Goodbye West Coast!!

On my last night on the West Coast, I popped into the San Francisco Zen Center and said goodbye to some of the people I have been practicing with off and on the last three years at Green Gulch and Tassajara who now live in the city. It's been real!!

Djinn and Richard with Dave.  Djinn I have to thank for introducing me to Byron Katie's Work (a thousand bows).  I don't think I could have made it through the practice period without her - she's awesome!  Richard is great too - we both lived in Moab at different times, it was so cute to see them get together - gives me hope! Always good to see Dave.

Michael, Johann, Qwan (sorry, I lost the note with how to spell your name:() Michael and Qwan are new friends from Tassajara last summer.

Dave, myself and Johann having a going away refreshment at Cafe de Soleil.  Dave I know and love from Tassajara and from a peace delegation to Colombia where we became amigos siempre!  Johann I met when we apprenticed together at Green Gulch - we did our first practice periods together - great guy - he's sharp and calls me on stuff - a great quality in a friend!!

Stephen doing his best serious Zen student look!

Vajra!  He's the friendly voice that answers the phone at City Center!  A good friend I met at Green Gulch who was supportive during my tough time at Tassjara.

Jeremy, a new friend I met at Tassajara last summer who happens to be good friends with my friends Dale & Melissa.  Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine!

The people I enjoyed saying hi and bye to that are not pictured include Shogen, Leslie & Keith, Susan O'Connell, Shundo, Aliyu, Samantha.

I also spoke on the phone with a Natural Singer friend I met at Esalen, David, but it didn't work out to see him.  

Thanks West Coast.  I received everything I wanted and so, so  much more!!!!  Thanks to all my teachers and all my friends.  

West Coast Local

While in Hillsboro, after my shopping spree at Five Star Guitars, I went in search of a local dinner.  At Trader Joe's, all I could find was an apple and some bread.  The staff at Whole Foods Market, including Jeremy at the cheese counter, was very helpful and I purchased chicken from Northwest Farms, a Portland hot sauce (Secret Aardvark) and a really great local beer called Lompoc.  Dinner was great!  The next morning, I went back for travel food and had a long talk with Noah who clarified that 'bulk commodity' could mean local - please ask questions!  I am traveling with baked apple and pear chips, hazelnuts and Grizzlie's granola.

While traveling south, I decided to stop in Corning, CA so I could stock up on local olive oil.  While there, I remembered that the tread on my right front tire was wearing thin so I took advantage of supporting a small town local business.  The guys at Bob's Tire Center were great!!! Thanks Danny and crew!

At the Olive Pit, I spoke to Eva whom I had met in the fall and Aricella and walked out with local olive oil, vinegar, oranges, fig bars, apricots, and almonds.  I'm set!!

Thanks, Eva!

Y'all stop by when you can especially in November for the fresh off the press seasonal olive oil!!!

Admiring local fields.  Wish I had time to stop by and chat with the people growing our food all across the country.

Ashland, Oregon and my friend Josh A.

Josh A and I, dirtbags reunite!!

I recently reconnected with my friend Josh via Facebook and made plans to visit on my way south.  Last I had talked to him, he had been in New Mexico.  We had worked together in what was affectionately known as the dirtlab, a scientific research station in Utah.  We referred to each other as dirtbags - we worked with cryptobiotic soils in the desert.  Lots of good times.  I hadn't seen another dirtbag since I left Utah to move out to California in the spring of 2006 and was very excited to catch up.  I was anxious to hear what had brought him to Ashland.  I found his house, a large one, and wondered how many roommates he must have.  He greeted me at the door and as I walked through, an adorable little girl with long, brown hair ran in to see who it was.  I turned to Josh with a question in my eyes and asked, 'Is your family here?'  

And that began an unexpected and wonderful stay with Josh and his brother's family.    We had a big family dinner, saying blessings beforehand, not forgetting to wash our hands.  It was Mexican night.

A family feast!

After dinner, I offered to make my vegan chocolate cake - the one I made for Jamie and her friends and for Shin Kwan and her friend.  The girls, Lola and Sofia, were my able assistants and, as you can see, they really got into it!!

Lola and Sofia, bakers extroidinaire!

While we were waiting for the cake to bake, I read the story of Louise, the Lily Fairy.   

Forty five minutes later, we enjoyed milk and cake.  Then it was bedtime for the kiddoes and Josh and I stayed up until 1 am sharing photos and reliving some good old dirt days!  

Five Star Guitars

Yours truly ready to rock the street corner or park in a town near you!

I spent a few extra days at Great Vow to plan the journey Home, then headed back to Nancy's house after being delayed by the morning snowfall in Clatskanie.  I got lost a few times on some backroads, making i Hillsboro in the afternoon.  I hadn't planned on staying there again, but decided it was too late to head down to my next destination, Ashland.  I left a message for Nancy and drove around town to kill some time.  I checked out the movie theater, but nothing was playing for another hour or so.  I headed over to Trader Joe's to pick up some travel food.  

As I walked away from my truck, I spied a store sign:  Five Star Guitars.  I noticed my feet changing direction and headed over that way.  I wandered in, looked around and was greeted by a friendly woman.  'Can I help you?' she asked.  'I'm not sure.' I replied.  I thought about the peg that keeps falling out of the bottom of my guitar and said, 'Well, can you do a repair while I wait?'  She wasn't sure - she needed to check with someone so I started checking out the store. 

I was soon greeted by the owner, Ken, who would soon become my friend.  Three or so hours later, I left the store with a pickup installed in my guitar, a battery operated amp, a microphone, a mic stand, a book on songwriting and a book on music theory with some batteries for the amp thrown in for free.  It was the best time.  I tried everything out and got lots of helpful tips from Ken and from Jeep.  Doug worked efficiently to install the pickup that evening so I could hit the road before they opened in the morning.  

No more excuses to keep me from expressing the Dharma through my voice and guitar wherever I go.  Now this show is really on the road!!  

Ken and Jeep (Doug not shown).  Thanks, guys!

Great Vow Zen Monastery

Sometimes it's time to sing and dance and sometimes it's time to sit.  It was time to find refuge from life on the road and join the sangha of Great Vow Zen Monastery for a week of mediation.  They spend one week every month in a Zen Buddhist retreat called sesshin; each one with a theme.  I first visited here with Mikwa last summer while evacuated due to fire and were offered refuge until we could return to our community, Tassajara, another Zen Buddhist monastery near Big Sur (part of San Francisco Zen Center).  Their practice really resonated with me and I considered moving there for this calendar year.  Instead, I am answering the call to return to my homeland of Texas for a time.  

 

Prayer flags in the Jizo Garden

Before leaving the West Coast, it seemed fitting to return to Great Vow, the place where I had decided it was time to leave Tassajara which led to a great many adventures.  It may be the biggest adventure of all to return home after eleven years, quite a different person from the one who left to follow a fiance to Colorado.  Each sesshin at Great Vow has a theme and the theme for January is Life Vows.  It was great to spend a week sitting and allowing my deepest intentions to rise to the surface and to make some concrete vows while feeling embodied and unafraid.  Now, I just have to keep coming back to the body and just keep doing the next right thing.  I don't have to know where it will lead.  I can trust the process.  I can trust that the universe is friendly and that I will always have all that I need.

My two friends on the front lawn.  

I sat under them last summer and wrote the song, Freedom.

West Coast Aunties!

Julie and Nancy

After tearing myself away from the fabulous conversation with Marah, I got back on Interstate 5 headed North toward Portland, toward the home of one of my best friend, Mikwa's mom, Nancy.  I first visited here when Mikwa and I were refugees from the fires last summer near Big Sur.  I felt so welcomed and cared for by Nancy and her friend Julie that I stop by whenever I am back in the area.  They are like my West Coast Aunties!!!  

Mount Shasta

Marah and I

I made it to Mount Shasta after dark feeling like a zombie.  Marah offered some tea and some dinner which revitalized me resulting in hours of stimulating conversation that night and the following morning.  At one point, I thought it a gift to have crossed paths with Marah (Claude Stein's Natural Singer workshop at Esalen over New Year's) and to have an older, wise and wonderful woman in my life again that I can talk to like I used to talk to my friend Paula. 

My mobile storage unit!

Loud and Clear

(click on title to download song, working on how to listen without needing to download, help welcomed.  Imperfect recording - at one point, I forgot the lyrics and paused.  Will update when I have a better version:))

I received a request to share a song I wrote in the spring of 2006.  It is  my 'coming back home' song.  I wrote this song after my divorce, after my exhusband stopped speaking to me, after I stopped filling my life with continuous frenetic activity, after I allowed myself to feel the pain.  This song marks the beginning of finding my way through it, of not running away from it.  It reminds me of how it feels to come back to the present, to drop the sad stories, to connect to the truth of who I am, to be grateful.  I play this song when I forget and I play it as many times as I need to remember.  It always works for me.  I offer it to you and encourage you to find that which nourishes you, that which brings you back to what is true, to that place of love and forgiveness, to your own purest self, that one which can never be blemished.  May we all be happy, may we all feel the warmth of God's love and share it with everyone we meet everywhere we go.

LOUD AND CLEAR

Copyright (c) 2006 Linda Daline Limbaugh

When I stop, when I listen

I can hear you loud and clear.

When I stop, when I quiet,

I can feel you, oh, so near.

When I stop being too busy,

when I take it nice and slow,

when I can see you in everyone I meet,

you're with me everywhere I go.

CHORUS:

You're in my heart, you're in my touch, 

you're in my laugh,  you're in my eyes.

You're in words, you're in my silence,

you're in my joyful cries.

The warmth within me radiates, a smile is on my lips.

Your energy, it fills my sail; I have the strength to steer my ship.

When I'm open to your wisdom, 

when I tire of playing God,

When I stop judging myself and others, 

when I let your love fill me up.

When I stop all the struggle, 

when I learn to let it go,

When I don't  have to have the answers, 

when I have faith to join the flow...

CHORUS  (with slight change) ...you're in my contented sighs...

When I see we're all doing the best we can, 

when I seek first to understand,

When what I have is more than plenty, 

when I reach out to lend a hand,

When I can see you in every bird and bee, every river, every tree,

When I'm connected to that place inside, 

when I can see you in all of humankind, 

I know I'll never be alone.

CHORUS (with slight change)  ...you're in my grateful mind...

But sometimes I can't hear you, 

my thoughts they drown you out,

I get overwhelmed and fearful, 

I want to cry - or scream and shout!

(silence)

But when I stop, when I listen, 

I can hear you loud and clear.

When I stop, when I quiet,

I can feel you, oh, so near.

On the Road Again

I left Seaside Thursday with my truck clean and organized without a clue as to where I was going except that I wanted to be north of portland on monday. So, from the parking lot of the Circuit City where I had picked up some new headphones, I started making some phone calls. Luckily, Shin Kwan was home and I headed over to see her. After a fabulous meal, meeting her friend Uri and lots of great conversation, I crashed at her place.

Shin Kwan & I

In the morning, after a hot breakfast and more fabulous conversation, I started making some more phone calls to see if I would stop in the Bay Area. I talked to my friends David, Scott and Jamie, left a few messages, and met Jamie and some of her friends at the DeYoung Museum for a cultural event. Then we headed over to her friend Marci's for a late dinner and dessert (while her dog Brandy rested). Then I headed to the coast and camped.

Marci's dog Brandy, Marci, Jamie, Keith

This morning I went for a short run, did a little tai chi and then sang my heart out to the Pacific Ocean. 

I met a surfer named Zack who appreciated the performance. I met his friend Tom who came out to catch some waves a little later and watched several chocolate and yellow labs frolicking to and fro. Caught one on video. 

Time to get back on the road to hang out with my friend Marah in Mount Shasta.

Sponsors for January 2009

I'd like to thank sponsors of the Pixie Dust World Tour in its inaugural month so far.

Esalen Institute - for providing a beautiful space in which to ring in the new year.

Claude Stein and the Natural Singers - you guys rock!!  Thanks for all of your love and support and for Jeremiah (see pic) telling me that I wasn't  just wandering around - I was on tour!

Matteo Troncone for giving me the nickname 'Pixie.'

Gregory Tippet for his support while we rocked the Britannia Arms in Monterey on kareoke night.

Edward Carpenter for letting me beat him at foosball twice and letting me crash at his place while he was out of town so I could attempt to organize the chaos of my truck.  And for the purrfect attention of a little snowflake.

Shin Kwan for letting me crash at her place on a moment's notice even though she had dinner plans, for feeding me an awesome dinner (beet salad and lentil/squash soup) and for the most fabulous late night conversations about boys and practice!

Matt Roth for his inspiring performance at the MPC monthly open mic and for rockin' it with me at the Mickey D's.

The Marina branch of the San Francisco Public Library for the restroom and the free wireless connection.

The Mill Valley Public Library for the restroom and the free wireless internet.

Muir Beach and the local surfers and dogs for their inspiration.

California for having such damn great weather!!

Marah for her hospitality and wisdom.

Great Vow Zen Monastery for their diligent, continuous practice and for letting me stay an extra weekend before I started the mad trek all the way back to Texas.

Nancy and Julie for their always open door and open heart.

The owner and staff of Five Star Guitars for their excellent service and support.

My old friend Joshay and his brother's family for their hospitality.

All  my friends at San Francisco Zen Center - I know I can always pop in when I am in town and be greeted with hugs and smiles and I never know who I'll bump into.  It was a treat to see Johann - I thought he was still in Carmel Valley!

My friends Dale and Melissa for their open, open arms and lovin'.

And last, but not least, to me for the courage to follow my heart without knowing where it will lead.

Tribute to My Friend Paula

Paula and I at Tassajara, August 2003.

Click on title to access song via box.net.  

Paula, you're my inspiration.

Paula, your heart is bigger than that of a giraffe.

Paula, when I think of you, I see you laugh.

Paula, you are my friend.

Chorus:

Paula, you are the gentle breeze flowing through the leaves.

Paula, you are the rock beneath my feet.

Paula, you are the sunshine breaking through the clouds.

Paula, you are my friend.

Paula, you always stood by me.

Paula, you were my mother when I needed one.

Paula, my gratitude flows from earth to sky.

Paula, there is no hello and there is no goodbye.

Chorus.

Paula means love.

Paula means beauty and strength.

Paula, I will always love you.

Paula, I will try to be more like you.

Chorus.

Paula, we will never part.

Paula, because wherever I go, well there you are.

Paula, your breeze flows straight through my heart.

Paula, you are my friend.

Chorus.

Paula, you are my friend.

Paula

Paula

Paula

A song I wrote for my dear friend and former mother-in-law, Paula Kent.  I had intended to record it and send it to her before she died, but I was too late.  Instead, I asked the sangha at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center where I was living at the time, April of last year, to witness and join me in singing it to her where she now resides, on the breeze.  It was beautiful, sung in the courtyard by the creek.  I am truly blessed to have had her in my life and to still feel her by my side.  May you all be blessed in that way.  

Me, Paula, Melissa enjoying some quality girl time.

Lunch, Dinner and Breakfast

Romantic lunch for one under the sunshine:  frittata with garlic, parsnips, carrots, and onions served with salad and french bread with roasted garlic.

A thank you dinner for two:  warm spinach salad dressed with a caramelized onion, maple vinaigrette followed by a roasted chicken from a small operation in petaluma, ca and roasted garlic rosemary potatoes wrapped up with an oreo cookie milkshake!

The most beautiful and decadent french toast I have ever been treated to!

Sunday Afternoon

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Copyright (c) 2009 Linda Daline Limbaugh

Neil Young in my right ear

heavy metal in my left

partial shade from a blooming tree

it's January, but no who notices?

a tank top and a glass of red wine

lunchtime on Kenneth street

spinach greens, olive oil, sea salt, pepper, lemon juice, dry roasted almonds, aged cheddar cheese and dried cranberries

wrap around porch, blue skies and sunshine

I bring back out the deck furniture - Edward won't mind

wish he were here - and i do enjoy my time alone

as if i'm ever really alone

snowflake stays inside where it's cool - smart cat

i bite into a slice of baguette 

tongue tasting roasted garlic

savoring the texture, savoring this time

lunch is leftover pasta from last night

romantic dinner for one

fresh CSA tomatoes, caramelize

d onions, roasted carrots, parsnips and garlic, sauteed spinach

a few of my favorite things

such is the life of a wandering pilgrim with a few good friends

i have everything i need and then some

i smile, glancing up at the evergreen across the street waving its branches at me

i hear bells in the distance and take another sip of local red wine

January 11, 2009, Seaside, California

Moon Over Mickey D's

MOON OVER MICKEY D'S

Copyright (c) 2009 Linda Daline Limbaugh

Monterey, California

G                   C                          Am

my feet are cold and I don't care

D

outside the mickey d's

sitting on my tailgate and you are there

outside the mickey d's

G                                               Am

we're singing every song we know

D

there's no place i gotta go

G                                               Am

you sing of her hair in your bed

Am       C                           Am

i sing about the life i've led

D

there's no place i'd rather be

i don't eat fast food and that's okay

i'm only here to play

bama boy you caught my ear

and my heart followed you here

no place i'd rather be

my feet are cold and i don't care

outside the mickey d's

sitting on my tailgate and you are there

outside the mickey d's

i sing to people driving by

to you here by my side

your songs are good, they make me laugh

under the moon, i get up and dance

no place i'd rather be

my feet are cold and i don't care

outside the mickey d's 

sitting on my tailgate and you are there

outside the mickey d's

my feet are cold and i don't care

outside the mickey d's

(instrumental)

moon over mickey d's

(instrumental)

moon over mickey d's