Survision

A Man from Another Time

2012-01-03T21:48:00.001-08:00

When I describe my neighbor Jim, I sum him up with the words, “He’s like a man from another time.Now I would say he’s a kind of bodhisattva, his joy glowing through the yellow finches chattering in the tops of the trees in the garden. Perhaps he's in the owl who called from the branches near my front door when I met his brothers the night after his death. Or in the crow who cried outside my

What inspires you now?

2011-11-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

One of my Muses asked me this highly stimulating question yesterday. As winter approaches and coldness seeps into my house on a Saturday morning, I find that my wood-burning stove inspires me.Creating heat in my bedroom by crumbling paper, stacking kindling and logs, torching it all and then sitting back to watch the flames (blessed moment!) comforts me.My cats, assuming double-decker placement

Float with the Flame

2011-10-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

As death is the "change agent" of Life, as Steve Jobs observed, then fire is a growth agent, causing people to pop open like the seeds of certain plants, germinating fresh life. I must be of this species of plant, since fire transformed my journey powerfully on October 20, 1991, in Oakland, California. Yes, twenty years ago this month.Fire brings a spiritual re-alignment, a crackling pop of a

Me and my Ice Pack

2011-10-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Time to admire the flowers once more. Life pushed me down on the playground recently. This is not a metaphor. I actually did fall and twist my ankle a month ago. It felt like the school-yard bully, some mean girl, came up behind me and smacked me down onto the asphalt. I came up with those hot fast tears in my eyes that come with the question, “Who did that?” I may even have

It's 3am in the morning...

2011-09-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

and my world is about to change, forever.It's a hot summer night, one of the few we've enjoyed this year. Earlier in the evening I light a few candles in my bedroom, burn piñon incense, pray and dance.At 3am, I decide to venture forth to our outdoor bed to gaze at the billions of stars in the Milky Way. I've left the bedroom door open, to better hear the crickets. (The screen door is broken.) As

Romancing the Sur

2011-08-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Like a mighty ship of the high seas from centuries ago, those of us who live here refer to Big Sur as a "she". The curves of the landscape are her curves: mountains sloping down to the sea become thighs gently opening to incoming tides. Ridge top valleys rest in the afternoon sun like concave tummies, swelling hills are really high round hips, breasts and dimpled bums. Loving this rough and

Stop the World --

2011-07-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I want to get off!This is the zeitgeist of Big Sur, the essential spirit of the place. Escaping here offers the hope of getting off the merry-go-round of Life, leaving behind the desperation and confusion of the mainstream world in order to find a little peace of mind.Henry David Thoreau knew this essential mirage of the American condition, perhaps inspiring my friend Bob Nash, recovering from

A little bit lighter, a little more sad

2011-07-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Turning Fifty ? !A few weeks ago I shared with a friend that I was feeling somehow different that day than from any previous one so far: "I feel...a little bit lighter, a little more sad." "Could it be," he asked, smiling, "that you're growing up?" "Oh no, not that!" I replied. "Anything but that!"What makes you feel good about growing older? Answer the first thing that comes to mind. I asked

The Free Box Provides

2011-06-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Strange as it may seem, there are shop-a-holics in this town. Thankfully, if we become embarrassingly intimate with the hardworking UPS driver and the kindly Postal workers, there is the local Free Box, where we can deposit used items and, in exchange, "shop" for odd and wonderful things we never knew we needed.The humble Free Box, (a community drop off for household and clothing re-cycleable

Magical serendipity

2011-05-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a personal tale or two about the road, and its role in the adventure of living in Big Sur. Mine is a story of serendipity.Years and years ago, when I was a city-dweller, I would escape my cubicle and drive my little commuter car down Highway One to dip into the healing waters at Esalen, to hike steep mountains and dance on pristine beaches. The holidays are a time for togetherness and sometimes, if you’re lucky, for family healing. Last Sunday we took my Dad to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where we marched him all over the place for about two hours, a significant accomplishment at age 82. With his artificial hips and game attitude, he watched the feeding of two plump, playful sea otters, touched bat rays

Being Thankful

2010-11-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

This week I paused on a city sidewalk to admire bone colored ginkgo leaves, each one tipped in amber, fluttering in the wind against a royal blue sky.In the mornings I sometimes wake up to the whirring of a hummingbird drinking nectar from the red sage blossoms outside my bedroom window. Beyond the tiny bird's silhouette is the Pacific Ocean, blanketed with fog and tinted pink at the horizon.Some

Going to Town

2010-10-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

It's what we do when we run out of food, gas, or entertainment. A one way trip can take anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours. Fog, rain and wind are a factor in the journey, as well as traffic volume. The experience changes seasonally, and can be dramatically different if you are driving your pickup filled with treasures for the dump v. say, the hotel's van on a laundry run or an SUV load of

Ages pass, and still you pour

2010-09-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ages pass and still you pourand still there's moreto fill.Your infinite giftscome to meonly on these very smallhands of mine.Ages passand still you pourand still there's moreto fill.For Julia Ingersoll, who spends her time painting, teaching and exhibiting in Tuscany and Big Sur, this mystical prayer by Bengali poet Tagore comes as close as words can to describing her experience as a landscape

Late Summer Walkabout

2010-09-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when we're looking for that land over the rainbow, unlike Dorothy, we have to go farther than our own backyard. Although I live in the soul-opening majesty of Big Sur, I still feel a touch of wanderlust. Due to the "recession" we are mostly in stay-cation mode, but work, long overdue social and family visits, plus a compelling art exhibit called us out of Oz into the larger world.San

Dansayoga Surprise

2010-09-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took my slightly hungover self to Dansayoga, a wonderful two hour yoga and improv dance class held Saturday mornings at Big Sur's Grange Hall.There were only two students, myself and my businesswoman friend, and two teachers, a lovely dark-haired yoga instructor and Dansayoga's founder Carlotta, the wild and creative Swedish expat who guides us weekly in our improv dance

Big Sur Bee-tox, Or, A difficult week in the beauty department

2010-08-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I know how it happened, and there's no one to blame. That little girl bee (who must have been furious and scared) got under the bill of my baseball cap, and as we mutually freaked out (I batting her away, she, quickly stinging me and presumably dying) the poison entered the soft flesh on the point of my cheekbone, a finger's breadth away from my eye.I turned and walked rapidly back down the

Jack in the Beanstalk Land

2010-07-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

All right then, the fog is back. At this point, we'd welcome the bugs that come with hot, sunny days in the country. The ridge is wrapped in cloud, all is quiet, even the birds' dawn chorus is silent.All edges soften, as if we've burrowed into drifts of cotton gauze, and shapes on the horizon blur. Up close, the colors of the garden pop with intensity. Condensation falls like raindrops from the

Bug Sur

2010-07-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

After what seemed like months of depressing drippy fog, we in Big Sur are opening our hearts to the joy of these past sunny days. The smells of sun-warmed roses, wild-flowers, sweet-peas and sage fill the air around us, up the ridges and into our gardens. Ahhh, finally we have our Summer.We dance on the grass, we work on our tans. And we bring out the mosquito nets and bug spray. If we're

Solstice on Middle Earth

2010-06-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

This morning The Shire is calm. Fog rolls in from the ocean below while the sun comes up over the ridge-top. Birds sing their morning chorus, and green lawns stretch to the horizon.Last night, the shortest of the year, I stepped outside my bedroom to the gentlest of sounds: wind chimes tinkling, critters whispering, earth humming. Stars sparkled, and the moon spread her light on the sea, shining

Horsy Girl

2010-06-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Ever so often here in Big Sur something happens that reminds me with perfect clarity of who I was as a young girl. When I opened my front door yesterday morning I saw an amber colored horse standing on the edge of the meadow. He was nibbling grass, his golden coat reflecting the sunshine just emerging from above the ridge-top. Naturally I grabbed some carrots and my camera and paid him a

Big Sur's tiniest hitch-hikers

2010-06-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Peep and Poodle, two impossibly happy Partington Ridge Rat Terriers, left town early last month, picked up by tourists driving a Land Rover south on the highway. Like Jerry (of Tom and Jerry's Mouse in Manhattan), they most likely didn't plan on an adventure that would take them who knows where.Despite the fact that the dog-nappers were aware that these wee beasties were lost (they asked a State

Message in a bottle

2010-05-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

The Moving Finger writes,and, having writ, moves on:nor all your Piety nor WitShall lure it backto cancel half a Line,Nor all your Tearswash out a Word of it.-- Omar KhayyamHow much do we actually connect with other human beings using these bizarre, ephemeral tools developed in the last decade? Via email, blogs, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, the mighty Iphone? And now, the horrifying and fascinating

What scared me this morning

2010-05-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ah, country living. Waking up in the morning, stepping outside to a spring breeze swirling around my ankles, walking on wet grass, smelling a flower.Watching the moon sink faintly into the fog bank on the horizon. Throwing the ball for the dog. Taking deep breaths.Back inside to make coffee. Chatting with my guest, cleaning up the mess from last night. Reaching for the bag of beans on top of the

Survision does the Big Easy

2010-04-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

On this wet and stormy Big Sur Sunday, with hail and branches whipping down onto the muddy dirt road to my home, it’s hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was in the French Quarter, ground zero of the sleepy, muggy center of the Southern Gothic: New Orleans.My destination includes a special treat: when I walk into the elegant courtyard of Soniat House I find a picture of a famous writer’s

A Perfect Morning

2010-03-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

“The Kiss of the Sun for Pardon, the Song of the Birds for Mirth. One is closer to God in a Garden than anyplace else on Earth.” My Grandmother carried this poem inside her all her life. It’s one of the first verses I remember, and it still pops into my head today, especially on a beautiful Spring morning when I’m looking forward to getting my hands into the dirt.With my Grandma, I experienced

Seconds to Go

2010-03-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

Overheard at the Seconds-to-Go Resale Shop on Fillmore Street in San Francisco one Friday afternoon recently: "I'd wish you luck, but I see that the Shopping Goddess has already smiled on you."Those of us who secretly love the pursuit of stuff, yet take pride in doing it on the cheap, find this whimsical goddess smiles on us in second-hand stores, especially classy ones. This particular temple

The Golden Chanterelle

2010-02-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

The country's only Chanterelle Festival! A week from today it begins: those who love the moist, golden fruit of the forest will gather at the Big Sur Lodge, to prepare their wild mushroom mixtures for the rest of us fungi-loving folk.From soup, to beer to ice cream, (and everything in between) you can savor tasty dishes with delicious matching wines, from six different local vineyards, on both

Joy of Friendship

2010-02-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

"A friend is someone who, while leaving you with all your dignity intact, obliges you to be fully who you are."I can't cite the source of that quote, but remember reading it on a bookmark about twenty years ago. At the time I was a recently returned ex-pat (from my college year abroad) dealing with culture shock: No, there is no café-style night life in my home state, nothing like the expansive

The Robins are coming!

2010-02-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

I step outside onto the soaking green grass this morning, the slate colored ocean and rain-bearing sky looming beyond me. It is the always changing backdrop here, subdued now in gray tones.It’s late Winter, and a refreshingly wet one. This time around, we’re experiencing an unusual avian phenomenon: Robins — Thousands and thousands of them, massive flocks swooping down to the forest behind the

Telling Fortunes

2010-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Humans are "meaning making" creatures, and I think about this a lot at New Year's, this time of interpreting the past and plotting the best possible future, which of course includes copious resolutions.On the last evening of 2009, my songbird friend calls on her way to an all night dance party in the Big City. "Make a list of what you appreciate most about yourself this year," she counsels (

Holiday Shrubbery

2009-12-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

I follow Toby up the path on the side of the hill, turning to look at the panoramic view below and beyond to the gray, winter-day ocean. “Did you know this path used to be the Old Partington Road?” he reminds me. “Yep,” I reply automatically, as I watch our scruffy black and white dog, the neighbor’s chihuaha, and our orange kitten scamper up the hill beside us. The kitten is really scampering,

Hibernating with Rumi

2009-12-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

I always know when I'm about to get sick: I start envisioning a nap (a long winter's nap, as the famous holiday poem goes.) This time it came on like a wave: chills, aches and tummy unease, dizziness and exhaustion. Boom! Instant winter cold.Because we go inward at this time of year (conserving our energy to survive the elements, to renew our strength for the year to come) questions of

Ratatouille on the Roof

2009-11-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

My eyes opened wide when I looked out the office window that morning: 48' of billboard plastic spread across the front lawn. Going outside, I see three cartoon characters bigger than myself in action, the skyline of Paris behind them. One, a mouse, well, OK, an enormous RAT, wields a huge soup spoon, while the other two, a boy and a girl in chef's uniforms, gaze at each other with goofy

A dream fulfilled

2009-11-14T23:13:00.000-08:00

Last weekend marked the launch of the Big Sur Food and Wine Festival, brainchild of Toby Rowland-Jones, led to exquisite fulfillment by a local team of gifted and passionate food and wine professionals.That's Rosalia Byrne, Matt Peterson, Toby, Aengus Wagner, Alicia Hahn and Adam Olthof, all happy as clams after their amazingly successful event. The weekend popped with sheer joy: Big Sur wore

Back to school

2009-10-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've been a taciturn blogger this Fall, but I have an excuse: I'm studying, studying, studying, getting my mid-life brain into shape. My flabby neurons are huffing and puffing, jumping over synaptic paths long faded from disuse. I'm memorizing business practices, concepts and laws and re-acquainting myself with the horrors of formulas and charts. It's shocking to face the enormous mental

Painting the Fire

2009-10-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

There’s a reason why, “At the top of the world” is also an expression referring to one’s state of mind. On the way to Branham Rendlen’s home last weekend, I remembered this. I felt clearer up there, happier. The healing power of the earth is more palpable when you experience her grander vistas, the ones that give you immense perspective.This past year as we have healed from the Basin Complex

Reading poetry on Mother Nature's lap

2009-09-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

There's something about living here: waking up on a Sunday morning and rolling out of bed, standing in the wet grass, peering through binoculars at hundreds of dolphins in the ocean below us. Yes! As they swirl around, feeding, perhaps dancing, one or two jump above the waves, way up high, their silver bellies sparkling in the morning light. Worth the price of admission, as they say.Big Sur is

What we practice

2009-09-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

is what we have. Or, the devil is in the details. Who would have thought that spending a weekend sitting under the Big Top with 70 people (yes, the Esalen yurt felt like a circus tent) breathing, and then reflecting on this process, would be so difficult?At times, it was excruciating. I kept wanting to fall asleep, my busy life (and the late summer heat) catching up with me. The sound of the surf

Rise up Singing

2009-08-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, a year after I began to find my singing voice, I stepped up to the microphone and sang a tiny solo at the Henry Miller Library's "open mike." I am so very grateful to the angelic teacher I found right here in Big Sur: Lisa Goettel, of The Bird Sings.Lisa's dream is to travel the world teaching people to sing, in the way of the Sufi poet Rumi, who says:"I want to sing like birds sing

A prom queen's (not!) rite of passage

2009-08-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I'm never, ever, going to my high school reunion! I mean, why? I don't get it. What is this absurd American ritual, anyway? Eeeeeewwwwww.I said this for years, without really exploring why I felt so strongly about it. I tossed the invites, never sent my forwarding address, even changed my maiden name (for other reasons, another story).This summer, my mother sent me the fateful letter,

A public service message

2009-08-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, the Man and I had a little chat. Since there's no cell phone reception on top of the mountain, I make and receive a pathetic number of calls on my sexy red phone, and so I get very, very excited whenever it rings. Like Pavlov's dog, I always pick up the phone. Which is what I did, as I was waiting in the left turn lane, driving from Rio Road onto Highway One.Whoops! Yes, that

Short films under the stars

2009-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

The Henry Miller Library's 4th annual Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series is drawing to a close this month, as Big Sur's cultural scene achieves its late-summer climax. Every Thursday evening, from June through Labor Day, we gather on the lawn for the best kind of armchair travel, into the hearts of people all over the world.Who says we are stuck in the boonies, a bunch of hicks at

And another thing I love about this town

2009-07-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

There's something profound about living in a place that draws people, like the proverbial lemmings, to stare at the horizon. It helps to remember this in late summer as tourism reaches its highest (some would say intolerable) level. Inns and restaurants are full, hikers and campers frolic everywhere, and the traffic (on the mere two lanes of Highway One) is, as they say "challenging."Free

Wedding on the Mountain

2009-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months: I'm learning a handful of new jobs, studying dance more, traveling a bit and then, last weekend, we hosted the wedding of a gentle young couple, the son and now daughter-in-law of dear friends.Without a doubt, the BEST part of living here is sharing it with kindred spirits, especially those under 10. The parents of the groom have 3 year old twins, Max and Chloe, and

My date with King Tut

2009-07-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ever so often, we country mice make the long drive up to San Francisco for cultural events. Last Friday night, I had a date with King Tut, Egypt's oldest and best ambassador, courtesy of my dear friend Janet, who treated me to my ticket for my 39th (again!) birthday.You might think I would be intimidated, what with him being immortal and all, but then, he was only 19 when he died, mysteriously,

How to start your day

2009-06-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, you might not be as perky as you should be when you arrive at the office. But the sensuous afterglow of an early morning soak in our tub will be worth it. Just have that extra cup of java when you're at your desk, take some deep breaths, and quietly file away the sensations of your delicious outdoor tryst with the goddess of the bath.Some time back, I was perplexed by a mysterious

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

And Happy Summer Solstice. Today, the sun shines longest and brightest, then begins its slow decline to winter. It's a good day to contemplate the end of a cycle, and to review future opportunities that are always emerging.Last week we walked to the top of the ridge, and the photo to the right recalls a year ago today, when calamity struck Big Sur. As in childbirth, the shock and pain are gone,

Drawing Cats

2009-06-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

The mysterious Japanese fable, The Boy Who Drew Cats, made a big impression on me when I was a kid. I'd hide in the backyard with my book of fairy tales, eat graham crackers coated with peanut butter and honey, and ponder what it meant.A young boy in rural Japan is too small and weak to be much help on the farm. He's sent to the priests, who attempt to teach him, but he has terrible study habits,

Earth Artist: Cynthia Johnson Bianchetta

2009-06-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I respond to when I meet with Cynthia Johnson-Bianchetta is her beauty. I know this is probably not "politically correct," but it is a real reaction on my part. She is lovely, and that loveliness is something one feels to be true both of her physical presence and her spirit. It's something that others feel as well: charming men flock to her orbit, women respond to her Mama

Wild Strawberries

2009-05-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

No, not the 1957 Ingmar Bergman film, but the tiniest little gems of fruit in my garden.They hide, they're itty-bitty, and they're only tasty when they are completely scarlet verging on burgundy. They peak when they're so ripe that they're almost ready to drop off the stem, and yes, there's a metaphor there. Served with slightly melted vanilla ice cream and fresh mint leaves, they're

The Children's Garden

2009-05-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday afternoon I found myself at Big Sur's Captain Cooper elementary school, visiting the Children's Garden. A playful horticultural lab that is a real "victory garden", this tranquil yet dynamic space below the classrooms gives students a wonderful outdoor learning experience.This day's jubilee celebration included activities like face-painting, composting, scarecrow sculpting and

Rattlesnake Days

2009-05-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

This is by far the hardest post I've written, just for the fear factor! I HATE these buggers, I don't care what they symbolize in the many divination systems I fancy. Transmutation, blah blah blah. These are shy, scary little f*ckers and you don't want them in your garden underfoot.But just guess what happened today on my delicious morning at home: a tree guy from PG&E walked down the path to my

Night Blooms

2009-05-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

It's 3am. My body wakens with that strange ache that won't go away. Is it just another reminder of age or something deeper that leaves my heart pounding as I chew over my latest worry? This is the personality I've experienced since childhood: this questioning and wondering about Life.Tonight (or this morning) I look out the window at the full moon, hiding in the branches of the elm tree. I love

Survision goes to the Birds

2009-04-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, Dear Readers, I did it. Yesterday morning I was up, dressed and driving down the mountain at (gasp!) 6:30 am. My husband calls it "sparrow fart" — that is, waking up just as songbirds release gas from their little birdie bodies. In other words, EARLY. My destination: The Ventana Wildlife Society's Ornithology Lab at Molera State Park. Mission: to band birds in their annual spring-time

Quinceañera, Big Sur Style

2009-04-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I attended a Quinceañera for my friend Pepe's daughter, Christal. It was a privilege to attend the special Mass at the St. Francis of the Redwoods chapel just off Highway One, and see Christal, Pepe, her brother Fabian and mother Lupe all in their finery for this traditional celebration of Christal's 15th birthday.Anglos, especially Anglo women that I've spoken to, are fascinated

Grace Fiddler

2009-04-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

Second generation Big Sur community member Grace Forrest began studying violin on her own initiative at 6 years old. She is a key organizer of the week-long 2nd Annual Big Sur Fiddle Camp from April 12-18 at Rancho Rico in Big Sur. Six nationally known and Grammy Award winning teacher-musicians will perform on Thursday, April 16, at 7:30 pm in Lygia’s Barn on the Rancho Rico property.A poster

Living with ?????

2009-03-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

For years now, I've had a secret friend, who lives in the cabinet in my office, sitting on top of a bin of paper clips. He's rotund, shiny, black and plastic. When I'm agitated or curious, I turn him over and see what he has to say.My least favorite answers are "Concentrate and Ask Again" and "My Reply is No." Much, much better is "You May Rely on It" and "YES" in resounding capital letters. If

Here come the Lupines!

2009-03-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of Spring, and here in the Sur it is lovelier than ever. We've had our gentle and only slightly scary Spring rains (200,000+ acres of back country did not flood the valley or close the road) and even the mysterious Chantrelles made a comeback appearance, peeking out through the ash and leaves beneath the oak trees.Now comes the time of the Lupine and the Poppies. Walking

Missing da goaties

2009-03-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

It's funny how ten years ago can seem a different lifetime. What happens to us each decade? What skin do we shed, how do we re-grow ourselves, and into what? We are unfolding mysteries, always.From 1998-2001 we raised goats on Partington Ridge. A funny story from the beginning, when our back-to-the-earth friend showed up one afternoon with about a dozen goats crammed into the back of his pickup,

Oscars on the Mountain

2009-02-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

Every year, on a Sunday evening in February, we host an Oscars party that has ranged from the raucous to the intimate. We hand out ballots, dress up, drink bubbles and dish on the celebrities. Empress Sula clues us in on each star’s astrological sign, and gives pithy commentary on the state of their relationships. “Ha, Brad and Angelina just had a fight,” she surmised, to general amusement.Even

The Long Drive Home

2009-02-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

If you live in Big Sur, you pretty much have to enjoy driving. (You also have to have a reliable vehicle, and after 15 years here we have some hair-raising tales on that subject.) There are lots of different strategies for making the 80 mile round trip excursion to "town" i.e. Carmel / Monterey, for grocery shopping, doctor's visits, classes, and social events.Some folks make once-a-week "town

Let's Celebrate the Safarians

2009-02-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

Ronna Rio is Big Sur’s most inspiring metaphysical guide, and her medium is oil paint, shamanism and the human spirit. Her mission is to give her painting students (she has mid-wifed scores of them over the past 15 years) a deeper sense of their own divinity, by claiming their creativity in relationship to this land. “The painting process heals," she says, "and offers us the opportunity to

Yahrzeit for Bob Nash

2009-02-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

February 10 marks a special day in our home, and in our lives, from now on. It's the day that our beloved nonagenarian, Bob Nash, passed away last year. A friend of ours recently told us that in the Jewish tradition, the death date of a loved one is marked by an annual memorial ritual called Yahrzeit.While we won't be saying the Mourners Kaddish prayer for Bob tomorrow evening, we will light a

From Tuscany to Big Sur: Marlene Sunyata Adair

2009-01-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

On some rolling hills a ways north from Partington Ridge lives an elfin lady who communes with Nature and paints on prayer flags.Her spiritual name, Sunyata, means silence in Sanskrit. Not the blank, sterile silence we find in empty rooms in office buildings, but the full, potent silence of nature, which carries quiet birdsong, wind and rustling leaves. Sunyata is the “empty full,” or, as the

A Walk in the Woods

2009-01-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

A bright Saturday afternoon, a dear friend and her son. A walk in the woods to the Source: the Partington watershed springs. "Who needs a sculpture garden?" Margaret remarks as we come around the path and find this tree, its skeleton delicately suspended in the air.My former Maid-of-Honor Margaret now lives in the big city, but relishes her trips to Big Sur. While living here she met her husband,

What Nature Would Build

2009-01-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Master architect, Mickey Muennig came to Big Sur in 1971 because he was curious about a workshop in gestalt awareness offered by the Esalen Institute. After completing his architectural studies with the noted architect Bruce Goff at the University of Oklahoma in 1959, he’d been working in his home town of Joplin, Missouri (where he built the landmark Foulke House and also designed a mineral

Spiral of Light

2008-12-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

Imagine a rainy December night in Big Sur, guests driving down muddy roads through forest and cattle paddocks to enter a large, cathedral-like structure in a spacious meadow.Glowing candlelight and the smell of hot spiced tea beckons us as we remove shoes and coats in the foyer. Amidst the paintings, Native American rugs and sheepskin draped furniture, we chat with our neighbors. Laughter, hugs

Holiday Estrogen

2008-12-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

For me, the holidays are the time to take to the couch, cuddle up with a soft blanket, plug into the old movie channel and cry. What a year we've had, and how ready I am for it to be over, already. Going back to the 1940's, with its cinematic themes of sacrifice, disassociation, and pluck, is somehow comforting.In the last month of our beloved nonagenarian neighbor Bob Nash's life he told me he'd

Chasing the Muse

2008-12-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

My laptop hard drive died a glorious death last week. I found it, sitting on top of my bed in the afternoon sunlight, making furious popping sounds. Repeated attempts to shut down and restart were met with the dreaded flashing question mark. Worse, the computer's bones then burned up before my eyes like special effects in a movie, lines and lines of code splashing across the screen. As the words

Painting from the Inside

2008-12-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Painter, scholar and healer, Karuna Licht's life follows these three parallel paths. Her story reflects a special time in the world, and in our community. Big Sur is her muse, and her work is unlike that of any other local artist.As a young girl Karuna lived next to the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. At 7 years old, she saw a woman working in the pottery studio there, and knew she would be an

Give Thanks to Pacha Mama

2008-11-25T05:49:00.001-08:00

Castro Canyon, behind Deetjen's Inn, has long been known as home to faeries, magical spirits of the land. Hit hard by the fires this past summer, winter rains now threaten its pristine, gentle quality. Redwood logs are stacked and chained together to block mud flow, and sandbags fill the gaps between dam and canyon wall.Fortunately, we have among us some inspired practitioners of shamanism,

The Joy of Stuffed Animals

2008-11-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

As the season of giving approaches, I find myself thinking of the most simple of gifts: a Stuffed Animal. There is something deep in the human soul that needs to hold, to touch, and sleeping all alone at night is just not really do-able, at any age, perhaps especially in early childhood.For children, the acknowledged wisdom is that stuffed animals are an important part of healthy psychological

Winter Reading

2008-11-11T21:41:00.001-08:00

When I was a little girl, my mother was the Librarian in our town. I loved to visit her after school at the romantic old library downtown, built in the 30's. I'd find a dog-eared copy of Jane Eyre or Anne of Green Gables in the stacks and curl up on the red velvet couch in front of the fireplace and read for hours. Those afternoons were a blessed escape from a childhood set in the midst of the

The Wrapped Road

2008-10-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the globally known, innovative artist Christo lately, and that he should come and do a large scale environmental art project here in Big Sur, kind of like his 1.5 miles long, 1 million square feet of Wrapped Coast in 1969 in Little Bay, Australia. He also Surrounded Islands in Key Biscayne in 1983. Hey, it's only about 20 miles from from Lucia Lodge to the Nepenthe. It's

The Twins, Arriba!

2008-10-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

A lifetime ago I lived in Madrid. I wore polka-dotted short skirts, tiny heels, and drank like a Spaniard in the city's many bars and nightclubs. I learned to speak Spanish, a fondo, with a petite bearded Radio Nacional disc jockey named Javier. Boy, did we have fun. I still grin remembering it all, decades later.This was about 5 years after dictator Franco's death, near the beginning of La

Sleeping under the stars

2008-10-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

These crisp fall nights are magical, with our cricket choir, and soft breezes tickling the wind chimes. “We should sleep outside tonight,” says my husband, and, since he has the soul of a weatherman, I listen, and we trundle outside in our fleece boots with our flashlights. Soon we'll be taking down our screen doors, building fires in the stove and putting warm blankets on our indoor bed. Summer

Frida and Friends

2008-10-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a day with one's friends, doing something you never get to do together. Putting ourselves in a new environment, each of us taking our separate paths to arrive at the appointed time (more or less), with the twin goals of experiencing something new and appreciating the novelty of another way of life.Two Big Sur bumpkins, one Santa Cruz gal and two City sophisticates (one of

Marvelous Mariah

2008-10-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

When I first met Mariah Green she was a serious faced toddler with an abiding love for a very real looking, bald doll she'd named "Curly." Rescued from a relative's recycle bin, Curly and Mariah were inseparable for about 4 years.As a little girl she would attend meetings with her Dad at the Henry Miller Library. These were strategic pow-wows filled with adults, debating how to best protect our

Pass the Beret

2008-09-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

Survision has been up in the blogosphere for almost one year! It's such a surprise to me that I've been able to do this, through a wild and woolly time, complete with sudden deaths, community-wide disaster, and ever more profound appreciation for this place I call home.Blogging has been a wonderful, life-saving process for me. The feedback I've received from Survision readers has warmed the

Cricket in the House

2008-09-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

In these last days of summer, I'm reminded of another reason (beyond the moon and the stars) that I live in Big Sur: the symphony of crickets that come out in the warm evenings to sing.There's a huge community of serenading Gryllidae in our garden. Like La Tuna in Spain, they start up around sunset and go pretty much all night, chirping below our (imaginary) balcony.I've always thought they

Be a Goddess

2008-09-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Or just move like one...On my last day at Middle Eastern Dance and Music Camp in Mendocino this past week, I read this off the tiny skirt of the woman walking to breakfast ahead of me. I had to laugh. So that's what it's all about, moving like a Goddess, enjoying that siren song of immortal femininity. Moving like a Goddess will make you feel like one. It's true.I'd accepted my dance teacher's

A very special season

2008-08-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

It's late afternoon in summer at the ball park, warm sun casting long redwood and sycamore tree shadows on the infield. The crack of bat against ball, thwack of ball into mitt, voices calling out “Nice hit!” “Go, go, go!” and “Come on home!” And sweetest of all to a former “four eyed", ball-wary kid, "Nice try!"Some years back, a very eccentric lady used to play a wooden flute to discombobulate

Fire relief, Big Sur style

2008-08-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

Some of what I'm hearing from my neighbors and friends these days:"I'm home. It looks the same, but everything is different.""My attention span has evaporated. I can't relax completely, can't even distract myself with a book or a movie.""I have fire dreams.""It feels like we're in a time warp, living a dream."Or maybe like a movie, when at the end, we realize the heroine has been dead all along,

Come back to the five and dime, Sarah Jane

2008-08-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here is Big Sur's own lovely Sarah Jane Nichols, born in the Dome House on Partington Ridge on July 11, 1981. Nature child, accomplished horsewoman, Londoner, actress and aspiring celebrity. A woman of unique confidence and experience, Sarah is a beloved soul.My first vision of the teenage Sarah: On a summer afternoon, sunlight filters through the dust on the road, the air smells of bay and

Armageddon cigarettes

2008-07-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

I fell off the cigarette wagon on Wednesday, July 2, the day Big Sur went into mandatory evacuation. Yep, I'm a closet smoker, have been for years. I quit, with much ceremony, 6 months ago, saving that final butt in a Veuve Cliquot matchbox, tucked into my jewelry box.But when the flames were coming down the mountains, I bought a pack of American Spirits (the good cigarettes) and proceeded to

Back in the Shire

2008-07-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

We went on our "heart attack" hike this afternoon, so strenuous we always wonder if we'll make it to the top. Today it was kind of like bushwhacking through a big barbecue pit. Death Valley instead of Big Sur. The crematoria of the forest, full of silent, heavy energy. But tiny bits of green are popping through: ferns, bays and oaks. High up on the steep slopes the yuccas are coming back, white

Fire Gypsies Come Home

2008-07-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday morning, I'm sitting in the blue chair, the wind chimes are tinkling in a gentle breeze. I awoke to lovely, wet fog, all night long it's damped down the smoldering trees above and below us. My dog is flopped happily in the tall grass, my tabby cat is meditating on the wooden table beside me, nope, there she goes, off the table to wander about again, so happy to be HOME.How do you come

In the Eye of the Storm

2008-07-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

"Sanctuary," Charles Laughton called out sonorously from the bell tower of the Notre Dame Cathedral, a rescued gypsy woman in his arms. This scene in the 1939 film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, recalls to me our home-spun cathedral, sitting empty on Partington Ridge, the activity of each day turning peacefully around it. What does the light in my bedroom look like now? Do the fruit trees need

What it takes

2008-07-01T09:29:00.001-07:00

"Often, when following the trail which meanders over the hills, I pull myself up in an effort to encompass the glory and the grandeur which envelops the whole horizon… It was always a wild, rocky coast, desolate and forbidding to the man of the pavements… Tough, young, geologically speaking the land has a hoary look. From the ocean depths there issued strange formations, contours unique and

Report from the front lines

2008-06-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

As I write this on early Sunday afternoon, Kip sits beside me in the corner booth at Fernwood (which has Wi-Fi, bless them.) I've just seen an enormous plume of smoke above Mt. Manuel, behind Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Palo Colorado Road is under voluntary evacuation. What follows are a few thoughts, and some pictures (courtesy of fire-fighter, pig-rescuer, and intrepid photographer Toby

Blogging from Fernwood

2008-06-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, we always heard it's not "if", it's "when" and boy has that come true, with a vengeance.Lightning on Summer Solstice Saturday afternoon, June 21, sparked a fire that is Big Sur's worst in a 100 years. I'm sitting in Fernwood's lounge, drinking a beer, feeling like I'm sitting at the airport. Today I trucked another load of "one-of-a-kind" stuff to our friend's house in Seaside, my wedding

Birds gotta sing...

2008-06-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

This year, tossing out my usual esoteric New Year's resolutions, I chose one of my fantasies instead: a singing lesson. During my session with Monterey's flamboyant voice coach Linda Purdy, I realized that, like any other art form, singing means learning how to do new, strange things, followed by practice, practice, practice. That omnipresent formula: Hard Work = Transformation. I think I was