I'm Back...

... and taking this weekend to get reoriented. The Laguna cottage is just barely livable. We came down here yesterday, after a night in Los Angeles, to find it--who'd have guessed?--less far along than we had hoped. We created a small space for ourselves in the living room...


... surrounded by stacked furniture and boxes.


Of course, we can't remember exactly what we put in which boxes, and the scrawled notes on the side--"Kitchen," say--don't help us to locate the box where we keep the tea bags. It's trial and error--and mostly the latter. The kitchen is nowhere near completion, as you can see...




... but we have a tiny fridge in what was once the dining room...



... and have hooked up the microwave. No stove, no tea kettle. In a few minutes, I'll be trying to make a decent cup of tea in the microwave--a new adventure.

Meantime, more serious and much more distressing, Ellie's injured ribs have started to cause her terrible pain. Her work yesterday at the cottage to make it slightly habitable--lifting and moving things--may have contributed, but the pain last night was such that I had to help her into bed. This morning, then, when she wakes, it's a trip to Kaiser for x-rays and examination. We did manage to sleep some during the night, having cleared a space for ourselves on the bed--it was piled high with clothes and linens, and covered with a plastic sheet to protect it from the dust--and rigged up a temporary bedside electrical supply with the aid of industrial sized extension cords left by the contractor.

In a word, all is not yet right on the home front in Laguna. Today, Saturday, after that Kaiser visit, we will likely return to Los Angeles and leave the cottage to the contractor for the next couple of weeks. The Buddhist teaching, of course, is the practice of equanimity--and for Ellie, the difficult art of non-attachment to the physical sensation. Much harder for her than for me, when the pain is so intense. It's annoyingly easy for me to exhort her to breathe and focus the attention elsewhere. And next to impossible for her.

I'll probably be slow in getting back to The Buddha Diaries, given all this distraction. A big thank you to those who joined me on Travels With George. I hope you enjoyed the trip. I'm planning to tidy up that site and beef it up a bit with more recollections and reflections, with a thought to publishing it in book form, if I can ferret out a more coherent "story" and its meaning. Apologies for not having responded to comments, and for not having visited other sites this past month. As I've said before, I do very much appreciate this community of bloggers, and look forward to getting back in touch. I personally have some thoughts about politics...

Okay, I'm Addicted...

It seems I'm unable to stop blogging. For August, go to Travels With George. See you there.

Vacation

NOTICE: The Buddha Diaries is officially on vacation until Tuesday, September 2, unless inspiration or notable events require attention, as noted in the birthday entry below. I hope you might check in once in a while in the meantime, just in case; and that you'll be sure to join me again come September.

Metta...

May all living beings be happy
May all living beings be free from trouble
May all living beings be free from stress and pain
May all living beings be free from animosity
May all living beings be free from oppression
May all living beings look after themselves with ease
May all living beings live in harmony with one another
May all share in the blessings I have attained...

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.