….well I have been a bit busy, folks.  Lot's of work happening.  Despite the economic global crisis, I am still getting a lot of commission work.  We are also plugging away here at the house on mosaic projects and the gallery.  We are so blessed to have Carlos with his multiple helping hands…On a side note…an article recently appeared in Inside Mexico…an English language periodical…the article named Richard and I as two of the 25 ex-pats in Mexico that one needs to meet.  I am weirded about the word "need", but the coverage does create curiosity about Casa las Ranas:
http://insidemex.com/downloads/issues/imx23-issue.pdf
So life is flowing within us and without us, to coin a phrase from the Beatles.  Gratitude is in order!

…something is percolating at this time that an opportunity has recently triggered….I await more footage on this particular idea…I want to harvest some new artefactual art gumbo that may have been planted in the Groove that surrounds me.  Now to some, this may sound evasive or secretive…nope…it is just me grabbing in the ether…the slipstream…reaching for the velvet hook…getting ready for the ride……

…there's a cat near the computer
there's Rock and Roll in the studio…
there's sumpin' new brewing in the cooker…
there's ideas floating up from the navel…
there's a knowing in our hearts…there's a light flickering on the horizon…
Obama goes to Washington and the cat meows…
…a song of change…
stretching the wind…Did I hear Bob Dylan sing…
the Times They Are a Changin'?

…populate our lives here at Casa Las Ranas.  Yesterday we got this email from an English language newspaper in Mexico City.  We were told that we had been chosen as two of twenty-five ex-pats one needs to meet in Mexico….now would my Mother be proud?  I will send this article to my sister Sarah and see what she has to say…She once said that she did not trust a thing I said…could this be politically motivated?  But I must digress and inform all of you that we have suspended the Pet of the Week Award in order to dispell an atmosphere of favoritism….Lovee was one of few humans to win the Award and some of my dear female friends across the planet expressed to me that I was playing favorites.  Next week we will be bring the Pet of the Week Awards back to this blog…no humans will be nominated…we send love to all….

Today I was sitting outside after lunch…doing absolutely nothing. As I sat there I heard the laughter and bravado of a number of young people coming from Aguas Claras…a nearby hotsprings.  At the same time I was noticing the mountains in the distance.  Despite the laughter and noisy voices on the other side of the hill, I felt the infinite silence of a Mexico past.  All the stories and lives that have created this magnificent land remain in the infinite and grand silence of this land.  I feel so fortunate to be here and witness this grand tierra.  We are creating a mosaic on our fire place of Quetzlcoatl, the Winged Serpnt…the Spirit of Mexico.  Despite the conquest that happened here and the globalization and baseball hat-ification of this ancient land…Quetzlcoatl and the ancient indigenous spirit lives on…Gracias a La Vida!

….so to speak.  The other day I pulled some of the hard copies of the New York Times article about our house (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/garden/23mexico.html) to send to my two sisters.  By mistake, I pulled out three and wondered who to send the other one too.  My childhood friend Mike O'Neil's name came up.  I searched out his telephone number in Oklahoma City and called him.  We had not spoken for over 10 years.  The next day I mailed him one of the copies.  We have talked on the phone and emailed back and forth since…He did a mass mailing to my graduating class from High School and yesterday I heard from two old friends from that time in my life.  In responding to their emails I felt and expressed such bittersweet tears while typing.  All the reasons that I left Oklahoma came to fore….the shame around being different and gay as a boy was very strong and painful…my hippie years…driving a taxi in New York…my years in India and Oregon…on my knees in the gardens of the rich and famous…my whole life looking for refuge from the storm within…It was quite powerful and purifying all at once.  In the last few years I have begun to find that certain shelter..owning my difference…opening my heart…the joys and struggles of this life have molded me and yes…the Search goes on…I feel utter gratitude that I have stumbled on the right teachers and mentors in this life and it all leads back to this space within…acceptance of the mirror held before me.