Happy New Year Soon!

Hello to the very few yet very special people that peruse this blog. I have a good feeling about 2007. This hat upon my head has special powers. I've been instructed not to reveal all of its secrets but I'm gonna let a few loose.

If you visualize the color blue (any blue), wink your right eye once while looking at yourself in a mirror, and then jump off of a curb with a little hop when crossing the street at least once each day your life will be filled with joy and hopefully some really good salty food. The above things don't have to occur simultaneously.

Good luck and happy new year!

Rigdzin Ling

A few weeks back I went on a weekend Tibetan Buddhist retreat at Rigdzin Ling as part of a one unit class at HSU. This place is nestled in the trinity alps in Junction City, off of Hwy 299. As I pulled up in my car I felt I had been transported through some kind of warp and had arrived in Nepal. Well, as close as I've ever been to Nepal. A girls allowed to dream. There were prayer flags galore, stupas, fountains, shrines, and prayer wheels.

I've been looking to go on a retreat of this nature but have always been a little nervous to do so. Often there are so many rules to follow and I find myself nervous that I will wear the wrong thing or not bow at the appropriate time. Not the case at Rigdzin Ling. Here, you could wear whatever. Our teacher, Lama Zangpo, wore jeans the entire time. While many centers allow no drugs of any kind, here they had hot coffee prepared at all times and we could even bring our coffee into the shrine room where we sat to listen to teachings and meditate. Now that's my type of Buddhism.

inspiration

Oh madly the sea pushes upon the land,
With love, with love.
-Walt Whitman

My friend Tsky and I spent the afternoon at the beach today, enjoying the company of the sun and delighting in the beauty surrounding us. Inspired by the art of Andy Goldsworthy we created this heart of seashells with the intention that each piece spread love wherever it is placed next.

the view from my window this morning

After a week of solid rain the weatherperson calls for sun, but not until these clouds got a little more hail out of their system this morning.

Yesterday, was actually quite nice weather wise. I took a short 15 min. drive up to Trinidad to hang out at the beach with Zed and Mabel the dog. It was quite windy with large 20+ foot waves crashing upon sea stacks. I took my camera to capture the moment but alas I had left it on and the batteries were well... you know.