It's Friday, August 1...

... and I keep thinking it's Saturday. My birthday. My mother's birthday, too. I was a birthday present. She died more than a decade ago, but I always think of her first thing when I wake up on August 1. It started out to be a wonderful day: an early walk on the beach with George the dog, who loves to play with his tennis ball down there at the surf's edge; and breakfast outdoors at a local eatery.

Here's what's going on: we're still packing and stacking--the last few items, we hope. We keep discovering more. Who knew how much stuff we stash away in the forgotten corners of our lives?


It does seem endless--but we hope to be pretty much finished today. Meantime, we spent a good number of the morning hours with our contractor, his son the cabinet maker, and our architect to go over final details for the work that will be completed in our absence. We hope to return and find the house habitable, at least--though certainly not yet finished; and are inordinately grateful to have found, this time, a contractor we can trust to do what he says at the price that he quoted (except, of course, for the changes!) and, we fervently hope, in the time-frame established.

In the course of the last week....



... the concrete was delivered and laid for the foundations,



with George supervising from a safe distance;



and the new foundations and slab were solidly installed;
the framing was begun, and the electrician brought in for the preliminary work on the wiring in the basement;


In short, some good progress has already been made. We leave tomorrow morning, Saturday, and stop over in Los Angeles for a couple of days before heading north on our road trip.

My thanks to those who shared their experiences and offered advice on what to do about The Buddha Diaries. Here's my intention: The Buddha Diaries will effectively take a break between now and Labor Day, except at such moments when I am unable to contain myself. I suspect that might be happening around convention time. I'm still considering the possibility of a new blog, "On the Road with George the Dog." If that begins to happen, I'll be sure to put a note to that effect on The Buddha Diaries, with a link to the new site. Otherwise, my best wishes to all for a wonderful month of August; and I'll look forward to seeing you back here come September.