Full Moon over Baja

I love a full moon: God’s flashlight. And when I’m lucky enough to be here during the full moon period I am especially happy, because (1) I can find my room at night without first wandering in a circle, and (2) I really NOTICE the moon in all its cheerful, rotund splendor. It always reminds me of a hotei, one of those Japanese big-bellied Buddha statues.

During the 24 hours that surround the waxed moon, Swami Veda conducts full moon meditations, joining his thousands of students around the globe as they sit in silence. He does this four times, for an hour each, to coordinate with meditators in different time zones. Tomorrow (Thursday) we’ll be sitting in the Oaktree Pavilion starting at 5 A.M. Pacific time (which happens to coordinate with those sitting in China, Japan and Southeast Asia).  If you’re here, please join us. If you’re not here, please join us. For those of you we left behind at home it is a unique way to sat in touch – better than texting! 

Afterward, since I’ll be up and raring to go at 6 a.m. I signed up for a hike to the organic garden for breakfast. There I’ll meet another great yogi:  Salvador the gardener, our yogi of food. If there’s a man or woman on the planet who enjoys their work more than he, I’d like to meet them.  By 7:30 I’ll be sitting in Paradise with a plate on manna – in the form of a frittata, roasted potatoes, a cornucopia of vegetables, and chocolate bread.  Then, if all goes as usual, Salvador will chase us around with fresh produce, pulled straight from the garden soil, beseeching us to taste his pampered baby lettuces and his famous spicy garlics. Then it will only be 8 o’clock and I’ll already have practically fulfilled my daily quota of bliss. I guess I’ll have to work on expanding my capacity.

RANCH FUN FACT OF THE DAY:  Tonight (Wednesday) is Bingo night.  If you thought Barry brought Bingo here, think again. Ranch Bingo predates Barry, Joe, and even Phyllis (who has been here 28 years). When Phyllis came she was unfamiliar with Bingo, deemed it not very sophisticated, and took it off the schedule one fateful week, After a petition with 100 guest signatures on it was submitted, the game was reinstated.  Hey, don’t mess with our Bingo.