Sunday

I could ride for hours on the scooter if my butt didn't cramp up and my hip flexers didn't become my arch nemesis. We rode South this morning to a beach near Manallapuleram. I saw the city in fast forward with the wind in my face and the smell of the ocean in my nose.

Relaxing in a hammock beneath huge shade trees and sipping coconut milk, watching as children and adults alike play in the waves... along comes a herd of goats; Hmmm, afterall it IS still India (just in case I forgot).

Breakfast for $1.50. Let me just say that's it's a thousdand times better than Denny's and really can't compare except price wise...

Beer at 10:30AM becasue that's the way we roll when we're on vacation. Tomorrow I will head to Tiruvannamalai and continue this doscovery of self and selflessness.

As we rode home this afternoon, I witnessed my first bicycle/scooter crash. Not three feet from the front of our scooter a man hit a boy on a bike. No one was seriously hurt, and the first thought out of my head was, "Am I hurt?" No of course not, I was fine, but my body experienced exactly what the boy's did, shock, then fear, then pain. I realized in that instant how connected we are as human beings; being as one, just as the other is ourselves.

Okay, okay, I'll stop preaching, but ceriously, it was wierd.

For all of you in America getting snow, I'm missing it just slightly... actually, no, that's a lie. I'll take 80 degree heat with humidity any day! So long, fare well, my skin is glistening with sweat and my hair makes quite the mohawk with sand and sea water!

Ciao for now!

Day 3. India

On the streets of India. We took the scooters to a near by temple and parked across the street. (Crossing the streets in India is an adventure in and of itself). We dodged motors bikes, bicycles, cars, and other pedestrians, all in one piece. Leaving our shoes at the shoes stand outside I walked barefoot into the temple. The stones were hot under my feet and my tender skin burned. It felt good though, like a little reminder of being alive. Fallowing Emmanuelle, I bent down and touched the entrance stone with my right hand, then placing my fingers on my chest in an offering of gratitude. We walked around the grounds, quietly watching as others sat, chanted or ate snacks-it's the only place one can hang out without being asked to leave. We neared a shrine to the Gods of the nine planets. (Yes, there are still nine, and yes Pluto does count and probably always will). Walking counter clockwise around the shrine until the attendant motioned for me to come closer. "Stand here" his motions said and I stood as he waved a flame first in front of the statue, then in front of us. Waving his hand I walked a little closer and he gestured for me to put out my hand. Smearing ash of the fourth finger of my right hand, he indicated silently that I should rub it on my forehead. I dabbed the ash as he suggested, then he spoke. "Nine" he said. Meaning for us to walk nine times around the shrine. We did this in silence as others fallowed suit. What a glorious culture, steeped in tradition and reverence. Devotion is everywhere and people know how to pray. For what is more important than a life of Devotion? Answer me this: What would you rather do with this life, than seek the Divine? She may show up in different forms, in different ways, with different faces, yet you will know her when she speaks the Truth, calling your name from the mountain tops

That Umbrella Day

The man with the Broken Green Umbrella

What good is a broken umbrella?

One edge sags in and with each step

the corner

slaps the metal pole

showering him with

spray and getting his shoes wet

What is it that I really want to say?

WE ARE ALL THE SAME!

I want to find God

I want to find myself

I want sex,

pleasure,

chocolate,

hot tea on a rainy day.

It’s all been said before and we are dying inside

for lack of inspiration and passion

The Man says, Get a job

The People say, Give us freedom

The Women say, Love me

The Men say, Respect me

The Children say, Play with me

But we are ALL the same

We bow to a God up there –

call him by a name and give our souls

away to the church of our Desire

The prophets and the saints told us to

stand on our own two feet

We were born into this world in this form

Mary Oliver said,

“What will you do with this one wild

and precious life?”

I seek beauty and friendship

I want to walk on this Earth and not die

before my time

as an old,

wise,

woman

Shot down at the hand of someone who has

forgotten how to love

Robbed by someone who was never told how

wonderful they were

Run over by lack of attention and care

Grabbed by Cancer because pollution is everywhere

It is undeniable – seized by desire we become

slaves to our bodies

Tame those wild notions of separateness and ease

into your unique qualities – you are a person,

same as me.

I may look different than you, I may act different, I may say

some pretty obscene things, but at the core, we are

all the same.

Desire for fulfillment.

And how to obtain this you ask?

Well my lovely, there is not right way or wrong

way,

there is no set of rules

for this life,

The Bible does not say it all – how could it?

The Vedas to not

hold the ultimate truth – how could they?

I am an American, I came from entrepreneurs,

innovators, a people who cultivated in themselves

a strength to do things differently. I came

from a melting  pot of ideas and races and

origins – I am not one, separate, worthy, white,

female – I am a soul same as you.

With a brain, a pair of eyes, a set of morals,

two ears, two legs, two hands and a tongues to form sounds into

syllables to tell you how much I love you.