West county highs

Favorite comment from the last blog (regarding Sebastopol landlords):
"I love the ads that say no pets, alcohol, illegal drugs or cigarette smoking.  Horses OK.  4/20 friendly.  Good, because my horses love to get high."

I was speaking to an acquaintance visiting for the weekend who was shopping for her nephew's graduation.  She liked the downtown shops but hadn't been able to find anything for him.  She looked around and sighed, "The divine feminine has kind of taken over this town, hasn't it?"

A month or so ago there was a woman stalker at Hop Monk who was asked to leave and ended up "peeling out" of Sebastopol (in a Prius) with a cop chasing her, resulting in an accident.  There were some funny comments on the webpage for the Press Democrat article:
"Don't bars usually have bouncers to throw out unwanted guests, you had to call the police to have this lady thrown out?"
"It's Sebastopol. They don't have bouncers they have people that ask you nicely to leave and offer patchouli oil as a parting gift. Haha"
"They offer patchouli oil and a zen buddhist mantra."

My friend and I met recently at a café for dinner.  She was laughing at the Himalayan salt on the table, observing:  "I know in Sebastopol this is really normal.  In other places people would be like, what the hell is this pink salt?"

Some more "west county" names from a first grade classroom in Sebastopol:  Quest, Juniper, Sequoia, Kairan, Kovanni, Mystic, Orion, Aurora, Jenner and Iris.  (I remember someone telling me, "In other parts of the country somebody is named Iris or Rose after their grandmother.  Around here it is after the flowers.")  I also heard from someone who grew up in this area that when she was younger, she had neighbors who named their twins Daydream and Deja Vu.

Quintessential Sebastopol bumper sticker:
This is what a goddess looks like 


Latest license plate sightings:
SOLRNOW
ZINOMA
{hand}2 BODHI
YOGA HI
HIGH 5

In full disclosure, I was not quite in Sebastopol, more like Sebasto-Rosa.  But a car owner after my own heart:
OVR IT





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Klm down and have some warm (hemp) milk

A local Facebook post:
Sebastospeak:  this morning at drop-off, I asked another mom how she was... her reply: 'Grounded.'
(And I like "Sebasto-speak.")

The same friend from the above post told me her young daughter relayed a story to her that began: "This morning when I was 'om'ing'..."
She added, "I don't know where she was taught that, she didn't learn that from me!"

A pre-schooler to her play mates by the sandbox at Ives Park:  "Don't come over here, you are going to step on my kale garden!"

A friend passed this on to me and it made me laugh:
Diva: $1000 Sonoma County Landlords @!(sebastopol)
"I have noticed that properties for rent in Sonoma County are so pet 'unfriendly', more so than other counties in the Bay Area. Why, with all of the open space these properties are sitting on, are pets not allowed?? These ads describe these 'jewel-like' settings, lots of land, we are peace-loving landlords, blah, blah, blah... Yet, they do not allow animals?? It is a given that all landlords are greedy, apparently they are soulless and void of any trace of humanity as well. Don't post how idyllic and peaceful and peace-loving you are, then write, NO PETS!! Just write what you mean: I am a greedy, money-hungry, cold-hearted waste of space, seeking the perfect, pet-free human being to occupy my janky shack for significantly more than it's worth . oh, and by the way: namaste, have a beautiful day."

A body worker who works with a group of holistic practitioners told me an email came to their office:  "I just moved here and am looking for a new massage therapist.  Do you have one there who is not into energy healing, who won't make me draw an angel card or talk to me about astrology or what colors I should be wearing more of to attract different energy, or that I should stop drinking espresso and try green tea, etc.?  Or do I have to go to another town?"


License plates around town:
KLM DOWN
CRZY LUN
GREYWLF

4 HEMP

  --which reminded me of talking to an older gentleman who owned a coffee cart that he would take to music festivals around the north bay.  On a particularly hot afternoon during the Sebastopol Celtic Fair my date and I were attempting to cool off in the shade next to his cart.  He told us there was a group of hipsters who were upset with him that he didn't have more non-dairy options for a chai latte.  He did offer almond, soy and rice milk.  I asked him what they had wanted, and he answered, "Hemp.  They really wanted hemp milk.  Never-satisfied hipsters."
The guy I was with replied, "Hempsters."




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The land of interesting names

While I was waiting for a chai, I overheard a gentleman to his friend (I don't know what the topic was):  "Well, it depends on which dimension you are in.  If you go into another dimension, it could play out very differently."

I was clearing some things out of the back of my car, most of them recycling items.  I asked my friend's daughter, who is six, if she could hand me a soft drink bottle.  "This is a pro-biotic drink," she corrected me.
"Yes," I said as she put it in my bag.
"Soda is not good for you," she added in an admonishing tone.

At the library I ran into the "Q is for Quan Yin" girl.  I asked her how she knew about Quan Yin, given that she is quite young and looked like neither a Sebastopol hippie darling nor a Waldorf child.  She informed me, "I just know."  Her mother overheard me talking to her and sat down next to us.
"Well, she did not 'get' Quan Yin from me.  And she definitely did not get that from my husband."
I asked if they had ever been to Milk and Honey.  The mom had, but she wasn't sure about her daughter.
A few minutes later the young girl murmured, "Jade."
"Of course!" her mom exclaimed.  Turning to me, she said a bit quietly, "I forgot about her babysitter from a while back.  Very into... counter culture.  When I ran into her a few months ago she had changed her name again, to Dawnlight.  Or something along those lines."

"What is Earth in Upheaval?" someone asked me.
"It's a mechanic place."
"To fix your car?"
I nod.
"What kind of a strange Sebastopol name is that?  It's a place to take your car??"

After the last post (mentioning a dog named Blissful), I got an email that read:
"When I was in college my parents rented out a cottage on our property in rural Sebastopol.  The woman that rented it had three cats.  I can't remember all their names, but two of them were Celestite and Lavender Fire."

In the parking lot at Whole Foods, a teenager in front of me was telling someone on her cell phone, "She is goth, but she is very balanced goth."

A woman I know went to a presentation regarding essential oils at a small store in Sebastopol. After a somewhat lengthy discussion about the positive attributes of essential oils, another woman interrupted the presenter:  "You're in Sebastopol.  We are believers.  You are preaching to the choir."


License plates of the week:
INTUIT
YOGAMOM (thanks Bryan)
MRLIN
SOUL LVL


And a humorous article about New York dudes channeling northern California dudes:
"If You Give a Dude a Kale Chip"
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/give-dude-kale-chip