Bewitched Buddhism

Mommy and Pip.
The weekend has been good.
An early bike this morning along the Kettle Valley Railway with Peter, Miranda and John. It is simply an out-of-body experience. The smell of the air, biking between narrow rows of pines, is the most delicious smell in the universe. If there is a heaven, it smells just like that. And when we bike through the old train tunnels, blasted out of mountain rock, it is so dark in parts that you can't see a thing. It is like biking in a dream. You keep biking and fast through darkness, trying to reach the light at the end, trusting that if you keep peddling, all will be fine.
My mom and dad are in town . My dad dropped off my momma as she will be looking after my darlings while we are in Vancouver.
 Yes, the time has arrived...I am about to depart on a great adventure to actually see His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in person. And not to mention that his talk is being moderated by Mattieu Ricard--one of my heros! Life is amazing.
And Mistaya will be traveling to Vancouver at the same time on a Greyhound with 300 other Kelowna students to attend a special peace summit for youth. And the Dalai Lama will address the students as well. And so many other amazing people will be there: Jane Goodall, Mia Farrow etc. etc. Such a wonderful experience for Mistaya.
We leave tomorrow for Van and will be back on Wednesday.
Tabs was at a sleepover party in the neighborhood last night. I could hear the party from across the neighborhood as all the little girls sang at the top of their lungs last night under the evening sky.
Mist just returned from meeting a friend at a coffee shop.
We will all be heading over to M & J's for supper soon.
Excited as my home repairs look like they will be going ahead soon: a fence for the entire back yard, ripping out the remaining carpets in the bedrooms and stairs and replacing everything with hardwood--I can still smell the cat pee in Pip's carpet, no matter how many times it is cleaned!
I suffered a short bout of insecurity/boredom Saturday afternoon--the kind where all my relationships are flawed and I am not as enlightened as I'd had hoped--but a good meditation brought me back.
And I bought the first season of Bewitched. It was a childhood favorite! And my, oh my, how times have changed! It is the most stifling, sexist world for women that they portray. No wonder so many women ended up with Lobotomies during that time--ee gads--to be part of that society as a woman would have been so oppressive, one would need to be lobotomized to survive it!
But the show left its mark on me and my sisters. We had a cat named Tabitha, two cats named Darren and a dog named Samantha. And yes, one of my precious daughters is named Tabitha too. It is crazy, I have had several people at different times, tell me that my two oldest daughters look like the actress that played "Tabitha" in the series!

Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway

Miranda and I building an inukshuk sculpture to join an amazing long line of inukshuks decorating the side of the bike path along the Kettle Valley Railway.

Heading to Kamloops early tomorrow for one night. Will have to time either pan for gold along Tranquille Creek or canoe on Paul Lake. I'm thinking it's time for gold panning.

Been unusually tired these past weeks. I want to go to bed early and sleep in. I don't want to get up before 6 and head to the gym. Hopefully my laziness passes soon. School starts again for me and the girls--yikes! Not until Sept 8th though--so we have a good week plus of holidays left. It's a good time to go camping as the tourists are starting to leave for the season. Must get my passport updated so I can zip across the border.

I most definitely want to bike the KVR again next week and do a day trip down to Osoyoos. Summer isn't complete without a trip down to the desert to walk amongst the rattlesnakes and pick up a case of nectarines.

The Perfect Weekend

The children's table and
The adult table below.The best weekend. I must write this down, record the weekend for future reference. When I'm bored or blue, I can check back to my perfect weekend and know what makes me happy--fun! I biked all night and sailed all day...dreamy.

We biked on the Kettle Valley Railway line (a high mountain abandoned railway line with world famous trestle bridges, tunnels and cliffs) from Myra Canyon towards Naramatta.

Peter and Miranda were my companions. It was mystical, serene, beautiful and so much fun. It was quiet and near dust, only our bikes and pristine wild BC wilderness. We saw a grouse and her two chicks--their peeps were so cute--they sounded like human babies.

I never wanted to turn around and come back to the van. Even though we'd never be able to bike it in the dark because of sharp cliffs and canyons.

And then Saturday, Peter, Mistaya and I sailed all day on Lake Okanagan. WOW--It was so much work, so much fun and a little scary. Sailing (as skipper) requires full concentration and powerful arms to steer in heavy wind or waves.

And then, following a day of sailing, on Saturday night, we had a party at my sister Miranda's house, she and John hosted a fabulous Thai BBQ for my family, friends and my sister Theresa's family (who were in town for one night only). We danced, sang, told bad jokes and ate a most delicious Thai meal with peach tart for dessert.

Now for today--Sunday--all day on the lake again--sailing away. We had to capsize the boat today and learn how to right it again and crawl back into it. I was slightly terrified of getting tangled in ropes or knocked out from the boom. We sailed to the middle of the lake (800 ft depth) and purposely tipped ourselves. We survived and righted ourselves without incident. Sailing is amazing. Being the skipper is very zen--full concentration. The trick is to remain calm during sudden bursts of heavy wind--not so easy for me.

So, there you have it, a perfect weekend. Perhaps my favorite to date.

However, now I am tired, perfect weekends can do that--and I still feel like I am on the boat when I sit down--that rocking feeling in my head. And tomorrow up way to early...