"Mommy's all right, Daddy's all right..."

I was sitting outside a shop looking at a license plate that read SURENDR, wondering if I should do a license plate of the week.  Someone with a jar of green liquid casually stopped next to me, wondering what I was staring at.  When I said the license plate, he glanced at it and speculated, "Is this someone who just really likes Cheap Trick?"
I started to laugh, then realized he was not joking.  "Oh, you must not be from around here."
Indeed, he was visiting from British Columbia.  I explained that while "Surrender" may be a good song, it was much more likely the vehicle owner was referring to the notion of "letting go."
He peered at the the letters.  "So it's a spiritual license plate?"
"Well... it's a Sebastopol license plate."
I told him about several others I had seen lately:  KRISHNA, MDITATE, LUVHEALS.  And I asked about the drink in his hand.
"My host made this for me.  It has several different kinds of protein and maca and some kind of healthy caffeine.  And chlorella - which is good for you, but I don't know why."
I commented this sounded very healthy.   "Well, the person I am staying with at the moment is kind of a New Age body builder.  He is very into power smoothies, weight-lifting and hot yoga."
I asked why he was visiting Sebastopol, and in the middle of telling me he reached into his backpack and pulled out a sticker.  "Someone gave this to me at the farmer's market."  It was rows of diamonds that were in shades of the rainbow.  "Is this some kind of gay pride sticker?"
I looked at it more closely.  "I don't know what the diamonds are for, but I am pretty sure the colors are representing the chakras."
"Oh.  Sure."  He half-nodded.  "That makes more sense."
Now I was thinking, maybe I could have a Sticker of the Week.  This was quite the metaphysical sticker if there ever was one.
He had to leave.  His host had sent him in search of a muscle-building supplement.  As well as some sort of peach tea mix.   He laughed.  "You've got to love a body builder that takes natural muscle supplements and drinks peach tea."


Favorite lines of the week:
"We had my daughter's birthday party at the park.  It was raining and we were afraid people would not show up.  But then we realized we were in Sebastopol, so people would probably find some deeper meaning to it.  And wouldn't you know it?  Several parents did."


"Only people on a spiritual path would understand my name."



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Beetlejuicing

Spring has suddenly come upon us, and I am feeling a bit guilty about how much I am enjoying it considering we only had about nine days of winter.  There is conversation about hiking and cherry blossoms and picnics.  And in Sebastopol talk of cleansing, of course.  It is that time of year.
From a friend who is visiting from out of state:
"I am at the tea house and watching two women loading up on chocolate before their cleanse.   And from a different group of women, I heard the term 'enema bucket' while discussing their spring cleanse."
A woman in front of me at the grocery store informed me she had just filled her basket with the most unexciting food imaginable:  "Nothing with wheat, no dairy, no sugar, nothing processed.  Nothing with caffeine.  My acupuncturist wants me to do a ten day cleanse.  We'll see how I do - when I tried this before I only lasted for seven hours."
At Community Market, a woman in the supplements section was talking about her annual cleanse.  "I don't know whether to do the cleanse up to the equinox, or celebrate equinox and then start the cleanse.  Last year I had been cleansing for a week and was so light-headed and hungry at an equinox gathering I was practically hallucinating.  And not in a good way."
In the produce section, I overheard someone talking on their cell phone.  "Beetlejuice?  What are you talking about?  The movie?"  Pause.   "Ohhhhhhh.  You mean beet juice.  They make that here?"
He and I ended up talking about juicing for a minute after he hung up the phone.  "For five days my wife will only drink juice smoothies and soup broths.  She is only allowed to eat blended meals.  She is really good about it at first, but by the end she is about ready to put a roast beef sandwich into a blender."
And on a flier for a detoxification class after listing the health benefits of detoxing:
"Crap your way to better health and shinier skin"

 Favorite line of the week:
"And Sebastopol charges more sales tax than Santa Rosa, which isn't cheap to begin with!"
"Maybe it is to pay for all those flashing crosswalks that light up."