namesdropping

Life continues to be very sweet! The food here is amazing - mainly veggies, grains, cheese and eggs (mainly local and organic) and the flavours are so good as the vegetables just speak for themselves. I'm on a firm diet of two portions of dessert a night - last night we had the most amazing baklava with baked strawberries and peaches. Every food offering put infront of me gets greeted with exclamations of "wow - yum" etc..

This week's programme is a party for people who are highly influential in their field - with the aim of weaving great connections between visionaries who want to co-create a better planet. There are 103 amazing invitees - all very sweet, humble and down to earth people, with great intentions. I was chatting on my first day in the tubs to a guy who I mistook for the cleaner (I found out later, he was the co-founder of Greenpeace). I just found out that one of my rideshare buddies who greets me with daily hugs and shoulder massages was the founder of the first ever Earth Day (he never ventured this information!) and during my last stint in the computer room a lady said to her companion "oh - I've just got an e-mail from Michelle Obama" (Obama's wife).

I think I'm gonna like it here (Canada!)

So, at 6.45am yesterday morning,I was standing outside Maxine's home in the drizzle waiting for my ride. I was sharing my journey with 2 Hollyhock old-timers who were going back for a week of reunion-celebration etc as they are friends with staff and a lady called Nancy who lives on the island.

There were all kinds of dramas - Mark forgot his passport, we took the wrong turn in the road and missed our ferry - but somehow it all turned out magically! The sun came out and we still made it to Cortes Island (where Hollyhock is) by the end of the day. The fear was that with 3 ferries to take, we'd miss our last connection and get stranded on a dinky little island overnight. That would have been a different adventure!

When i hear the word "island" I'm used to thinking of the tropical kind with palm trees. Cortes Island is very different - it has thick forest and forest floor that is as spongy as carpet to walk on. Everything is pristine, the air is sweet and gentle and bugs are minimal : )

Originally, I was going to sleep in Bryce's car (as I was arriving a day early) but used some chutzpah and asked Nancy (our local passenger) if I could stay at her place. She was delighted to oblige and what an adventure!! I have to namesdrop here - her next-door neighbour is Dr Andrew Weil - who is one of my heroes! I told her to pass on the message that I love his book "8 Weeks To Optimum health." She said that I'm bound to see him around the island, so can pass on that message in person! How exciting!!

Nancy decided at the age of 60 to buy a piece of land and do it up very sustainably. She has a small wooden cabin on her land, a large tent on a platform, various hammocks, and a "humanure toilet" (ie - non flushing - you cover up your doings with beach sand and seaweed - and one day it will be compost). the water on her land is all from rain catchment. I was seeing the stuff I learnt on my permaculture course in action!

This is probably the most exciting bit - Nancy was eager to hear my thoughts on what to do with her property based on permaculture principles. I gave her some ideas about zones (putting the things that she needed the most - like her water - close to the house) and also "framing her view" - trimming some of the growth blocking her ocean view - and she loved both suggestions. I suddenly realised that "I am a permaculture designer" and i can give people valid info that makes a difference. Exciting !!! At times on my course, I was so overwhelmed with the info - not having a background in farming or engineering or architecture or environmentalism - that I never really saw myself being able to advise people - but the suggestions fell easily off my tongue. It was an empowering moment when I recognised all that I'd learnt.

I feel that my environmental education will be continuing at Hollyhock as sustainability and social vision is at the heart of what it does. Eager to learn more!!

In the middle of the night, I got up to pee in the bushes and the stars were amazing and the sea was glowing in the dark. I'd heard that the sea here has this special quality (bio-luminescent). It was very enchanting to see it! We combined breakfast foods and had raw oatmeal with granola. Delicious! Nancy gave me her bike to use for the month I'm here and off I went - feeling that I've gained a new friend.

My programme begins at 5pm - so I have 7 hours to explore and enjoy. I think I'm gonna like it here!!!!!

To Seattle

So! On with the adventures! I found someone on the Craigslist rideshare board who was driving up to Canada in a campervan and wanted a buddy for the road. We got on really well and it was a fun trip. I am now smitten with campervans.

I had a fab time in Seattle reconnecting with my friend Maxine who I'd not seen in about 5 years - she is 13 weeks pregnant, so i was present for her first purchase of maternity jeans! Got to meet most of her good friends (and her hubby). Ran into two people I knew at shabbat dinner on Fri night (olam katan - small world!) and we went for havdalah on the beach on Saturday night. Maxine is an educational consultant for an intentional Jewish community - so it was also very interesting to go along to their meeting and be exposed to some great minds and great questions as the parents are trying to figure out the curriculum for their kids and how to create a family educational environment. How to do it without dogma, what sort of values they want passed onto their kids, how to create community through their decisions and so on. It was such an interesting meeting! The community was set up by someone who worked for microsoft - made a fortune, retired and now in their 30s wants to community build. Maxine said that there are so many retired Microsoft millionaires around turning their hands to philanthropy and social action, that it is hard for regular social and community workers to find paying jobs as all these well-intentioned folk are doing it for free!

I realise that Seattle is home to two things that greatly impact millions of lives - microsoft and starbucks (the coffee shop phenomenon). I even saw the world's first ever Starbucks (full off Japanese tourists inside taking photos!!)

In short - a great and very liveable city! Leafy, conscious and lots of lovely neighbourhoods.

I see it's been two weeks since my last post -wow-wee! what have I been doing? I got to reconnect with an Esalen friend in Berkeley for a few days and much fun was had by all. On July 11, I joined a week long camping tour to rugged/ outdoorsy places with The Green Tortoise www.greentortoise.com . I was a little torn about going as I had so many good options here in the Bay Area as well that week, but off I went ..

We drove through the night and I woke up on July 12 in Lassen National Park (apparently California's least visited park - but what a treasure). As I was hiking through bubbling mud and butterfly dappled fields of flowers and waterfalls, I knew that I'd made a very special choice.

The week was a blur of amazing places - each day was scenically very different. On day 2, we were at Lava National Monument which is volcanic and out in the desert with sagebrush and bright orange sunsets.

Then came Crater lake - the 7th deepest lake in either the US or the world (I forget which!). the blue of the water was so deep and gem-like I could have sat and meditated on its colour and the clouds and mountains reflected in it, all day ..

next was an overnighter at hot springs in the Oregon rainforest along the Umpqua River. Hiking to the springs at night was an adventure in itself - steep inclines and having to balance on a log to cross a gushing stream. We got lost on the way back from our dip. Another bunch of people got lost SEVEN times!!! I made sure by daylight and darkness that every time I went, I was with company and we still succeeded in getting lost. I think I still bare the mozzie bite scars from my stay there. In the rainforest, the mosquito is king.

next came Ashland, a cutesie, artsie town nestled among hills - some golden and bare - others thick with Alpine trees. I fell in love with their co-op (health food store and restaurant). I was reading their annual report, their newsleter and even asked about job opps as that's how good the place felt!

Then came the Redwood forest full of trees 300m high - I took a 9 mile hike there and felt like I was at the ankles of tall, wise elephants.

Now, I'm back in San fran. The sky is grey and I am oh-so-itchy to move myself on. It wil be either today or tomorrow.

Esalen fire update

I've been going to the Esalen website every day www.esalen.org to get updates on the fire situation. Last night, some gallant people I know saved the water supply from going up in flames.

I came across a nice video on You Tube made by Alyce Faye Cleese (John Cleese's wife) which in a few mins gives a great visual intro to the place. I recommend a viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNrDSxJ6h7I

Please hold the safety and wellbeing of this beautiful place and community in your thoughts.

Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory aka Google HQ

Anyone who's read Roald Dahl's "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" will know that Willie Wonka's factory was every kid's and chocaholic's dream. And Google HQ in Mountainview, California has to be every employee's dream.

I was there thanks to Monika - who I know from Esalen - who has the rather amazing job of being Google's coach and heading up their Personal Development University. I asked if I could come and workshadow her and she said "sure". So at 11.30am today I entered the Google "campus" and saw a beach volleyball court (with real sand) and jacuzzis with folks relaxing in them. And this was before even getting to reception!

I am going to list all the wonders I came upon. I'm sure they are every worker's fantasy. 18 state of the art gyms; 18 amazing cafes serving free organic food - all sorts of cuisines from sushi, to Indian, to salad bar; fridges all over the place to grab free soft drinks from; various points to grab homemade cookies and banana bread; ice cream dispensers; smoothie bars (and yes - it's all free!); places with wheatgrass shots; a massage centre that employs more therapists than any spa in the US (200 to be precise); massage chairs; sleeping pods (for naps!); beautiful outdoor areas to work and hold meetings; not a suit or tie in sight - plenty of shorts, jeans and skateboarders; heated toilet seats; beanbags and sofas around every other corner; places to leave clothes for dry-cleaning/ repairing etc; free bicycles and rickshaws to travel around the campus; free shuttle buses to Santa Cruz/ San Francisco and other locations; an organic garden; loads of amazing classes and lectures; ping pong tables and arcade games dotted around the office space; rooms for nursing mothers to express their milk; gourmet dog biscuits (because you're allowed to take your pet to work). I'm sure there's plenty more I could say. I felt like I was in office heaven !!! I wish every disgruntled employee in the world a taste of the Google good life.

Happy compost tale

Somebody I met at yesterday's Cuddle Party we held in the house was telling me that in San Leandro (a place in the Bay Area) the council gives everyone a composting bin as well as a recycling bin. Once a week, the trash people collect the scraps for compost and take them to a big composting centre. What a wonderful idea - I'm sure it encourages many people who wouldn't compost themselves (too much bother - got to deal with worms, etc etc) to put their waste to good use. Go San Leandro! I wish in time every municipality takes this on board.

I've noticed since my course, I'm definitely seeing the world through new eyes - and it makes my heart plummet when I see resources being put to waste and it makes my insides glow when I see facilities for recycling and composting.

I'm reading a fantastic book - "How To Make The World A Better Place" - Over 100 Quick And Easy Actions - by Jeffrey Hollender - it's the 1990 edition (2nd hand book) but still speaks loudly and clearly to our times.

When the phone goes at a strange time ..

When your mom calls you at around midnight UK time and you only spoke the day before - you know it's not going to be good news. So this is what happened .. my aunt in South Africa was in the kitchen getting the Friday night dinner ready. She heard a thump, but didn't think anything of it. Around 30 mins later she went to the dining room to put food on the table and found my uncle dead on the floor with the two challah breads he'd been carrying to the table on the floor next to him. He'd had a huge heart attack. It doesn't seem quite real - especially as as he was the youngest of the brother-in-laws - only 63.
Just the day before, my South African family had had the good news that my little cousin (I call her little because I was 8 when she was born) had passed her actuary exams after many years of slog. I'm so happy her dad got to share in her good news - but what a shock to go from celebrating one day to mourning the next. Proof again that life can change crazily from moment to moment.

Happy Bday America!!!

So, on July 4, I find myself in another great community of people - this time in Silicon Valley. I'm in "Cuddle Comm" as the house has been named. Home to two Cuddle Party facilitators and an avid gardener. As three of us bumped into each other in the kitchen in the morning there were big group hugs in jammies and dressing gowns - and we did our grocery shopping in "Free Hugs" t-shirts.

I was loving being in a place where everything gets composted and recycled, clothes get dried in the sun and the produce in the garden became our salad for dinner (and boy, did it taste good!)

With a car boot full of blankets and pillows, we set off for the local July 4 firework show - which interestingly was taking place next to a piece of land deemed unusable for building because of all the toxic waste dumped there. We set up our cushy, padding atop some plastic (so we didn't get too contaminated!) and all snuggled in under sleeping bags to watch the fireworks. I made the gang sing some patriotic songs as a musical backdrop. When the sky got lit with fireworks in the shape of smily faces - I oohed and aahed. Yvonne said: "If the government has to manufacture explosives, let them be for firework shows - not for killing people." Hear! Hear! After the fireworks ended, we were left with the stars and the cricket chirps - which for me was an equally spectacular night show.

Yo for SLO!

I had such a great week in SLO (pronounced "slow" and less of a mouthful to say than San Luis Obispo). I loved all the people I spent time with - there were 3 people I had really strong intentions about spending time with and I have lots of lovely memories of them all.
I'll give you some snapshot memories: I got to walk barefoot on the beach 4 times - one time I even got to see dolphins play! I felt really part of the lives of all the people I was with. It was so lovely to be there, that I couldn't quite tear myself - and I'm grateful to my hosts for making me feel so at home and saying "Yay! Stay another night!!"
The trauma of leaving Esalen abruptly transformed itself into a sense of deep gratitude and happiness, thanks to the wonderful community and hospitality of my friends. I loved the light purple of the Jacaranda trees and the clear blue skies and mountains I saw every morning. In many ways it felt like a soul home.
There were lots of food memories. Sipping wine as we cooked together, picking veggies straight out of my friend, Tiffany's back garden; buying lots of yummy farm produce, going to delectable restaurants. I love the tradition Karen has with her friend and neighbour, Carol. They eat together every night in Carol's back garden and share the cooking - with kids and guests coming to join. Lots of great conversation and support - which I think has helped these two amazing ladies endlessly while they are both going through difficult divorces.
Some conclusions from my time in SLO.
Conclusion one: True richness for me is about the quality of people around me, the natural environment I'm in, the ability to eat fresh, healthy food made with love and to be feeling joyful with every step because the scenery makes me so happy.
Conclusion two: There are moments in life that transcend time and all dimensions and leave my soul happy and soaring - and some connections which seem eternal. I was blessed to bathe in this kind of yumminess on Thursday.
Conclusion three: I thought an extra 7 or 10 days at Esalen after my course was the best plan for me - however life presented me with something different (my SLO week) which I wouldn't have swapped for the world!
My heart is definitely still sitting in SLO !