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…is today…birds flew from the cage…I say hoo-ray!  I wrote that phrasing which belonged to a longer poem way back in the late 70's in New York.  I had moved from the Village to Brooklyn and I was working nights behind the counter in this Hamburger/Nicoise Salad Dive in the Village on Sheridan Square.  I took the A Train home every morning after work and I remember trudging up the stairs feeling woeful and muttering under my breath, "one day…"  As if "one day everything will be OK"…I did this for weeks.  I lived in this funky space, which was actually the parlor floor of a brownstone that was in the midst of renovation.  The two rooms were filled with my even at that time most colorful junk. Amidst the chaos, I had a large birdcage with 6 beautiful finches that kept me company….One morning after work…I woefully walked home to my little "funkment", tired and unhappy…I opened the door to the "funkment" and fell inside.  After a few minutes, I noticed that the door to the birdcage was open.  There were no birds inside… I had forgotten to close their door to the cage when I was changing their water.  My eye trailed to the open window where all 6 birds were resting on the sill.  Like a fool I raced to close the window and the cordon bleu finches flew away into the Brooklyn morning…free.  As I type, I reflect on that moment and how one day has become Today and here I am…I made it past those lonesome days…I have tasted freedom and flight and sometimes like a fool, I still race around trying to close windows and stifle my liberation.  Quite frankly…all of that is just fine.  I am enjoying this movie and I am awakening in the audience…letting out a big yawn and stretching my limbs…preparing to fly from the window sill…..

…and as usual, I am right in the middle of it trying to keep in contact with a thread of sanity.  Did I hear that Gautam Buddha once said, "The Truth is whatever works"?  So I am working on this Truth  thing, promising myself that maybe I will one day work hard enough and then just sort of let out a big sighhhhhhh and tumble and weave my way into the relaxed omni-present Ultimate Truth…OK…that works for me!  That must be the Truth.  So I am in the mix, getting things done in and out of the studio, leading tours of the property, feeding all the animals, listening to all the music on the iPod for the zillionth time and trying to get some rest…not to mention the remarkable dreams and going to Baltimore next week and returning home to get back to work for another gig in Pozos in early November…so quickly…this is the scoop:  there is a mouse loose in my studio…none of the dogs that lounge all day in the studio seem to care…so this week there was a repeat for Pet of the Week and it is Perla…who really knows how to lounge….and since we are on the subject of truth…well the reason Perla won this week is because I love this photo of her….Love……

…while browsing through somewhere unimportant and digital.  To paraphrase:  "once I no longer was defensive…the War was over"…I like that and have latched on to it…I am not going to have buttons made with this phrase emblazoned upon them…but I am going to try fitting into these words.  My mind loves to wander and judge and hook into one story after another.  To me…that is the War…but if I surrender the fight and not try to engage or defend myself from this addictive behavior…but just befriend and witness without a need to "get better" in my thought processes…then maybe…quite possibly…and if I want to accept the entire enchilada…I will awaken fromm a life of "what was" or "what could be" and enter the the gates of "what is".  Our old pal Buddha did this before the Buddhists got a hold of him…he just sat there in a cool balm of "isness" and that was all for him…neither this nor that…ah…the possibility…our dog Perla inhabits a Sea of Isness…she's just dog nature…neither this nor that..just "dogness" and she is this Week's Pet of the Week here in Groovlandia….

…with these photos, for a glimpse…just a glimpse of the interior of the Chapel of Jimmy Ray.  The gallery is evolving poco a poco.  Right now I have some major commitments in my studio and venues showing my work and we are slowing down again on finishing the gallery.  The fact that we have gotten this far is a miracle in the very least…..I remember years ago in India, in the late eighties…the tail end of my time with Bhagwan before he died.  During evening meditations, he would encourage us to "go inside with an urgency"…that "urgency" was the key word.  Oftentimes over the years, that urgency has take a back seat to whatever I had going on.  Lately, I am again reminded of that urgeny…that urgency.

….here are some photos of what the Chapel of Jimmy Ray is evolving into…We hope to have it finished by late March of 2011…knowing me….it will always be in flux.  It blows my mind that we have gotten this far.  I forgot my keys this morning and was unable to take any interior shots….perhaps this afternoon.  Richard has me on a short leash as far as the interior is concerned…sigh…..but it will be understated for the art to Pop!  And Crackle!