I could get used to this

I am living like a nomad, tossing my stuff in the (borrowed, thank you so much, Brian & Molly) car; stayed with Kristen again one night, then Barb last night. If it wasn't for the occasional time when highway 17 comes to a grinding halt, Barb's neighborhood off Summit road is ideal - feels like high CA mountain, but it's very close to both San Jose & Santa Cruz. Great open yards, beautiful starry starry nights (the light pollution from San Jose doesn't reach there.)

So far, I've managed to keep all my things with me and even added more. I've been working the storage space, rediscovering precious stuff - high school yearbooks! Glassware from both Grams! Rocks! (K, we have a problem with the accumulation of rocks in our household. Inherited that from Dad.) I have culled more books and made a big donation to the Saratoga library today and have a plan for getting all the stuff to where I'm living now. Phew, one more chore almost finished.

Whole huge chunks of memories have come galloping back into front brain as I drive around here again. Street names, how to avoid traffic, stores, favorite fall neighborhoods. The drive up Villa to Castro in Mt View was aglow today with red red liquidambar trees. Beautiful against the fall blue sky. In some places, bushes are red & yellow, the purple salvia is in bloom. Barb even had daffodils open in her garden! It's a riot of color here.

I have an early coffee meeting in Cupertino tomorrow. Must get some sleep, Barb and I stayed up way too late last night. With champagne.

Postcard from California

Impossibly beautiful fall day: High clear blue sky, bright warm sunshine; trees changing colors, energy and joy and traffic all over the place! Perfect day for golf, as I write this from Pasatiempo, an Alister MacKenzie course in Santa Cruz. I'm at my kick-ass fun smart gorgeous friend Kristen's house. The laptop I'm writing on has to have the screen propped up and I'm told the original power supply was eaten by Danny, the new collie puppy. !!! That can't be good for the system.

Today, on my way to Kristens, I visited my former house, was afraid that it would be this big grief event. It wasn't. I am happy to have moved on. I love northern CA and am actually looking forward to going back to Rochester. Hunh???? I am committed to supporting family, hanging out with Dad and Greg, Andrea and Gavin. And maintaining these closer family ties. I've been telling my dear friends here what fun I've been having reconnecting with all my relatives. And CA is here for me when I want it. I will get work that pulls me here every few weeks for a while as I do love it here. And I'm happy to be straddling both worlds. Let's see if I can add a few more worlds to bop between!!! I've got room for even more great places.

Doh! Rochester! What was I thinking?

As I woke up in California today, I know I am home. Not sure yet how or when I'll be back here permanently, or even if I will, but I will be back here a lot, for chunks of time. I love it here - the energy, the light, the air, the people. What a gift to be able to step away for a few years and fall in love with this place all over again!

I attended my second James Ray seminar this past weekend. So good; great experiences, processes, learnings. (K, I don't really like that word but it is a short cut to the picture.) I commit to working diligently to keep hold of this feeling. I read some great books to prep for this - The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot, and Power vs. Force by David Hawkins. And that's about 1% of the suggested reading list, more to come. I reconnected with some wonderful people I met last seminar, so we'll get back in touch to encourage each other to keep with the learning. And I met some wonderful new folks. This adventure just keeps getting better!

Flew into San Jose yesterday afternoon, Peri picked me up. We stopped at East West Books, so I could see if there's interesting talks there while I'm in the area, a gorgeous new Whole Foods in Mt. View, Elephant Pharmacy - a supermarket of alternative stuff like homeopathy and herbal suppliments, great products for the home (environmentally friendly) and a regular pharmacy too. Oh, and Yoga supplies, of course! Then on to her place. She & Brian cooked a whole salmon for dinner - amazing! (We'll be having more tonight!) It's been so great to be here, and it's not even been 24 hours yet.

I was worried last week that this trip would be sad, boo hoo, the life I gave up. It's not at all. I am so happy and not even fussed about where I'm living now. I know I can be here any time I want - and I do.

We slide into Fall

It was beautiful, 82 degrees Monday. Grabbed the opportunity to get outside, on the river trail that borders the U of R campus.





U of R in the background


Looking upriver to downtown Rochester

Then it rained Tuesday and the landscape changed - at least in my backyard!



3 hours worth of work



And look, more to come!




Halloween across the street



Ghostly decorations next door

Uncle Jerry and Aunt Barbara are swinging through town to visit this weekend; we'll eat here tomorrow morning and then take Dad out later. And then I may have to throw together a costume and find a Halloween party to crash!

One more notch on the 'busy' amp; it goes to 11!

I am doing too much. The house is a wreck - started putting up curtain rods in the living room (the sheer was very artfully tacked up with push pins) and the rods didn't fit so I launched out to get one that did - HOURS ago. We had been having beautiful weather; Monday it was sunny and 82 so I spent the whole day outdoors. Cold front hit so it was 60 and raining all day yesterday. Today when I set out on my errand, it started clearing up and I somehow found myself at my new fav coffee shop (thanks, Eric!) sitting on a sidewalk table reading the most Amazing Book.* Then I went to see Kathi, we had dinner, then back to her house for a bit. I got home around 9, the place is still a wreck and the paper fairy has laid down today's 4" on the dining room table but I made a beeline up to the football room with a pressing need to blog.

* Amazing book - Power Vs. Force (the hidden determinants of human behavior) by David Hawkins. I have seen the kinesis muscle testing done, believe it with all my being. And this book ties in morphogenetic fields, quantum physics, chaos theory, all great spiritual teachings into simple elegant observations such as "Force always moves against something. Power, in contrast, energizes, gives forth, supplies and supports." and "The universe holds its breath as we choose, instant by instant, which pathway to follow; for the universe, the very essence of life itself, is highly conscious." Yes, everything is one energy. Our bodies are constantly responding to our thoughts - which can be weaker power attractors, or negative. Repeated patterns of thought can cause the body to align with these - and cause disease. I'm annoting this book like crazy as it ties together other things I've read/learned, and experienced. I'm expanding exponentially to take this all in and want to be moving very fast. Trying to sit with it and let it sink in instead!

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Other stuff: making plans for my first trip to northern CA to visit in over 2 years and I want to see everyone, go all of my favorite places and take lots of pictures and start planning how to spend more time there! I'm slowly getting in touch with people to mooch spare rooms, get the party started (thanks, Nancy & Peri), cap it with a sublimely life-changing time and encounters on the Big Sur coast (thanks, Pat!) I've been trying to get on left coast time by staying up to 2 and sleeping to 9; it really makes the days seem shorter. But it's not too hard to do, I may have rediscovered my natural rhythm.

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What's kicking off this trip is another spirituality seminar - in Vegas of all places. The books I've been reading lately have been in preparation; and as you've read the books are blowing the top off my mind. I anticipate otherworldy great vibrations and huge personal growth from this. November 07 is going to be an amazing month in my life.

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A love note: to Incubus - how, how, where does your poetry come from? Best love song ever is 'Dig' on the Light Grenades CD. Your work has gotten me through some low spots and smiling out the other end. Thank you so much!

LBD happier now

And so am I. The Entrepreneurs Conference at RIT was fantastic for me, and it seems like all participants and attendees were happy with it. I have met a couple students who want advice re: their current projects/business plans. Hey look at me, I'm an 'elder stateswoman'! TFC!!!! And I know that of which I speak!

I also met people in 'the community' (as opposed to working at RIT) who are business owners, VCs, etc. What a great way to get plugged in. I'm still buzzing from the day.

Oh yes, LBD, she was sad . So I wore her out to an 'networking event' a couple weeks ago. Garnered rave reviews, as appropriate! Next, out to dinner.

Gettin plugged in!

So excited! Tomorrow I'm on a panel about marketing new ventures at RIT! Check out the Entrepreneurs Conference

I'm on the run tonight; more this weekend after the conference.