After graduation from the University of Washington narrative non-fiction writing program, I felt in need of a little break into the wilderness so I loaded up the Malibu Stacey Funtime Camper and headed to an ashram outside of Nevada City, CA. I went to Ananda which was inspired by Yogananda (that guy who wrote Autobiography of a Yogi) and the retreat center was built by Kriyananda. Here's the web site:
http://www.ananda.org/ananda/village/
I decided I would take a personal retreat in the camper. The retreat center is located on 770 acres of privately owned forest and there is an intentional community in addition to the retreat center. Daily life during the retreat was fantastic. Up with the sun (or a little before), outside to do yoga and sun salutations then inside for silent morning meditation and breakfast in silence. Then there was more meditation and yoga time, followed by vegetarian lunch. Afternoon free time then yoga and meditation and dinner. Free time after dinner and off to bed in the woods.
Pretty sweet set-up. My intention was to take as much quiet/personal time as possible. On my drive down, I meandered through Highway 1 which weaves down the coast of Oregon and Northern California hitting the big Sequoias. Sleeping with the worlds largest trees is an experience that everyone should have at least once in their lives. I've been blessed to have done it half a dozen times or so. My first time sleeping among the giant redwoods was when I first drove across country to move to Seattle back in the 80's. I drove out with a girlfriend and we decided to leave Hyde Park, NY and to go the long way to Seattle which meant going south through Atlanta, then down to I-10 through Texas and the lower southwestern states, stopping in southern California to visit friends at UCLA and then up the coast through San Francisco and the big redwoods up the coast all the way to Seattle.
It was the first of a dozen drives across this big country of ours. God, I love to drive. I drove just about the whole trip too. I get into a meditation zone once I hit cruising speeds and time just doesn't matter anymore. I drift in and out of this and that and hit a near euphoric state by just staying in that zone. I am transformed in time and space behind the wheel. There is no other thing like it for me.
That trip, I was still an East Coast girl through and through...tough on the outside, so tough on the inside. Street smart and cocky as hell. It took a couple of years for me to loose that NY edge and adjusted to Seattle and the West Coast vibe. Those were also the days when I rolled out of bed to light a cigarette and pour the black coffee; not eating until late afternoon and living on caffeine and nicotine. Good times!
We were grads from the CIA (not that one, the other one...the Culinary Institute of America) and I had returned from an apprentice program in Italy and then completed a Fellowship program at the CIA which were rarely awarded and highly coveted by all the best students. We felt invincible and inspired. I was a city girl back then and I considered hiking the walk from the parking lot to the registration desk of the hotel. Camping was not an option in those days. I was not interesting in sleeping outside with bugs and bears.
Ain't transformation grand?
When we arrived in the giant redwoods, we stayed at a hotel in the woods that looked like Ted Kaczynski's Unabomer's Retreat Center; thin moldy walls, no TV, no room service, tadpoles in the sink in the bathroom. Wilderness everywhere. The silence and energy of the huge trees scared the crap out of me! I was light-headed from all the oxygen and had severe culture shock in the woods. I didn't sleep a wink and insisted we leave at first light. If someone had told me that following morning that I would buy a VW camper ten years later and live out of it for nearly a year urning for back-country National Forest roads, I'd had told them to put down the crack pipe! They were wacked!
When I returned to the Redwoods many, many years later following my studies at the U.W. I took a couple extra days to just be with the trees and enjoy the nature all around. The park service offered evening lecture programs at the campsite I was staying at and I learned how to fight off a Mountain Lion. Just in case you ever need to do so, remember to make yourself big like a Tiger; expand your chest and spread your arms out and up near your head or higher and hiss and spit like a wild cat. Make yourself as big as possible. Don't lay down and play dead because they'll just sink their big 'ol claws into you and take you home to the pride for dinner for the cubs and papas. You know the males are too lazy to hunt. It's the woman's job to bring home the bacon, especially in the wild.
I was nice and relaxed when I reached the beautiful hills and forests outside of Nevada City, CA. Having my own accommodations, I picked a secluded area about 1/2 mile from the main retreat center where meals and workshops happened. There were forest roads and hiking trails everywhere. I felt safe and at home.
After a few days in this wilderness, I decided to do a deep cleaning of the Malibu Stacey Funtime Camper. This was one of my favorite things to do with the camper. I always felt like Lisa Simpson playing with her dolls. There were so many little chubby holes and cupboards to put all the much needed accessories. You have to bring the usual things like flashlight, matches, pocket knife, rope, ax, tarps, pots and pans, cutlery. I also traveled with a French Press coffee pot, several tarot decks, a full set of essential oils (just in case I needed to create a special blend for someone on the road), silver spray paint to paint my clogs. This was a ritual I started on a road trip with Karen Sevenoff. Several times a day, wherever we were, we'd take beauty breaks.
A beauty break must include the following: moisturizing your skin, refreshing your make-up (or at least brushing out your eyebrows if you chose not to wear make-up), brushing your teeth, reapply your lipstick, checking your personal scent and give your shoes a fresh coat of paint. I love clogs. I have since I got my first pair when I was 15 years old. Maybe it is some psychic connection with the people of the Netherlands, maybe it is because I like to be over six feet tall, maybe it is because I like the extra weight on my feet to keep me on the ground. Whatever the reason, I started wearing silver shoes and kept them looking good by buying spray chrome at an auto parts store....which is also a great way to meet men.
Note to self: Start hanging out at Pep Boys.
We got the idea to spray paint our shoes in parking lots to leave our mark across country. I liked the silver paint. Karen went with either silver or gold. She could swing like that. I'm still the same...a silver girl. Heck, my name is Silberman...originally Silverman in German, so I guess it is just in my blood.
Spray chrome dries pretty fast too, so you can leave your mark and be on your way in less than fifteen minutes...especially if you spray paint your shoes first and then do your make-up.
To be continued...
So much love,
All the way from over here,
Linda
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