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May 31, 2005
Visitor in my own country - US Trip May, 2005
My last visit to the US was great. It was a trip filled with serendipity, good luck, and heart-felt reunions with family and friends.
I managed to visit San Francisco for about 7 days, Big Sur for 3 days, Nashville for 5 days, and San Diego for about 5 days. It had been almost 9 months since I'd seen my "north american people". So, though 3 weeks isn't short, the time went by incredibly fast.
My first couple of days were spent hanging out in Rockridge Oakland with my good friends Ion, Alexandra, and getting to know their new son Lucas. Here are a few shots of Ion with his 7 month old treasure Lucas.
Next I was off to the other side of the bay, San Francisco, to visit my good old pal Chris Lindland, aka Mr. Cordarounds.
Chris and I go way back, first becoming friends in high school. If I remember correctly, Chris and I met each other while both observing a drama scene unfold between some dude and a girl in the Torry Pines parking lot. We each overheard the other comment on how ridiculous the whole thing was. Anyway, this led to a comradery of spirited adventures and innocent weirdness over the years, creating some of the most fun and funniest moments in my life. He and I wasted no time recapturing some of that old creativity after my arrival. The photo session we had on top of Mt Tam, after a run, is a perfect example of what Chris and I do best together.
A couple days after my arrival to the US, I had the nice pleasure of seeing my good friends Jason Smith and Francine Elcenko get married. I became friends with these two from my work days at Zone Labs. Another nice bonus to the wedding was getting a chance to see a lot of other work faces that I definitely would not have seen otherwise.
See Photos of Jason and Francine
After San Francisco, I was off to Nashville to see my Mom, Don, and Sister Wendy.
Unfortunately I ended up leaving my extra, special camera battery, and battery charger at Chris' house in San Francisco, so I wasn't able to take very many photos during this segment of my trip. I did manage to get a few nice shots of Wendy's 200 lb great dane named Sterling, as well as the first stages of construction for my grandma Pom Pom's new house.
See Photos of Wendy and Sterling
Following my Nashville trip, I came back to the west coast and drove down to Big Sur for a weekend workshop at the Esalen Institute.
My good friend Jude decided to attend the workshop as well. He and I had a fantastic time. The workshop was aimed at helping people learn how to live their lives from their hearts and minds, as opposed to just one's mind. And to learn how to live life with more self honesty and courage and to stop being afraid to take chances and to start doing and saying the things your heart tells you to do. Needless to say, it was a spiritually awakening experience. It was awesome.
The very last leg of my trip was spent in San Diego. But, somehow I didn't manage to take a single photo. I think I was just too busy relaxing to bother with trying to capture the moment. In any case, I had a great time with my family for the 5 short days I was there.
Posted by rence at May 31, 2005 06:15 PM
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