3-day weekend

Frosty Saab, last Friday morning, about 7:30 am. As a coastal California boy, this is about the most I can tolerate in cold weather. I've lived through snowy winters in Nevada, and there is plenty of snow in California, I'm merely unadjusted to more than freezing mornings. I don't understand how the birds and squirrels make it through this and the rain and so on. Not to mention the actual wild animals up in the hills behind us. It is amazing to think of them huddling up on a tree branch out in my back yard.

This week has brought news of 3 good acquaintances separating for divorce. Very difficult times, very sad situations. My heart is with them all.

Today I started a meditation class in the Walnut Creek/Lafayette area. This class is unusual in that it is based on Tibetan Buddhist traditions and being offered in this area. We are about 20 minutes east of Berkeley, where there are many Tibetan Buddhist organizations and practices offered (Mahayana and Vajrayana), but no others in this Mt. Diablo area (that I am aware of). There is a Zen monastery in the area. But that's Zen. (I plan to visit them in February.) This class is being given by an off-shoot of the Berkeley location of the New Kadampa Tradition. Last June I participated in the Refuge Ceremony at the NKT Saraha center in San Francisco. I am grateful for their generosity and availability, and I look forward to our next class, yet I have growing curiosity now about other traditions in the area and hope to visit more groups.

An interesting note about the meditation class: the community center room we use is surrounded by Sunday morning soccer kids and families, both outside on the field next to our room and also inside the building. The main lobby was filled with kids practicing and goofing around, where the frequent soccer ball banged against our large window-wall facing the lobby. Just the right environment for learning Tibetan Buddhist practices!

Quiet time has been filled with music yesterday and today. Not-so-quiet yet deeply reflective -- Beethoven's Middle String Quartets.


Just got in from having dinner with my son, just the two of us. We tried to go to Zachary's in Rockridge -- they were PACKED like a BART train! He took me to Lane Splitters on Telegraph: very cool, very North Oakland-Berkeley, very comfortable. Very good pizza, if you like that sort of food (they make their salad dressings, something I always appreciate). He's decided to make a big move this summer.

Tomorrow is the observance of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. I thank him for pointing out the compassionate view: no one is healed until everyone is healed. I am tired, calm. Full of vitamins. And pizza! Got my minimum chores done for today. I have an appointment in the early morning. Time for sleep.

Play on, Ludwig, play on...