I just returned from a family trip to Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.  Gunther, Eliza, Anders, Auggie and I drove down to visit  Eliza's Uncle Louie and Aunt Marie in Chino Hills.  The next day we continued on to 29 Palms Inn (established in 1928!)  We each had separate cabins on the property--built on the Oasis of Mara many years ago, and recently refurbished.  It was really great.   The town of 29 Palms is right on the edge of the part, so we drove in several times and feasted our eyes on the bounty of wildflowers and blooming cactic.  It was utterly peaceful and quiet--perfect weather in the 70's and low 80's.

Gunther went on a 50 mile bike ride (in headwinds) to keep up his training for the 100 mile Tour de Cure he is doing in May to benefit the American Diabetes Association.

On Friday we drove through the park one last time, visited the General Patton museum (the kids wanted to see the tanks) and then on to Studio City to stay with Sigrid, Jim, Trevor, and Chloe.

On Saturday we took all the kids to the Skirball Center to the Noah's Ark exhibit--really a wild time for the kids--climbing around all these wonderful fantasy animals made of recycled materials (think of an alligator made out of a guitar case and a rubber tire for a tail.)

Home again, and catching up. 

Yesterday I had a little lunch party.  I invited Megumi-san and Yasu-san, who are on sabbatical from their teaching duties in Japan.  Fumiko happened to be here this week, too, so she came with her friend, Henry, who lives in Sacramento.  

The last time we had all gotten together, Yasu and Gunther found they had a love of micro-breweries, so we focused our party on beer tasting.  Gunther made spare ribs.  I cooked some white beans with greens, made some bruschetta, and put out some bread and cheese. 

It was a glorious day, which allowed us to move the table into the garden and eat outside.  We felt like we were in Italy!  I gave everyone a hat to wear from my collection. 

When the sun was well down in late afternoon, Eliza suggested that we go across the street to their house and look for Cosmo, the tortoise that Fumiko gave to Eliza and Gunther to tortoise-sit.  That was over a year ago!  When possible, Eliza keeps him in the yard so he doesn't have to be confined to the terrarium.  She knows his hiding places.  We all searched the garden, but couldn't find him.

Yesterday Robert and I glued ourselves to the computer and got my financial statements ready for my tax preparer.  It's interesting to see how the dollars show where the energy goes in one's life, highlighting what was important to us at the time we spent the money.

I had a good catch-up conversation last week with my good friend Susan Harrow who is the best media coach and PR person I've ever met (and I've met a few.)  She told me the Learning Annex has closed, and it made me sad.  They had such a good organization for so many years, and I really enjoyed teaching those classes and meeting so many wonderful people over the years.  This year definitely has a feeling of a new stage of life.

We had a wonderful get-together for Tyler's 65th birthday at their house with just family.  I found myself once again bringing the book, Generations:  The History of America's Future into the conversation, especially with the couple who is close to my generation.   

Other highlights

Anders ran over here yesterday (under crossing-the-street supervision) to borrow an egg.

Gunther came by later to give us two little cakes that were made from the egg.

I can't figure out why my cream of celery soup was not as good as the one I threw together without thinking last week.  

I'm fighting off another cold with zycam lozenges.

I weeded out an enormous pile of paper from my office and found some Euros, English pounds, Canadian dollars, and Japanese yen left over from previous travels.  Robert advised me to keep them because they are all appreciating!  My little stash of foreign currencies.

It makes me think--what things/activities are appreciating in my life?  What is losing value? 

My good friends, Candice Fuhrman and Gary Feidel invited me and some other friends to attend a poetry event to benefit the wonderful organization represented on the web site www.gratefulness.org.  The founder of the site is Brother David Steindl-Rast, who was born in Vienna in 1926 and has been a Benedictine monk since 1953.  In a short biography on the web site, we learn:

"After twelve years of monastic training and studies in philosophy and theology, Brother David was sent by his abbot to participate in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, for which he received Vatican approval in 1967. His Zen teachers were Hakkuun Yasutani Roshi, Soen Nakagawa Roshi, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and Eido Shimano Roshi. He co-founded the Center for Spiritual Studies in 1968 and received the 1975 Martin Buber Award for his achievements in building bridges between religious traditions.

Together with Thomas Merton, Brother David helped launch a renewal of religious life. From 1970 on, he became a leading figure in the House of Prayer movement, which affected some 200,000 members of religious orders in the United States and Canada.

 For decades, Brother David divided his time between periods of hermit's life and extensive lecture tours on five continents."

I invite you to visit wonderful and inspiring web-site, www.gratefulness.org which had over 6 million visitors last year!

The Gratefulness of Poetry readings were given from an amazing roster of award winning, nationally and internationally recognized poets and musicians, including Coleman Barks reciting/incanting the 12 century Sufi poet, Rumi; Jane Hirshfield; Simon Ortiz; Drew Dellinger and Roger Housden.  Despite the Super Bowl game in the afternoon, we had a full house, and I was delighted to close my eyes and soak in the images, sounds, and energy. 

This morning I open my copy of  The Essential Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne and read:

Birdsong brings relief

to my longing.

I am just as ecstatic as they are,

but with nothing to say!

Please, universal  soul, practice

some song, or something through me!