Passions of the Innkeepers
It has been a while since I posted to this Blog. Today, I want to revisit the Inn – and to write about the Inn is inevitably to write about ourselves. Joan and I have poured our lives into this place. It is not a sacrifice – although our kids in a pique might say that it has been. We care about everything here – the material – from toilet seats (you should see the back-up supply) to beds – we always have a couple of back-ups of each size and only buy the finest available. We care about our guests’ “experiences” – and provide opportunities to get out of doors – not just walking around, but paddling the beautiful Big River Estuary, mountain biking Mendocino’s many trails and back roads. If you want to learn about the forest or marine...
Time Wears
On the road last Saturday, we were listening to a program on human aging and possible new technologies for living longer broadcast on NPR or CBC Radio 1. One commentator noted that “time wears out everything.” That is not true. Think about the nature of experience: What we experience might be different, but the nature of experiencing is not. I can remember experiences and the feeling of experiencing from 2 years-old onward. The nature of experiencing is the same. The content of my experience changes and for that matter my experience of myself changes – Now it hurts to walk barefoot outdoors, while I never wanted to wear shoes when I was little. Time does not wear out experiencing. Yet experiencing is an essential aspect of time and does not suffer...
Happy New Year – and an update on Vada.
On November 19th I wrote about the shooting of Vada Vasquez in the South Bronx. For those who read this entry, please note that our daughter reports that she made a great recovery and was home for the holidays. I apologize for not writing for the past couple of months and especially for not letting readers know that Vada was able to go home. We have been taking care of Gypsy. His arthritis flared up and he fell hurting himself in middle of November and we have not been able to get him to the Inn and we are spending much more time at home, helping him up and walk outside. He’s vegan – we know that helps. But he does not tolerate NSAIDs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, Rimadyl. Today we are adding turmeric to his repertoire of seaweed, Traumheel, peony...
The Weather
Pier at Matlock at Dusk Matlock – It is cooler here this summer than any in recent memory. Unlike last summer, the mosquitoes aren’t instantly dehydrated in the sun – too bad for us; good for them. There were no mosquitoes this winter in Mendocino. But there was heat. Some afternoons the temperature in the Stanford Inn’s gardens reached 80F or 27C, while the average high is 57F or 14C. From 1998 to 2008, global average temperature actually dropped and David R. Easterling of NOAA’s* National Climatic Data Center and Michael Wehner of the Computational Research Division at the DOE’s** Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory warn that such anomalies to the pattern of global warming are just that, anomalies. Other writers claim that...
Travelling and Robin Anomalies
Ironically, we go home to go on vacation – we have a “rustic” cottage which hasn’t changed much in 103 years, with the last remodeling nearly 40 years ago. For being our only home – in California we live literally in the business – the cottage is not suitable for cold weather – there’s no insulation. The water system is not protected and the incoming water from a shallow well is not buried beneath the frost line. I am writing this from the western shore of Lake Winnipeg during one of the coldest summers in recent memory. The mosquitoes are small and nasty and there are thousands. Summer’s heat usually diminishes their habitat and their number. This summer the cool and the rain ensure substantial habitat and...
Life Goes On…..
We have had a series of small miracles. It is so beautiful here, the depths of greens the thousands of blooming plants – the shapes and textures. The joy of animals running through the grounds, of birds circling over the gardens and of our guests who find themselves surrounded in beauty. All of this is miraculous to me. I was stunned by Cardy’s death, though expected and natural. I did not experience the beauty here then. Yet, while speaking with guests a couple of days ago about sustainable lifestyles, I found myself suddenly and ecstatically in the moment of the beauty here. Nothing theoretical. No thought – just magnificence – the magnificence of beauty, of nature – and of the people I was with who didn’t notice. All...
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