Happy to be Here

It's winter time.

From the Santa Cruz Mountains to Silicon Valley 

this means  

Stormy Weather !

My father, Gus, would often sing "Oh What A Beautiful Morning! Oh What A Beautiful Day! I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my way!" and he lived a beautiful life because he believed this. He lived AS IF he believed it and his infectious sense of well-being made everyone around him feel good. 

Today the wind chimes are ringing with zest. The entire West Coast is having 'one duzzy of a storm'!!! (as Gus would say...). Newscasts are full of dire warnings and live footage. I don't go around singing like my dad did, but his good-natured spirit of trust, is a gift I imbibed from growing up at his side.

Today I will be going out into this weather to run errands. I'm excited about venturing out into 'the storm of the decade'!  Tomorrow, I will be taking Freddy to the airport for his eagerly anticipated trip to Costa Rica. Saturday, I will be going 'over the hill' (in this storm's full fury) once again, for the huge public Chirstmas Gathering held by Open Gate Sangha, since Adyashanti loves this season like a little boy--where we will all sing Christmas Carols together and have yummy food. Maybe I will also be stepping out tonight for the premiere debut of the movie WILD!!

Matthew will be out and about in this furious weather with his KSBW TV news camera, taking live shots in the coastal towns all around Seaside, Monterey and Santa Cruz. 

The lights are flickering in the house now and our power is probably going to go out. I put the candles and lighter out on the table last light, anticipating this would happen. As kids growing up in the early days of The San Fernando Valley, power failures were exciting. We would all move about in the hush of dark candlelight and with my brother, I would stand on the bed and watch Lightning through the high narrow window, as we counted the seconds between the loud crackling rolls of Thunder.

I am wondering where my little squirrel friends go to keep dry and safe. Will the brave little guy who comes in through the front porch window for his peanuts, still visit? What if I made up a little 'squirrel bed' for him--would he stay there? 

So, here in this early morning aliveness of a raging storm in full swing and a lamp-lit home, with picture windows open to the gray mist, wildly swinging tree limbs, and moaning winds--PASSION is in the air!

It is INDEED a BEAUTIFUL DAY!