Our little Airbnb is in the “nucleo” (or center) of the old village of Aldesago, located halfway up the side of Monte Brè. There isn’t much information out there about these little villages, but I think the buildings of the nucleo might date back to the 1300 or 1400’s.
The narrow streets aren’t one-way, as those of us accustomed to American roads might expect! When two cars from opposing directions meet, there’s a particular car etiquette that apparently dictates which one pulls over and allows the other to pass.
We’re far enough up the mountain that we would have a view of the lake…if it weren’t for the apartment building across the street. 🙂
As you can see, we look out on a rather uninspiring expanse of concrete, but when I walk out to the edge of the patio area, I can not only see the lake, but — when it’s clear enough — I can see the Monte Rosa massif… a glacier so high and far away that it’s snow-covered all year round.
What a blessing it is that, no matter where we are in the world, as long as we have an internet connection we can watch our “home” (Ananda Village) Sunday service in real time.
I love being able to see how choir is going, and especially how some of the “newer” members are fast becoming “regulars”.
Ananta’s talk was deeply inspiring, as usual. I was particularly struck by the phrase: “Everything that we do can be an altar to the Divine.”
I’m always aware that Sunday service is being live broadcast, but being away for so long gives me an opportunity to really appreciate the difference it makes for those who don’t live in community.
Today, together with dear friends Indra and Benedetta, we walked pretty much the entire Sentiero (Path) di Gandria.
Established on the north shore of Lake Lugano in the 14th century, Gandria has maintained its beauty and character for hundreds of years. It is inaccessible by car, consisting as it does of narrow streets and lots of stairs.
For some time I’ve been rehabilitating a slightly “bum” knee, so today feels like a real accomplishment. We walked and walked…and climbed and climbed…and walked some more. My knee help up amazingly well, but I am definitely pooped!
The original uploader was Oberpepe at German Wikipedia. Lots and lots of stairs!Looking down at the different levels.
One of the first things one has to get used to in Switzerland is constantly sorting through multiple languages in order to do almost anything.
I already had a fair amount of Italian when Ramesha and I first got together, but it was amazing how much high school French came back to me — and how much German I learned — while grocery shopping or figuring out the bus schedule!
There are four national languages in Switzerland (German, French, Italian, and Romansh), with most every product description appearing in the three “official” languages of German, French, and Italian. A few products will also have information in English, but not that many.
Less than 0.5% of the population of Switzerland speaks Romansh, which I recently learned is a legacy of the Roman conquest of Rhaetia (now the Swiss canton of Graubünden) in 15 B.C. Fascinating stuff!
Back in 2006 Ramesha and I moved from Lugano to California for one year…or so we thought. It soon became clear that we would be staying on at Ananda Village, which is where we still are…thirteen years later!
Because our plans were to return to Switzerland, we put all our household goods and furnishings in storage and then had to figure out what to do with it all on our first visit home in fall/winter 2007.
It took a few years worth of flying back and forth to get most everything over to the States. Add in additional moves within the Village and to Los Angeles and back, and it’s gotten harder to remember what we still have and where it all is!
In fact, during our visit to Lugano two years ago, we discovered two boxes at Ramesha’s father’s house which we had completely forgotten about. And the other day we finally went through those boxes.
Not surprisingly, we have absolutely no need for most of the contents — after all, not only has it been over thirteen years since we saw any of this stuff, we didn’t even recall that these boxes existed.
On the other hand, it’s delightful to realize that a few special items which I had given up for lost — like my Krishna statue pictured above — have been waiting all this time to be found once again.
What a great exercise in non-attachment it’s turned out to be…
It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but Ramesha and I aren’t big ones for having music playing all the time. I think part of it for me is that one of my first cars didn’t have a working radio, so I became accustomed to driving everywhere with just my own thoughts to keep me company. Of course, there’s also the fact that, being musicians, we find it hard not to pay attention if music is playing in the background.
But as we approached the end of this first week in Lugano, I noticed I was feeling slightly out of sorts. Even though I was past the jet lag stage I was still feeling sort of low energy and — true confessions here! — rather cranky.
Then last night it hit me…not only are we outside of the spiritual vibration to which we’re accustomed, we’re also not singing for Sunday service; rehearsing with choir; practicing songs on our own; talking about music with Jeannie; hearing the music in The Expanding Light Retreat dining room; etc… (you get the idea!)
So… Radio Ananda to the rescue! We turned it on this morning and again this afternoon, and — ahhhhhh — I feel so much better!
The combination of travel days, jet lag/sleep issues, and dinners with family has done its usual number on my efforts to get to bed early. So tonight’s blog is severely truncated as a corrective!
It was two years ago that Randy Keith passed away, leaving a huge hole in the hearts of everyone who knew him…because to know him truly was to love him.
I loved him enough to be married to him for seven years, during which time we accomplished a lot of good things together — especially in helping one another establish our musical careers (Randy played double bass).
But the time came to separate and eventually divorce; in retrospect it’s clear that the reason was so we could each meet the permanent loves of our lives — Randy met Elizabeth a few of years after we separated and they married in 1998 (I had to wait a while longer for Ramesha).
Love you forever, Randy!
Randy was principal bass of the Santa Rosa Symphony for over twenty years.Randy and Elizabeth.
What do you do when you live in California but your absolute favorite singing group is based in Como, Italy? Well, I’ll tell you, every time you visit Europe you eagerly await an opportunity to hear them sing!
I’m talking about Gruppo vocale Famiglia Sala (the Sala Family vocal group), an amazing singing group composed of father (Paolo), mother (Maria), and their five children (Sofia, Lucia, Giovanni, Margherita, and Caterina).
I’m blown away every single time I hear them, starting from four years ago. The impact never lessens; just the opposite in fact — each time I hear them I’m as deeply moved as the first time.
This afternoon was the latest example. As I listened to them sing, I felt as though I was being nurtured and replenished on a deep soul level. It’s hard to put into words, but I found myself pondering the power in their performances and asking myself why?
Of course there’s the fact that each one of them is a superb musician with an amazing voice. Their commitment to excellence and love of music is apparent in every song.
There’s also the fact that they are warm, loving, fun people who enjoy what they’re doing, which definitely shows in their performances.
But many groups meet these first two criteria. I’m convinced that what sets La Famiglia Sala apart, and takes it to a whole other level, is that they embody love expressed through music.
Love for the music; love for one another; love for their listeners; and they sing with so much devotion that I just know love for God is there as well.
I realize this probably sounds rather hokey and exaggerated, but when they sing I feel surrounded and infused by love. My theory is that their commitment to love has opened them up to become powerful channels for love, which then flows through their voices, eyes, and smiles. That love is a palpable presence that uplifts and heals everyone in the room, then expands to bless the world.
Today we spent time with Dudo and Karin, a wonderful couple who have been a big part of Ramesha’s life for decades. They were some of the first people I felt close to when I moved to Lugano, despite the fact that we couldn’t speak one another’s language.
Ramesha and I got together in 2003, the same year that Samuele, their first child was born (Lia arrived in 2005). Now here we are, visiting them in 2019, and I couldn’t stop staring at Samuele, who’s done a whole lot of growing up in the past two years!
So Dudo and I were reflecting on the importance of true friends, and of the kind of friendship where you see each other after two years of living on opposite sides of the world (with hardly any contact in the meantime) and it feels as though it was only a couple of days since you were last together.
And what we realized is that this is why it comes as such a shock to see how children have grown, because it’s the measurable changes we see in them that makes the passage of time real for us.
