Hello Again!

Hello. I had forgotten about you once I settled into a new life of staying in one place.  I don’t think that means I have lost my inspiration, I think it has just turned another way. Outwards maybe, towards the community I live in, and the people I work with.

Three months at a land center feels like a lifetime. The last time I posted the mountains were green, orange, red and brown. The sun had a warm glow and the earth had been feeling its radiant heat for months, soaking it to the core. Since then, the mountains have turned white, the air is crisp and brisk, ice has formed and reformed, and the crunch of snow can be heard with each footstep. It’s winter. It’s winter in Vermont. I live in Vermont!

The other day someone I hadn’t seen in a long time asked me how I was doing. My answer was this:  Every minute is full of challenges and opportunities. Opportunities to open or close. To stretch, to retreat, sometimes to duck and cover, sometimes to spread my wings fully. To say goodbye over, and over, and over again. And to say hello, again.

Hello again!

 

 

 

Fall Foliage

I made it to Vermont, my new home! These pictures are from both Vermont and New Hampshire, but mostly New Hampshire. I have been told by more than one person that the foliage this year is the best it’s been in years, and I believe it. These pictures are from the real “peak” weekend and I am so lucky to have been able to go on this drive. The weather was beautiful and unseasonably warm.

Here’s to my favorite season. I hope you enjoy!

Steve, my tour guide!

Maha Thank You’s

Aw man. I have been thinking of writing this post for over a year.  I was able to be strong enough to quit my job, jump into the abyss and keep on flying for 17 months because of overwhelming love, support and encouragement I received along the way.

It’s amazing how much support you get when you do your best to truly follow your heart-which is NOT always an easy thing to do. I feel so unbelievably fortunate to have the people in my life that I do. During the last year it was others’ belief in me, their desire to support my happiness, and respect for my process that kept me going in times of doubt and struggle. It is because of small moments, ongoing relationships, new friends and mirror like wisdom along the way that I was able to have the most amazing year.

Here are as many thank you’s as I can think of. I know I have forgot some. They are not necessarily  in order of importance because you cannot place a value on how you have been touched by an act of kindness from someone, you just feel it in your heart and if you are lucky, radiate it back out to the world.

My family! Michael Bass & Marie Dobson, Lorena Laforest, Angelina, Philip and Max Williamson and Ezekiel Laforest. Rosie! You always wants the best for me and I am so incredibly lucky. I feel your support so deeply and truly know how lucky I am to have family who just wants to see me happy, and sometimes knows what that is better than I do. Each and every one of you!  Julie and Eric-Basically without your generosity, I would not have been able to have this year. Your driveway was the home to my car for many months, your basement was my storage, you fed me, provided unending emotional support, and showed me what a healthy marriage and family looks like. My heart is full! Emile– thank your for the iPod Nano, providing a soundtrack for many miles driven, letting me use your car for the month my mother was in the hospital which was so incredibly helpful, and for being a good friend. Grandma-you gifted me a miracle this year, without your help I couldn’t have managed as long as I did without a job, and I really needed the time off. Margo Dolan– Thanks for your laughter, confidence, encouragement.  Offering Bowl donators-you are amazing! My SMC family, My KCL family! I could name names, but there are so many. If you consider yourself among one of these families, you are included! Dona-Your couch, your family, Crystal cuteness! David Ball-You’re friendship, fun and laughter. John Beard, Dennis Southward, Jane Arthur for generosity and guidance , Emma Cramp for your free and encouraging spirit, Everyone I staffed programs with and for. My Los Angeles ladies, Sarah Calendar, Penelope Lewin, Lauren Mauher, Miranda Selwyn (and Emma and Dona previously mentioned) for your friendship and awesome camera that you gave me when I left LA which has documented this past year. Megan Winecoff, my sister in flight. Molly and Kelsey, my Colorado ladies. Peter Stewart for your heartfelt friendship. Evan Silverman and Shodie Lyon for opening the door to KCL where I eventually landed.

I know there are more. If you are reading this, there is no doubt that you are included because you are part of my journey. Basically, I am grateful for every single person who has been in my life.

You are all my teachers.

 

Heading East

Even though I started this leg of my trip in Boulder, I really just finished a road trip from one end of the country to the other. California to Vermont.  I drove over 5,000 miles and saw  parts of the country I have never seen before. It really has been an epic f*cking journey!

Thank you to those who hosted me during my travels! Mr. Dennis Southward, Heather Lloyd, Marcelle and Greg Gilkerson, Liz and Tim, and Tasha and Gerhard-you are the best!!!!

A few notes from the road:

• The I70 between Colorado and Missouri has very little except for adult sex shops and religious signage. Makes you wonder.
• Did you know that Kansas is the sunflower state? It’s pretty in the summer and fall. According to my friend, it’s pretty depressing in the winter. I can imagine. However, the cheapest gas in the country-probably all year round. Pros and cons.
• I really like Columbus Ohio. Have you been? Lots of cobblestone type streets and green trees.
• Driving by yourself gets really old.

And now, on to the next adventure!

 

The lovely house of Dennis in Boulder who hosted me multiple times this year, thank you!

I left Boulder on September 12th and it was 37 degrees

Here I go, Route 70 for daaaaays!

Oh Kansas, Not much doin, but glad I got to see it.

Cheapest gas I have seen in at least 20 years.

Road Signs

More road signs

 

And more road signs

Sex shops and Jesus signs, all along the 70

More road signs, always a good reminder

First stop: The lovely Manhattan Kansas home of Heather

Reunion!

Orange Oreos, we match! Professor party

We got party favor glasses. Mine had birds-put a bird on it!

Heather eats BBQ

When in Rome, or Kansas

The Prairie

Prairie Monarch

Praise Fest baby!

This sign is everywhere

On all the doors at Kansas State University-a different reality

St. Louis bound!

St. Louis from the side

The Mississippi River

Changing Routes…Kentucky here I come

Louisville, KY. Pretty city, I basically got out of the car to take a few pictures.

Riverboats, KY

WKRP in Cincinnati

Ohio!

The lovely home of Marcelle and Greg, thank you for hosting me! I kind of love Columbus

Getting closer

Back on the 80….

First signs of fall in PA, pretty in pink

Pretty Road

Late night car selfie after hour 10, New Jersey somewhere

The lovely home of LIz and Tim in Greenpoint. Thanks for letting me stay!

Beautiful day and view from Williamsburg. This park I was sitting at did not exist when I lived there.

DUMBO-On our way to a poetry reading, how very New York

Heading North

My new exit

I made it!

These ones welcomed me on may way into Karme Choling

I made it, just in time for dinner.

California and Back, Again

It’s been a while since i have posted any pictures or written any updates. I haven’t been that inspired as the last few months have been consumed with program and practice, internal process, and life decisions.

After spending six weeks at Shambhala Mountain Center in an often wet and leaky  tent, I can officially say that I hit my limit. It turns out when your done, you’re done. After 17 months of living on the road, unpacking and packing, sewing patches on my clothes, living out of bags, and sleeping on couches and unfamiliar beds; I’m ready for a home and a job. I know you didn’t think it was going to happen, but believe it or not I wasn’t planning on living this way forever!  I started this journey looking for a new home. I found two. But since you can only live in one place at a time, decisions had to be made.

A can tell you this, It’s been a wild ride!

So before I unpack again (for a while), it was time to visit friends and family in California and soak in the West one last time (for a while). I’ve done this trip before.  I started my journey with a trip from California to Colorado. This time I did it the other way around, and back again. I was a little less inspired to take pictures, but here’s a few to document the trip. I’ve got one more road trip to go before I reach my destination, and a new journey begins.

Stay tuned, I’m heading East.

 

Feeling Full(y)

Karme Choling: June 10, 2014

As my time here has come to an end, I am flooded with emotion. Both joy and pain. Appreciation and disappointment. Sadness and love. There was a time in my life when I felt very little, but the numb disconnectedness that allowed me to feel safe in the world. There was a time when I started to open my heart that I mostly felt the sadness, pain and the suffering of living. As my time at Karme Choling comes to end and my year-long gap of space starts closing in, I can say with great appreciation and awe; that I feel deeply. All of it. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve had the best year of my life.

It’s never to late to follow your heart.

Here are some highlights of Vermont in May and June. They don’t call them the green mountains for nothing!

Hill Farmstead, special, special beer

Cute Vermont Store

 

Honor System, yes!

 

Perennial Pleasures

High Tea and Garden Stroll

River in New Hampshire

On the Verge

Swimming Hole, New Hampshire: It was cold, but worth it!

 

Before I was attacked by black flies

 

Fairies Live Here

Karme Choling Garden: June 10, 2014

June Garden

Lettuce Harvest

Goodbye Poppy

Leaving a Mark

Saying Goodbye with Paint

 

 

 

 

 

Transition to Spring

This is the preamble. A picture tells a thousand words….

Sugaring

The best part of this last year has been having the opportunity to be more connected to nature.  Seeing the river change from a frozen block of ice to a super flowing stream. Being in tune to the phases of the moon and looking up at the sky at night, seeing stars and planets illuminating the sky. Hearing the birds chirping their first songs of spring, and watching the seasons shift and change…..I could go on and on.

Being able to take part in “Sugaring,” collecting maple sap and processing it into syrup has been another way to connect with the natural world. Checking on the trees each day has been an opportunity to track the change of seasons and be part of something fun and exciting with others. I’ve felt like a child during this process, learning something completely new with wonder and awe.  I feel so lucky to have been here for this!

When we started sugaring we had to wade through 3 feet of snow on the ground. Now the snow has melted, streams are running, the landscape has completely changed, and the trees are surprisingly still dripping. Sugaring season is almost over, but just last night we boiled down the second batch of syrup. And so it continues, until it ends of course.

We spent a day tapping all of the maple trees. We used a hand drill and then hammered the taps in and hung all the buckets. The next day, many of us adopted trees.This is Lady Tree, one of my adopted sugaring trees. This is Francine. Max named her and I liked it. I would spend the next two weeks with Lady Tree and Francine, collecting sap daily. When we started collecting there was up to 3 feet of snow on the ground.Some days there would be more sap to collect than others. Generally the amount of sap the tree produces has to do with weather conditions. Good temperatures for sugaring is 40’s in the days and 20’s in the nights. We would collect from our trees daily into these buckets and then bring them down the hill.Once all the buckets were collected, they would be put in a big garbage pale and brought down by truck to the Patneaude shed-soon to be Sugar Shack, for the boiling process.The sap would be poured through this strainer, and then into the container below which would filter down into the arch for boiling,We would stand around and watch sap boil for hours. It’s kind of like watching a fire. The arch would be going almost every night that sap was collected. Someone has to watch the fire. This is Jason. He is responsible for bringing all of the materials and experience for sugaring. He was the one who put in solid hours feeding the fire and watching the sap boil. This is Aaron. He’s responsible for bringing sugaring to Karme Choling and coordinating the whole process. He also logged in solid hours of watching sap boil.The whole point of the arch is to boil down the sap into syrup, so there was always tons of steam. This is boiled off foam, it has toxins and things that you don’t want in your syrup.I forget what this spoon was for. Maybe to check sugar levels from the arch.Once the sap has been boiled down enough, it is brought up to the house to finish it off. We started with approximately 50 gallons of sap and ended with 4 gallons of syrup for the first run. Those numbers could be completely wrong, but you get the idea. A lot of sap, a little syrup. That’s why maple syrup is so expensive!Testing the syrup with a hydrometer, we are looking for a reading of 32.Big moment! We are ready to roll. I was beyond excited. Throughout the whole process and especially at this point.Doesn’t that look like amazing maple syrup? It tasted like a amazing syrup!Filling little log cabins of maple syrup!Filling little maple leaves!After our first run, we thought the season was just about over since the weather was warming and the conditions were no longer ideal for sugaring. We had a few days where the trees didn’t produce much, but then they started up again. As long as there has been sap, we have been collecting.We are now on the second run.  Look at how the landscape has changed! All the snow is gone and it officially feels like spring.But the trees have still been producing. Once the sap turns yellow, it’s no longer good for syrup. It’s hard to tell here, but some of the buckets have clear sap and some we have collected was more yellow, which incidentally tasted a lot sweeter.Here’s Francine in the Springtime.Here’s Lady Tree!These are all the buckets that we collect each day.It’s hard to believe that just 10 days ago, this whole area was covered in snow.

We’re not in California anymore Toto!

 

 

Still Winter

When I arrived at Karme Choling, it was still winter.However as I write this post, there has clearly been a shift to spring. The ice banks are breaking and the river is flowing fast, the pond is more than half melted and the bright orange fish that have been under the ice are crowding the edges soaking in the sun. You can feel the sunshine warming your face and body and the spring breeze is fresh and crisp.

When I arrived in Boston on March 26th the temperature was resting somewhere in the 20’s. I had just arrived from California where Spring was full-blown. The sun had been shining and everything was glowing green. On the bus ride up to Vermont I found myself in a different world altogether. There were continued signs of winter with frozen lakes and landscapes, icicles frozen in time on the rocks lining the side of the road. At Karme Choling there was 3-4 feet of snow piled high all around the grounds. It was like I back tracked in time. I suppose in some ways I wasn’t ready for spring yet, like the animals in hibernation. I would have to wait it out a few more weeks before I got to experience the beginnings of a second Spring.

 

 

Colorado to California

This is what it looked like the day I left Colorado. 14 degrees and snowing. It seemed like 0 visibility, but clearly I don’t know about these things. We took off without a hitch.

That’s my bright turquoise suitcase on the bottom of that stack. It’s ridiculous. But you truly can spot it out of a crowd easily. I had to find a bag that was light enough for me to max out my 50 pounds allotted for checked bags. It’s a back breaker. That’s what happens when you have to pack a suitcase for 4 months and 3 seasons of weather.

The transformation of sky and landscape to California was spectacular. Right above all that snow and fog was a clear blue sky. It’s always there. It’s always crystal clear above the weather in our lives.

And just like that, I’m back in California. Welcome home to me! And to my surprise (I don’t know why), I was transported directly from winter, to spring.

Everything here is green and blooming! How lucky am I? Plus, I get to be reunited with this one!

This is Rosie. I haven’t seen her since July. She was just 3 months old when I met her. Shortly after, my mother was in the hospital for a month and it was left to me to try to train her. Now she’s a year old and continues to be unbelievably cute. She could definitely use some more training, but I love her! So does my mom’s cat.

Here’s some family time. I ripped these off from my sister. This is from dinner last night, that’s my dad and my nephew Max…

So that’s what’s happening here. Dogs and cats. Lots of springtime. Watching 30 Rock and Lord of the Rings and the Bourne Identity series, again. Knitting, Brainstorming for private practice website. Visiting friends, hanging with family. Dreaming of tropical vacations. You know, really stressful stuff!

Trust me, I’m appreciating every moment of it!