I'm home -- more or less

Let's say, my body is here. The rest of me is still adjusting and still needing a tad more sleep. You won't hear much from me today (and some of you may appreciate that), but naturally there will be more to come.

There were two definite highlights of the trip: Aranya Bodhi, of course, and the visit with my friends in Napa that included an auction to benefit a home for learning-disabled adults that was downright inspirational.

Here's some teasers:

When I arrived at Aranya Bodhi after a very long day of travel, I was greeted with the news that instead of having to set up my tent, a kuti was available for my use! This is the Ratana (jewel) kuti, nestled in the redwoods high up a hillside. It was my happy home for two weeks.

In Napa, we helped set up this table of auction items, and let me tell you, there were some very fine wines in these lots!

So - there's something to look forward to down the road. Once I get life at home back under control once more.

Later, people...

Remember when I said I wanted to try a buzz cut? Well, yesterday I had the gal at SuperCuts use her clipper to cut my hair back to one inch, and I am reminded of that old adage about being careful what you wish for. First of all, it's hard to believe it's actually one inch long, but whatever it is, it's short. Really short. No curl -- guess it's too short for that, too -- just lies flat against my head in a most unattractive way. Think Jamie Lee Curtis (great if you like that look, but it's really not me). I take comfort in knowing it will grow. I just hope it grows enough so that when I attend a charity event in the Napa Valley a little over 2 weeks from now, it'll look a bit more normal.

Other than that -- got the stitches out with no troubles. Am spending today doing lots of little last-minute things (took care of the garden issues this morning, other than some final watering of blueberries and tomato).

My ride comes at 6am tomorrow -- so I'll talk to you again in about 3 weeks.

Finally!

The heat wave has snapped, thank goodness! Oh, it's forecast to hit 97 before the day is over, but I can deal with that. The night should be cool and the following days and nights a tad cooler.

Fortunately for my health, I spent most of yesterday inside good air conditioned spaces. First my car for 45 cool minutes, then the meditation group until around 3pm, back to the car and then I stopped by my cousin's house in Rockmart and had a couple of good, cold beers and watched a movie on TV. Just after I arrived the bottom fell out -- rain and wind and even some good-sized hail. That sort of thing will cool off a Georgia afternoon real well, but depending upon timing and location, it's also possible to end up with an unpleasant steam bath once it passes on by. Yesterday was a good combination of the two, and when I left their place around 7pm my car's thermometer read 73. That went up a couple of notches by the time I left their rural hillside behind and hit town, and went way up to 86 by the time I got home. Maybe Cedartown didn't get quite as much rain as  Rockmart did. My house was a steambath, but it cooled well enough once I got it opened up. More storms passing nearby brought good cooling air and breezes. This morning has been mostly cloudy with lower temps that are steadily rising.

So, there should be relative comfort here for the next few days, until I flee west to very different climes. I'm getting closer to being ready, but there's much that's been left until Wednesday, the last minute. I see the doc to get stitches out tomorrow, will get my hair cut, some last minute shopping and whatever else seems necessary, such as hitting the bank for cash.

After weeks of considering all the possible alternatives for getting to/from the Atlanta airport, I've finally opted for one, with a backup. I can get a local airport transport from this end -- they will actually pick me up at my house, which is great -- but coming back, their last bus leaves 15 minutes before my plane is due in, so I'd given up on that option until my ex-co-worker in Rome offered to pick me up.  So, that's what I'm gonna do. If for some reason they don't show up, I have a fallback plan B, which is the original plan to drive in and park.

I like leaving my car in the driveway so it's not so obvious that I'm not home, and to maybe keep my crazy neighbor across the street from getting stupid again and finding some mischief to get into. No more dogwoods left to kill, and I'll bring tools and such inside, but there are things in the garden he could kill. I haven't seen [read: heard] him for several days now, and since it's too much to hope that he's in jail for the next 9 months, I assume he's off on some kind of vacation.

That's it for today folks -- not much happening.

I'll take whatever I can get

Last night was a killer! Stayed around 109 outside from early afternoon until after 8pm, got up to about 85 inside for most of the evening and stayed there, although it was approaching 90 by the time I finally opened the house up. I drank gallons of water, lived with a wet cloth and dunked my head under the cold water faucet often -- seemed like every 5 minutes or so. And I could still tell that this old body wasn't happy. I finally went to bed around 10pm, tired enough to sleep with the aid of a Xanax, with both the ceiling fan and the window fan blowing air across me. At some point it cooled enough that I brought the blanket over me, but when I got up at 5am it was about 78 in my kitchen, which isn't a good omen. I opened the front and back doors, flipped on all of the ceiling fans, and an hour or so later it's getting closer to 75. Not good, but then, I'll take whatever I can get. I'm still feeling the effects of it -- headachy, whine whine.

A friend that I worked with in Rome called around 7pm or so, said it was 85 in his apartment with the AC going -- the unit just couldn't keep up with the heat.

Fortunately, I'll be leaving here around 8:30 and won't return until around 4pm -- our monthly half-day meditation in Cartersville. That house is high on a mountaintop and has to be at least a bit cooler, plus it's air conditioned. That will be a blessing! The house will still be hot when I return, but at least the body will have a chance to cool off for awhile. They're still saying it should cool off a tad by tomorrow. I can only hope.

Wherever you are, I hope you are safe today from whatever weather is in your life. At least I still have power, no floods, no fires, no raging thunderstorms.

She lives!

Last night was the first time I actually felt the effects of the heat -- it stayed at 105 until well into the evening, around 8pm, I guess. Matters weren't helped when I turned on the broiler about that same time for a half hour to roast some red bell peppers to take to our meditation group luncheon tomorrow, although my feeling was that it had reached a point inside where a little more heat didn't matter.  I'd had the wet cloth out to cool the skin long before that. The temp in the kitchen hit almost 90, which was a bit much.

However, this morning the kitchen is down to 70 and may go lower, since there's another hour or so of cool air to be drawn inside by the fans. It's times like this when I wish we had a nice multiplex theater in town -- a good place to sit and cool off. Our local theater is nearby and no doubt cool, but they only open in the evenings for one show, and the choices are limited, and generally not of interest to me. And as much as I dislike shopping, and malls, even an indoor mall would be welcome. As it is, my choices are somewhat limited to Walmart and Home Depot, and I can't see wandering around either for longer than it takes to get whatever I absolutely need -- and I got that yesterday.

Let's face it, my minimal discomfort is nothing, in comparison to wildfires and storms and extended heat for people who can't escape it at all. And it will pass.

Staying inside where it's cool

I gotta say, I'm proud of my night air cooling system. At 4pm, the thermometer on my back porch (which faces east and is totally shaded most of the day) reads about 104. The one in my kitchen reads 80. That's not bad, folks! I expect the living room is a tad warmer, because it faces west and is getting the brunt of the sun right now, but with the ceiling fan going, it feels quite comfortable. Last night the kitchen crept up to 85 by 8:30 or 9pm, but by then it was time to open the windows, turn on the exhaust fans and let the fresh air in. I do that when the inside/outside temps reach about the same number.

This system worked fairly well last year, but is working much better this year and I have to guess that the reason is because this year I actually have the arm strength to close my kitchen window every morning, and raise it in the evening, along with the other windows in the house. That hasn't been the case before. In fact, it was climbing onto a chair so I could reach and open that window that led to me losing my balance, falling on the open oven door, and costing myself some $$ in repairs. I expect that a good bit of warm air got inside with it open.

It's good to see that my work at the gym in Rome and now at Curves is actually doing some good. I've even begun to use some of the leg machines -- lightly and cautiously, but that muscle has clearly regained much of the mass that was cut out, and the skin seems quite resilient, so I think it's safe. I'm ready to get those stitches out -- wish I didn't have to wait until Tuesday.

We can all give thanks that the humidity is low -- really low, like in the teens or twenties. That makes life a lot more comfortable. We're looking at similar temps tomorrow, then depending upon which forecast I look at we can expect more of the same for the next few days, or a slight lowering (down to 97) by Sunday. Not sure a few degrees either way makes much difference, but it sounds better.

The temps in Jenner this week, and forecast on into next week, have been averaging 85 with nights in the 50s. Not bad. Not bad at all. I'll need the sweats for the cool evenings and mornings, and cooler things for the rest of the time. And with the coastal fog, just how long the cool sticks around on any given day is totally unpredictable.

Heat wave coming

As bizarre as it seems -- considering it's due to hit 99 degrees here today -- I'm freezing! And this is the second day in a row. My 'night air' cooling system is working so great that it's just plain too cool in the early mornings. Last I looked, it was about 62 in my kitchen, probably a little lower here in the living area. Even with sweats on, that's not comfortable. Especially with both the ceiling fan and a window exhaust fan blowing that cool air around, and on me.

Still, it's hard to complain about it. This keeps the house cool all day -- in fact, yesterday it didn't even reach 80 in my kitchen, despite a high of 95 or so outside. This is a good thing.

I actually sat outside on the back porch for awhile yesterday, in the shade, just to warm up! I also know that won't last, since the next few days are due to be in the 100 range, with warmer nights. I take full advantage of these cooler nights, even while I complain about it (tongue-in-cheek).

Now, it's back under the blanket for me!

Walking the path as best I can

Since I've been unemployed (or 'retired' as we might say, nicely) I've opted to make the transition from eating three meals per day to only two, following the Buddhist tradition. That means breakfast and lunch, but no solid food after lunch.

It was a little harder to do when I was working, and frankly, I found that what I really needed to make the transition was a new mind-set. I've eaten this way at Bhavana and other Buddhist centers and it's not a problem for me. The problem was in retraining my mind to the idea of cooking and eating my main meal of the day for lunch, rather than dinner.

But, like all things, the mind can be trained for this. By now, it's become second-nature and I've found many good points. Most notably, with the onset of the heat of a Georgia summer, I can cook in the early part of the day while the kitchen is cool. Last summer and the previous summer as well, I found that despite a plethora of wonderful veggies in the garden, the last thing I wanted to do late in the after noon when the house is at its hottest is cook. So much of what I grew went to waste. Secondly, it's kind of nice to not have to think about what to eat three times per day. Even better not to have to cook it. So, this has become my new norm, and I like it.

Not that I'm a purist, because I'm not vegetarian, as most Buddhists are. Thus the ground beef (natural and hormone-free) in the above photo. Other than the beef, everything in that photo came from my garden: fennel, onions, garlic, romaine lettuce, basil, rosemary, thyme, and lemon thyme. Yum. Most meals are more interesting than this, but just in the past few days, as the temps have risen, the romaine has turned bitter and isn't as tasty for salads any longer. It's still filled with nutrition, however. And since I've never been fond of ground beef (I can't afford the premium beef in any form but ground), a good one-pot meal was in order. You do what you can with what you've got.

Right now, with the body needing to heal the insult from the doc and grow lots of new tissue, I'm really opting for serious amounts of animal protein, since these are the best building blocks for such things. At other times, I depend less on animal proteins and am content with beans and lentils and such. I'll get nothing else, of course, at Aranya Bodhi, the Goenka Center and Bhavana, and I'm good with that.

I'm also not a purist because sometimes I have a bit of home-made almond butter in the evening, for a hit of protein and healthy fats, or a glass of milk, which I believe is OK, since it's liquid and not solid food. Yesterday I baked a tiny blueberry cobbler. There may be some home-made ice cream in my future later today, if the mood strikes. Each day around 5pm when the heat is worst, I long for something frozen and cool. Yeah, it's a craving, but nobody said I was perfect. I'm just walking the path as best I can. I have not reached the farther shore.

A tear-jerker from John Grisham

I haven't read a John Grisham book for many years, way back when he first started writing. Not sure why I haven't read more, but there you have it.  I saw this one at the library yesterday and (in a small library with a dearth of new books) decided to read it.

It's the story of two fictional baseball players in 1973, one playing for the Cubs, the other for the Mets. As you would expect from Grisham, the story is well-written and moves quickly. What I wouldn't expect from him is a story that touched me so much. Toward the end, tears threatened more than once. And that's unusual for me.  It's a serious study of baseball, with lots of baseball stats and game talk and such, and if this kind of thing bugs you, read it anyway. I don't think you'll be sorry.

I sure wasn't!

A big and welcome surprise

Took advantage of a chance to get out of town for awhile today. I've been needing an inexpensive white top to wear to various Buddhist centers while I'm in California, and for me right now, cheap means Goodwill. There's a good one in a town about 40 miles from here, where I've found good bargains before. Thankfully, I'd arranged to meet my cousin for lunch, since it's not all that far from where she works, because Goodwill had absolutely nothing that would work. As it was, the trip wasn't wasted. Had a good lunch, a good visit with Susie, made my way back home. Looks like I'm going to have to just settle for a plain white T-shirt, which my Thai friend told me would be perfectly acceptable at the Thai Buddhist center we're supposed to visit.

And, just after I arrived I got an email from Bhavana telling me that my application for residency has been approved! I wasn't expecting to hear from them for weeks, so this was a big and welcome surprise. I'm planning to go from Around Sept 24 through around October 30, which is about 5 weeks. I chose those dates because it coincides with a big celebration they're having the weekend of October 6-7 (it's Bhante G's 85th birthday and the 30th anniversary of the Bhavana Society itself plus an annual holiday), and I wanted to be there for that, if possible. I'm looking forward to the ceremonies around the entire weekend, not to mention some lovely Sri Lankan food that will be brought as offerings to the Monastery. I've been lucky enough to be there when some of that is offered, and it's really good. There's also a retreat that will take place while I'm there, on Metta, and I'll probably be able to sit in on some of that. I like the early morning hours -- in the hall around 5am while it's quiet and almost empty -- and I should be able to do that every day, since whatever work assignments I'll have won't begin that early.

I'll be home from Jesup for maybe 10 days before leaving for West Virginia. Plenty of time to do laundry and repack. So, after being forced to rest up for these few weeks, I'm going to be pretty busy from early July through October.