Touching Down

Remember how I said that after Burning Man this year I came home? Well, it seems I have finally arrived. After years of hermitting and navelgazing, it has taken me some time to 1) realize I was ready to extend into the world around me, 2) peek my head out the door, 3) lick my finger and stick it up into the air to know which way the wind was blowing, 4) point myself in a desired direction, and 5) lift my wings and hop up into the breeze. I've landed! As we headed home from a week of gratitude with family and loved ones, I checked my inbox during our layover. I had (let me see if I can count them all up.. ) .. Six invitations for upcoming events (and these don't even
include plans we had made already)! Two mommy-kiddo groups I recently joined discussion lists for: one for Bay Area unschoolers, and one for Berkeley moms and babes who eat in the nourishing traditional fashion, one meeting for a cohousing/ecovillage/homeschooling interest group, a winter party at our local biofuel station/urban farming supply and education center, and two holiday parties at friends' houses!
(geez-! Looking at the descriptions it seems as if I'm the really crunchy Berkeley resident I thought I was! ;-) But--) This is my life. This is the life I have fashioned for myself with my family in Berkeley, CA, late 2009. And I know that discussion lists don't necessarily equal friends, and interest groups don't equal community, but they are a start. My start. And that doesn't even include the glowingly warm and bustling homelife that has blossomed for us - because I write about that all the time.
I have heard it said that you must go on vacation to remember how much you love where you live. These days I don't even have to leave town (although that's fun in small doses, too), I can just check my inbox - or open my eyes.

I'm here! And it feels like a Grand beginning.
:-)



Photo: moonrise over Salt Lake--seconds before, it was reflecting in the lake, but airplanes move fast!

Location:Bonita Ave,Berkeley,United States