(not necessarily in that order)
Here’s Dad, Uncle Rudy, and their Aunt Tommye at yesterday’s birthday party.
Buster Allen Brooks, Jr (the father of Gil and Rudy) was one of eleven children. Because Buster was born in 1912 and Tommye not until 1933, she and Rudy (Buster’s firstborn) entered the world only two months apart.
Now Dad has just turned ninety, while Rudy and Tommye are both ninety-one. So grateful they’re all still with us! 💖
Today Ramesha and I celebrated twenty years of marriage by going out for dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant in Grass Valley.
In looking through wedding photos, this one really jumped out at me. I mean really! Doesn’t Ramesha’s smile just say it all?!?
What a fortunate woman I am, indeed!
Today, on International Women’s Day, I celebrate all the strong, determined, visionary, committed women whose struggles — over many years — made life better for the women of today.
And I pray not to fall into complacency or take those gains for granted.
Feeling so grateful to all the great souls who helped make both the Inner Renewal and Kriyaban Retreats so powerfully inspiring and incredibly deep.
I don’t love how huge and all-pervasive Amazon is as a business, but tonight I’m feeling really grateful for their service.
I get so busy during the holiday season that I tend to forget little details like — “what the heck am I going to wear for the Christmas concert?!?”
It’s not like when I lived in San Francisco or Palo Alto or Los Angeles, with multiple options within minutes. I mean, we live in the boonies — thirty minutes outside of Nevada City!
Our “big” city is Grass Valley (where there’s JC Penny and a new — but very small — Target). Or we can drive an hour to Auburn (where there’s a big Target and a Ross Dress for Less). An hour and a half drive will get us to Roseville and big shopping malls, but I dislike shopping at malls in general and especially at Christmas time!
Besides, at this time of year I don’t have time to spend hours driving to stores, hoping they’ll have the style, color, and size I need. So, when I suddenly realized I had nothing to wear just over a week before the concert I turned to Amazon.
And as of today I have in hand three blouses and one black skirt, and I can relax knowing that at least one blouse is going to work well.
So, thanks, Amazon. I appreciate it.
Turns out there is, indeed, some real astrological weather going on. It’s too late to get into it tonight but I’ll share more tomorrow.
For now, I’m grateful to know it wasn’t just my imagination.
My seclusion has ended and I’m back in the flow of life’s busyness.
But I spent a good portion of a week in silence, by myself, meditating, seeing beauty around me on my walks, enjoying every quiet moment…and I’m going to do my best to carry that peace into my daily life.
For tonight, I’m just really grateful.
I’m rather glad to see this week come to an end.
I’ve felt by turns strange, challenged, frustrated, confused, irritated, stuck, angry, you name it.
Of course, there were pleasant, joyful moments in the mix as well; it’s just that they seemed rather outnumbered.
Oh well, all things — good and less-than-good — come to an end. For which I’m feeling quite grateful at the moment.
Perspective truly is everything, isn’t it?
I mean, from the perspective of the present moment I’m really — and I mean really — glad that we made the decision to stay home this fall.
I say that largely because all the rest of our music team members are in the midst of flux and change and challenge right now.
From an imminent knee surgery to helping an elderly parent move to a new state, and from touring Europe with Asha to an extended visit to India…there’s going to be a whole lot of coming and going!
So, I’m grateful and content to help hold down the fort for a change.
Many thanks to our friend, Ram, for this gorgeous photo of a lotus taken at one of the ponds here at Ananda Village.
I’m so grateful to live surrounded by so much beauty.