(not necessarily in that order)
I’m pretty much over jet lag and starting to feel physically normal.
I’m also functional in terms of work — singing for Sunday service; catching up on emails; making decisions about Spiritual Renewal Week; and initiating new projects.
But regardless, I can’t seem to get the pieces of my life to fit back together. It’s a very strange and disorienting feeling.
My voice is a little out of shape — it’s been two months, after all! — and my lingering cough didn’t help matters.
But what a joy to be singing for Sunday service again!
Today was Ananda Village’s belated Rajarsi Day, one of the high points in our community year.
I actually managed to participate a little, despite still feeling rather tired and spacey. And it was lovely seeing so many of my fellow residents.
Later I had to sort of force myself to write some time sensitive emails. Plenty of resistance.
But the consistent thread through it all — for the entire day and into the night — was feeling foggy.
This was a down-the-rabbit-hole kind of night which started when I read an announcement that one of our friends got a new job working for Born Free USA.
Of course, the song “Born Free” immediately started playing in my mind. It’s the theme song for the movie “Born Free“, which came out when I was around ten years old. I had to immediately research whether there was a connection with Born Free USA, and there was!
Then I had to listen to more songs by Matt Monro, the English singer who performed the movie theme song — what a voice!
Then I had to read more about Joy and George Adamson, the real-life couple who raised Elsa, an orphaned lion cub, and then had to train her to survive in the wild in order to avoid committing her to a zoo.
Then I forced myself to stop so I could write about it all in this blog post. 😅
SONG LYRICS
Born free
As free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart
Live free
And beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star
Stay free
Where no walls divide you
You’re free as a roaring tide so there’s no need to hide
Born free
And life is worth living
But only worth living
‘Cause you’re born free
[Songwriter: John Barry]
I was pondering and pondering what to write tonight, but my jetlagged brain simply wouldn’t cooperate.
So I ended up scrolling through Facebook for inspiration and found this absolutely wonderful quote by Swami Kriyananda.
How comforting that the key to overcoming doubt is dwelling on the thought of how much God loves us.
It also reminds me of another deeply inspiring quote, this one by the French saint, Jean Vianney: “If you knew how much God loves you, you would die for joy!”
A number of beautiful flower offerings greeted us when we arrived home today.
Most were bouquets from friends, but Divine Mother welcomed us with flowers as well — we had never seen such an abundance of roses on the somewhat neglected bushes next to our yard!
The photo below doesn’t come close to doing them justice!
We left Canobbio at 6:30 this morning, to drive to Malpensa airport (outside Milan).
After our traditional cappuccino and brioche with Silvio and Graziella we boarded a short flight to Zurich, followed by a twelve flight to San Francisco and — voila! — we’re back in California.
We can’t help feeling a little sad as we prepare to leave Switzerland and fly back to California.
It was really, really great to have an extra-long visit after not being here for so many years, but no matter how long we stay, it’s still hard to say good-bye.
This brief video captures our last cappuccinos, accompanied by birdsong and church bells.
And how perfect that it ends with a completely unplanned but totally serendipitous ARRIVEDERCI.
Here’s something I would never have expected to see in the parking lot of Villaggio Reka in Sureggio (or anywhere else in Lugano, for that matter).
Yep, it’s a Buick!
And yes, it has a Swiss license plate, so some Swiss person is obviously a vintage car fan. 😅
Having waited so long since our last trip to Europe, we had a long list of foods that we were eager to taste once again. And I’m happy to report that we’ve eaten pretty much everything on our list:
Cappuccino (lots and lots of cappuccinos!) = ✅
Pizza (quite a bit of pizza) = ✅
Swiss cheese* = ✅
Gelato = ✅
Pizzoccheri = ✅
Tiramisu = ✅
Gnocchi di zucca = ✅
Pasta con pesto = ✅
Risotto = ✅
Torta di mele (apple); also cioccolato (chocolate), nocci (nuts), della nonna (Grandmother), etc) = ✅
It almost looked like we weren’t going to fit in fondue or raclette, but tonight we had a family dinner featuring both, so… = ✅
I do believe that the only local treat that we haven’t yet had is polenta. Oh well, I think we’ll survive.
* Meaning about fifteen different types of cheese produced in Switzerland, but NOT Emmenthaler (the one with holes), which most of Swiss folks I know don’t even like!