Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving! It kind of snuck up on me. Mostly, I knew I was going to be working, (which was cool because time-and-a-half is pretty cool,) but the night before, Eva asked if I wanted to come over in the morning for Thanksgiving pumpkin pancakes. Um... YES!

First, the tradition continued and I talked to my sister while watching the National Dog Show, like we did last year. That was such a fun trip... Then over to Eva's with the lovely bottle of champagne I had been saving for a special occasion. (The Thanksgiving 2009 tradition)

We each put on one of Eva's vintage aprons and got to work doing our jobs. ;)

It was a fantastic morning and working that afternoon was relatively painless. In fact, it was fun being around so many people in a celebratory mood. I had made Makufkas and shared them with a few of my favorite people there. Even the Chef loved them! *pride* The next day, a whole new leg of the Holiday weekend began...

A few months ago, my friend, Christine, and I had been talking about meditation and our various explorations of it over the years. Books we liked... teachers... the different traditions. One of the teachers who had meant the most to me over the years, and who we found out we both loved, is Jack Kornfield. I first heard him around 8 years ago when I'd be driving to work on Sunday mornings, (brunch shift waiting tables,) listening to NPR. During that time Joe Frank's The Other Side was on Sunday mornings and every once in a while there would be this guy.... talking about... I didn't even know what. But I knew that it was beautiful and fascinating and, if it was on, I'd be late for work because I could never shut it off before it was over.

After doing a little research, I found out it was Buddhist teacher, Jack Kornfield, and the recordings were lectures he gave at a retreat center he had helped found in Northern California, Spirit Rock.

Years passed and I would read or listen to him every once in a while. Maybe 5 years ago, I did some research into Spirit Rock itself and fell in love with how beautiful it was and how wonderful it would be to be able to go there at some point. Well... turns out Christine had always wanted to go, too...

We were talking and talking and pretty soon we were on the computer, looking it up and seeing what kinds of classes they might be doing these days... And there it was, on November 28th, a daylong retreat with Jack himself. It was affordable, good for beginners and there was just no way we could NOT do it.

Last week, we rented a car, talked with friends in SF we could spend the nights before and after with and on Friday, we started the drive. Getting to spend so much time with Christine was wonderful, seeing our friends was, too, but...

This is what we came for.

And it was totally worth it.

Jack was just great, the little towns we drove through to get there were utterly charming, it felt so natural and "normal" to be there. The day was filled with meditation instruction, sitting and walking meditations, Dharma talks and a couple of moments in their very cute little bookstore. We learned a lot and I even got to talk with Jack for a moment at the end of the day and thank him for his work. It was even worth getting a wood tick for. heh... When we were driving back, we stopped at a coffee shop and I thought, "Hell, I could get a job here, and probably make more money than I'm making now..." ;)

What it comes down to is not the teachings of one man or one place or even one belief system. I don't know if I'll ever be "a Buddhist" but I do know that meditation has been an invaluable tool and there is so much that feels "right" to me about Buddhist philosophy.

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
~Buddha

Can't wait for next time.