Evacuate in a zen-like manner...

A man talking to several people outside of Community Market:  "All roads lead to Sebastopol..."

I sometimes run into people I have quoted in my blog but have never met before.  One woman I was introduced to recently told me she was quite sure it had been her that said, "I don't go to yoga to relax.  If I wanted to relax I would have a glass of red wine."
"That certainly sounded like something I would say!" she informed me.  "I read it to my husband who thought the same thing.  But I can add to that.  One of my friends goes to a yoga class every week, and then goes home and is so relaxed she never wants to talk to anyone in her family and goes into a room and hides.  If anyone tries to talk to her, she sends them away.  Finally one of her kids said, 'Mom, why are you so impolite after yoga?'  So she told me she realized as relaxing as yoga is, she still has to go home and be nice to her kids."

Milk and Honey regular leaving the store:  "Happy Solstice, everyone!"
Milk and Honey shopper:  "Everyone is into solstice around here."
Milk and Honey worker:  "Oh, you have no idea."

In a small group of people the subject of this blog came up.  Someone I don't know well said to me, "You are Miss Sebastopol?"
Me:  "Not really."
Him:  "Well, you write the Sebastopol blog."
Me:  "Half the people that read it think I am making fun of Sebastopol."  (Which actually is not my intention.)
Him:  "I think you are Miss Sebastopol to a lot of people." 
(Me internally:  ???)
Him:  "You write about many things Sebastopol."
Me:  "That nickname doesn't really resonate with me, but I'd at least prefer Ms. Sebastopol." 
   
I was visiting a family I used to babysit for, getting introduced to a new member who was not yet born when I was around years ago.  He is a quiet five year old who has been at a kindergarten in a very "west county" non-mainstream school.  He is attending summer school and his mother was telling me how much he enjoys it.  When she went to the bathroom he picked up some chimes and came up to me, noisily clashing them together.  Over and over again.  His mom came back in the room.  "He's been doing that all week.  They practiced for fire drills at school.  He likes those chimes but he doesn't usually do that so loud," she explained.
He did it for me again.
After a moment I speculated, "Do you think they used actual chimes when they were doing the drills?"
His mother burst out laughing.  "I thought he was imitating an alarm.  But at this school...  I didn't think to ask but it very well could have been fire drills with chimes."

Status update forwarded to me which made me laugh:
"Watched an NBA finals game at a packed bar in Los Angeles. Lots of people having a great time drinking and watching sports. Watching the next game at a packed little bar at a market in Sebastopol. Almost no one is drinking (ok, one person is drinking Kombucha), and I am pretty sure it's packed because almost no one in Sebastopol has TV."


License plates:
WMNKND
JEDI 007
CHI MOM
ULLALAH
8MAGIC8







https://www.facebook.com/sebastoblog/

Organic produce and guilt

I've had several comments when I post the blog on Facebook, asking if I am worried about Sebastopol just one day floating away.
(Yes, I am.)  

One evening I spoke to a shop owner on Main Street for a few moments and mentioned my blog.  He asked a few questions about it, and when I meandered down Main Street again last week I thought this same man was standing in front of his shop.  I walked up, asking:  "Any funny Sebastopol stories for me?"  He just stared at me and as I got closer I realized it wasn't the same guy.
I awkwardly explained I thought he was someone else and as it turned out he did have a Sebastopol moment to share.  A few months back a woman came into his shop, asking where on earth she could get ylang ylang essential oil.  She was pronouncing it "why-long why-long" so at first he wasn't even sure what she was referring to.  Her gave her a few suggestions and asked her what she needed it for.  She told him she was visiting from out of state, that her daughter frequently used essential oils, was not feeling well and declared:  "Mom, if you love me you will go find me some ylang ylang!"

A Sebastopol grocery store worker told me when he was working at the customer service counter a customer objected to the solicitors outside the store:  "Can't I walk up to Whole Foods or Community Market without having somebody ask me to save the environment or donate to Amnesty International or sign a petition?  I want to buy organic vegetables, but really don't want to feel guilty every time I walk in the store."

From a friend:  "You know you've lived in west county for a while when you get on the computer to pay bills and end up spending an hour reading about your Celtic animal birth sign."

I met a former co-worker at Hard Core cafe, hoping to hear a diatribe from the older gentleman who complains a lot that I've heard about.  But no such luck.  Leslie did run into a friend of hers, who told us about a guy she met at Hop Monk who had very short hair and looked like a firefighter.  "I'm so used to these dance parties I go to and meeting these guys with long hair who live in an intentional community and have a girlfriend or wife but it's okay because they are in an open relationship.  This guy was so conservative looking, maybe he's even a Republican!"
Leslie started laughing, "You are going to end up in Cami's blog."
She looked at me.  "Please don't quote me!  One of these guys might know it was me talking about them."
I assured her: "I don't think you're in danger of identifying anybody.  You'd have to be a lot more specific than that."


Bumper sticker of the week:
Pre-occupy Sebastopol


License plates:
WEARTH
BAT BMW
BE QIFUL
AHA MOMT






https://www.facebook.com/sebastoblog/

Angry (sol)birds

A young woman told me about a neighbor family she used to babysit for.  The parents were meditative and tranquil.  The children were not allowed to argue and if they did had to go outside to the garden and quiet themselves.  She said, "They were really a nice family, but the parents were so peaceful they didn't even let their kids play angry birds on their phones."
"The game was too hostile for their zen household?" I asked.
She smiled.  "Exactly."

During the changes at Whole Foods a cashier told me the workers came in late in the evening and worked all night, usually loading up on Rockstars at the beginning of their shifts.  This reminded me of watching several people get jacked up on yerba mate and raw cacao desserts late one evening to prepare a downtown shop for the holidays.  (And I'm actually not talking about Milk and Honey.  Hand to Lakshmi.)

With a group of people at a park:
"I just put my hand in bird crap."
"Is that good luck?"
"In Sebastopol it is."

As I was strolling through Community Market I heard a woman incredulously ask the person she was with:  "What do you mean you don't know what kimchi is?  How can you never have had kim-chi?"

A Starbucks customer mentioned a dinner group she has been in for a while.  She described some of the members: "They are delightful people.  But when they start talking about different dimensions or beings from other realms I just go south."

"... and you buy cashew butter that is twelve dollars, and because it's organic it only lasts for three hours."

As I was walking out of Whole Foods, I heard a woman saying rather sternly to (I'm assuming) her mother or mother-in-law visiting from another state:  "Well, welcome to California.  We compost here.  We recycle."

The moment you realize the two toddlers you are watching are building a fort out of yoga mats.


License plates:
SOL BIRD
FERMENT
RAY LUVR



A tip jar at a local restaurant