Divas vs. the goddess

I was with my young niece on a kid's horse ride outside a market and I asked her where she was going on the horse. 
"For a ride."
Where to?
"Whole Foods."
Me (after laughing for a moment):  "And what are you going to get at Whole Foods?"
"A special drink.  Something with coconut water in it.  And a special drink for the horse, too."


Favorite recent Facebook post (thanks Elise):
A man sitting outside Community Market, sighing, talking on his phone:  "Yes... there are a lot of divas in Sebastopol..."

"Mom, am I allergic to gluten-free?  Because I had gluten-free today."
My young niece has also taken to telling me, when I eat at her house, that something doesn't have dairy in it as I can't have dairy.  It is very sweet, and often I'm eating things such as steamed green beans or quinoa when I'm there.  But I did notice recently she informed me some black bean tacos didn't have dairy, and they actually had melted cheese.
I asked her if the rice and veggies were dairy-free and she said yes, which was true.  Then I asked her if ice cream is dairy-free and she said yes.
"Do you know what dairy is?"
"No," she said.  "What is it?"

And another from a woman I was helping out in the kitchen, preparing for a tantra workshop.  Another female flitted in and talked to us for a few minutes, using the word goddess liberally about others and herself.  When she left, I noted to the woman I was cutting mangos with:  "I don't think I could ever refer to myself as a goddess."
She chortled and replied, "I think most women who use the word goddess a lot are really talking about divas, not goddesses.  But don't repeat that here, this is not a diva-free zone." 
Which reminded me of a "historical" quote from a former co-worker and Sebastopol resident:  "I liked the word 'goddess' until I moved here."

There were many people around here in deep mourning for Harbin Hot Springs which was destroyed in the Valley Fire.  I did have my own humorous Harbin story, from years ago.  It was the first time I went, and having just moved to the northbay from Palo Alto I was still acclimating to Sonoma County.  It was a stretch for me to go, still shedding elements of the conservative religion I was raised in.  My friend said, "No pressure, just take a bathing suit and wear it.  Nobody will care."  I felt like I stuck out all day with the suit, and probably had more stares because I was actually clothed.  After a long afternoon sitting in the May sun I was in the changing room hiding in the corner.  Out of the blue, in the middle of changing (i.e. wearing next to nothing) a dude exclaims:  "Look at her sunburn!"  I didn't even realize he was talking about me until 30+ people turned around to look at my sunburn.  After walking around all day in a swimsuit, a one-piece no less, it was definitely unexpected to have dozens of people scrutinizing my tan line.  For me it wasn't the pools.  That was my Harbin baptism.  


(apparently my main hobby now is license plate gazing:)
MR MAPLE
MMOO MOO
NO GAS NO

Blessed truffles

I was at the police station on Saturday morning while a yoga festival was taking place in the plaza.  As I was waiting, some loud microphone chanting and audience response was happening.  The woman in front of me asked what was going on today in Sebastopol?  The cop was very p.c. and replied, "I'm not sure," but with a look on her face that said, "Well, it's Sebastopol, so you're guess is as good as mine."
I do things as a blogger that I normally would not do.  The police station exchange led me to ask a number of people in front of Whole Foods what they thought was going on across the way.  (There were some booths, a big red tent, lots of flowers, some chanting and singing.) 
I mostly got "Yoga something" and a few "music festival?" responses as there was singing and drumming echoing across the square.  One person ventured, "Chanting for peace rally" and another: "the northern California version of Diwali."
And my favorite: "Isn't this just a normal Saturday morning in Sebastopol?"

My niece was on a tire swing with two other toddlers.  They were having fun and screaming pretty loudly.  At one point one of the boys bellowed, "It's too loud!  Everyone stop and take a breath!"  All three of them did stop for a minute and took a big breath together. 
(Then they went back to screaming.)

A woman came up to me in the Barlow and asked if I wanted some dark chocolate soft candy - infused with either blackberry sage or ginger chai.  Of course it was impossible to turn this down.  But what made it Sebastopol-like?  She explained this chocolate "medicine" was not only organic and raw, but also blessed.

At Whole Foods I overheard somebody talking about a new restaurant:  "They have Kombucha on tap!"

And at Safeway:  "They won't eat Ritz crackers.  They are really too progressive for that."

A friend reached her Sebasto-limit.  A few of the texts between us during her meltdown:
Friend:  Take your chakra singing bowl and add it to the bonfire that the drum circle is pounding their drums around!  And while you're at it toss in your business plan that is likely written on a napkin to launch your business as a health coach, yoga instructor or alternative healer!
Me:  Business plan written on a napkin while drinking lavender tea.
Friend:  My pendulum is going to swing and I'm going to become a Republican and start waving an American flag just so I can be alternative in this town!!!
Me:  Vote for Trump!  Start only eating things with gluten!


Favorite t-shirt:
(YOGA)
POSER


Each week I think I won't see any new license plates, but inevitably I always do...
MYSTICO
WAEL FOX
WTR FARY

The land of conscious healing mindfulness

A woman who had moved here from the south bay was telling me about a Facebook group she joined this summer, the members being mothers of children where her daughter attends pre-school.  "With all the different issues about being parents to toddlers, most of the posts and comments have been about fresh plums and zucchini.  And where to buy cheap but durable yoga pants."
(Apparently the best recommendation was CVS.)

A friend was watching her sister's kids in the plaza for a few hours and sent me several texts about the experience.  Here are some excerpts:
-We have competing groups, some people dancing to The Cars "Shake it Up" and some dancing to drumming.  I want to see who wins.
-The drummers won.
-Now we have hula-hooping to the drums.
-Dancers now giving each other epic hugs.  No.... it is a GROUP EPIC HUG.  How Sebastopol is this?? 

Someone I knew years ago was visiting here for the weekend, and was disappointed he did not have very many "Sebastopol moments" after following my blog.  (I have explained numerous times the encounters are few and far between the regular mundane moments of my life, but people don't believe me.)  He was happy to hear a heated exchange about the virtues of bioflavonoids in Community Market.  He also read the community board, as I had told him some of the fliers can be rather entertaining.  His response:  "There are a lot of classes and workshops up here that have 'conscious,' 'mindful' or 'healing' in the title.  When I come back I'm going to hold a workshop called Conscious Healing Mindfulness and I think a lot of people will attend just because of the title."

I was chatting with someone who does not live in Sebastopol but goes to a gym here.  At one point he made the comment:  "I do the treadmill a lot.  When I was at Gold's [gym] in Santa Rosa people would talk about their kids, drinking beer, shopping at Costco.  The other day when I was in Sebastopol on a treadmill the two people next to me were arguing about organic greens."
Which reminded me of a conversation that took place around me, at Coaches Corner years ago (probably during the spring):
Young woman:  "What date is Easter?"
Guy:  "It's different every year."
Young woman:  "But why?"
Guy:  "I have no idea."
Second woman, on a treadmill:  "It's the first Sunday after the first full moon after equinox."
Both stare at second woman blankly.  Finally the guy says, "Oh.  Really?  Is that true?"
Second woman, "Yes, really.  I don't make these things up."  She walks away.
Young woman:  "You're all about equinox, how come you didn't know that?"
Guy:  "I like solstice, not equinox."
Young woman:  "Isn't it, like, the same thing?"
Exasperated sigh.  "Um.... no, it isn't."


The license plates don't stop:
EGO TRIP
PREEUS
K PEEPS
PLLW TOK

And the bumper sticker that made me laugh:
NAMASTE, BITCHES!






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