Jimmy Ray has me working my ass off. Classes, visitors…the mural in progress. I am a busy man and still I don’t get enough work done. We never expected all these people interested in this house. They call from out of nowhere. But it is a blessing and our dream is not just imagined but it is tactile and accessable…did I spell that right? March 8…Richard and I will have been dancing on this planet together for eight years. My Mother would have been 91 on that day. Once, I believed that I may have been an alcoholic…it did’nt pan out. But I said that March 8 was my AA Birthday…in honor of my Mother, Marie…who found away out of her nightmare with alcohol…Love the Mother…Love the Work…Listen for the Silence.

Stillness is such an infinite trait….it knows no boundries. At the heart of creativity is this vast stillness. The real gift is to reside consciously in this stillness. Our house and grounds is a homage to the delightful joy that creativity brings to us. We get all kinds of creative people coming this way. I just wish that we had begun this twenty years ago…20 years ago I was gardening out of the back of my 1971 Toyota pick-up. Those were good days….fresh out of Rajneeshpuram where I spent the early 80’s with my Divine Teacher, Bhagwan. Today, I still follow that trail back to my stillness…in gratitude I salute Bhagwan…The Trickster if there ever was one. Here is a photo of a few of our creative visitors, taken a year ago.

This past week has been busy while Richard is up North. Had three full days of classes in beads and shrines and it was very tiring. At one point a woman in the class said to me, “Did you ever think how lucky you are to do this?” I am extremely fortunate to have this life here in Mexico. The Chapel of Jimmy Ray will actually be reconstructed. Miguel has cleaned many of the trees at the sight. They were burdened with air plants…smothered. It all looks totally divine. I may have mentioned before that we are going to have a ground breaking ceremony on April 1 for the Chapel reconstruction. Lovey, the woman from Santa Barbara with the Orange hair may be coming. That is a delight!!!! Also, the mural is coming along outside, I will work on that today. The weight loss continues and the belly that once looked pregnant has disappeared. My mind continues in its perpetual pregnancy of ideas and lastly…..I was reminded of the Stillness within my Nature last week. The Sweet Stillness that my Beloved Teacher introduced me to so many moons ago on that marble floor in India….Only in Silence….The Word……Words of Rumi

I had our second meeting this week with my architect friend Michael Raven. He is assisting me in bringing to light the reconstruction of the Chapel. What Jimmy Ray has related to me is now being drawn up. Michael is a very capable and creative man. He used to be at UC Berkeley and was part of a design team that won a number of awards for a hotel in Tuscon. What I like about him is his soft vision…he sees the chapel emerging from the ground up…like a seed transforming into a plant with a delicate, slow motion, understated swagger. We work well together…I am giving him some necklaces as payment…We could never afford this. Again gratitude is in order and a deep bow to the Mystery. Love……..

We have started clearing and cleaning up the sight for the chapel. We started yesterday. Miguel and Juan are cleaning up the the trees of the pashtes (Airplants). Michael Raven, a great guy and an expat architect is going to help me with the design. We have our first official meeting today at 9. On April 1 (Fools Day), Jimmy Ray has instructed me to have the ground breaking….he says he may show up…Thrilling. I am still cooking on the scaffold… creating the Ganesh. Having a great time. Obstacles continue to vanish…gratitude is in order. Love to all!

Started painting the mural today using Comex exterior housepaints. It is exciting and a bit uncomfortable working on the scaffold…I promise you this is going to be colorful. I want to finish it in 2.5 weeks…It will happen. I am Guadalupizing Ganesh in offhand sort of way…psychedelicizing to the max with ripples of color going every which way against a purple backdrop. I am meeting that old interior editor that I am trying to shed with this project….I will be out there working it out. As my friend Dan Webber in Nashville used to say: “There are no rules…only consequences”…I can dig it if you can dig it. Enclosed is a photo taken last week of admitted comexual and consequencial: Anado McLauchlin….is that Jimmy Ray’s shirt?