On a Thursday my friend and I were drinking fresh squeezed honey-sweetened lemonade (which was extremely good) after doing volunteer work for her daughter's club. Kim had a friend visiting from out of state, although she (Melissa) had lived in northern California when she went to college. And she missed it. A lot. She was determined to get as much out of her two week stay in west county as possible.
Melissa had been at a class on natural detoxing. She was going to meet us any minute. "She is a bit stressed out today," Kim informed me. I asked why and she replied, "Oh, you'll see." She had a look on her face that indicated this might be something for your blog.
I had met Melissa twice before but was surprised to see that she did in fact appear quite stressed when she walked up. She sat down on the bench and crumpled into herself. "I don't know what to do."
I glanced at Kim. "She double-booked herself. She signed up for two workshops this weekend."
This was not inconceivable. Sebastopol has an abundance of workshops and retreats. Massage/ chanting/toning/meditation/drumming/sound healing/ecstatic dancing which could be paired with yoga or tantra or creative writing or past life regression (any of which could be infused with a divine feminine theme). When I first moved here I couldn't believe how many there were. I signed up for several - a few were phenomenal experiences. And a few were... well, the fliers were much better than the actual retreats.
Now Melissa had mistakenly spent quite a bit of money to attend two three-day workshops, unfortunately both occurring this weekend. One was a restorative yoga retreat for women going through transition and the other she explained to me but I didn't understand. (Something to do with divine essence.) She didn't know what to do and had to decide because both of them started tomorrow.
"Well," Kim asked, speaking practically, "can you get a refund for either of them?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so." She showed us print-outs from websites for both activities. "I thought one of them was next weekend," she said in her defense, sounding exasperated.
Did she know anyone taking either workshop? No.
Which was in a prettier location? One near the coast, the other in the redwoods.
Which would have better food? Hard to say. Both promised healthy vegetarian meals.
At the bottom of the yoga retreat I noticed something. "Well, my choice would be this one. A free massage is included if you attend the entire weekend."
Melissa looked closely at the paper. "I did sign up for the whole weekend. All right, yoga in the redwoods wins."
Favorite line of the week:
"You know that older crazy woman who walks around Sebastopol a lot?"
"Um, you will have to be more specific than that."
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