

me in front of my childhood home

Our last days of summer were spent visiting my parents in upstate New York, picking up Annabel in NYC after a month long trip to Nepal, picking up Shawn after five weeks at camp in Pennsylvania, and seeing him perform music and on the trapeze. The we went to Chicago and spent time with both of my brothers and their families, and Annabel and Shawn went on retreat with AYUDH, an international youth organization that focuses on many service projects around the world.

our summer memories

This past summer Sky stayed home and had an early childhood friend come live with her in our house and they ate all of our bananas. Sky did some photography related work after discovering she did not like working in a grocery store. Yay college motivating experience!

Meanwhile Gary and I travelled with Annabel and Shawn. First we went to northern California to see Amma, then we went to DC to see friends. While we were in DC we drove to see my sister and her family in Philadelphia and attended our niece's eighth grade graduation ceremony. The kids loved seeing their cousins. Back in Virginia I got to see my best friend from college, Janel. Then we all went to see my parents in Rochester NY. From there we we drove Shawn to camp in rural Pennsylvania. A few days later we flew to JFK and got Annabel connected with a travel group through a wonderful organization called Where There Be Dragons. She spent a month traveling in Nepal with a great group of kids. Then Gary and I were free so we saw Amma briefly in New York and then took off to Europe! After we returned from all of our respective adventures we all went to see my family in Chicago for a few days. Then the kids went on a youth retreat with an international organization called AYUDH and Gary and I hung out with my brothers and their families. We all ended up back in northern California for some time. It was a great summer. 

birthday celebration

For my big 5-0 we were in France. We took a train to Amma's ashram in Pontgouin. Gary had arranged with the people there for us to visit. First we got a guided tour of the beautiful grounds, where we saw the bread house, the bee house, the extensive vegetable gardens, many fruit trees, composting toilets, a library, a seed bank, a barn filled with every tool imaginable. We attended a meditation session, had lunch with the residents, they surprised me with some cakes and parfaits. After lunch I wanted to do some seva (service) so I worked in the gardens, weeding. It was a perfect day. I loved every minute of it.