Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays, everybody!
It really is the season of light around here--you should see the way they dress up the plaza mayor.
Yeah, they've got this silly fake tree with a huge green pipe for a trunk--
Well, I think it's kinda cute, even if it is kinda tacky.
You never did have much taste, Brown Bear!
That's not a very generous, Christmasy spirit, Honey Bunny! Maybe you're unhappy because Mom and Did didn't give us any presents.
It's true. I am disappointed.
Well, they had a hard time feeling Christmasy this year, what with Paca's death....
Gee, I guess you're right. I shouldn't have been so selfish.
Listen to you, Honey Bunny! I guess you've learned something after all.
I have, I have! I remember the Christmas Carol and Scrooge and I don't want to be that way!
Right you are. There are more important things than presents. Like love and friendship.
You are SO right, Brown Bear! We wish you a happy holiday--
And lots of light!

The Passing of Paca

Mom's feeling sad.
Her "Spanish mom" just passed on.
Paca was 82 years old.
She'd been doing poorly all summer, and last month they finally diagnosed that she had an aggressive brain tumor.
Mom's really feeling sad.
Want to talk about it, Mom?
I really loved Paca. I've known her since 1981. I decided to do my fieldwork based in Sahagún because she and her family (her husband Sergis and the kids, Piedad and Pedro) were so welcoming. When I moved here in 1982 with Jesse (he was 12), they took us in and helped make everything happen very easily. I would spend days visiting with Paca, hearing stories about how things used to be, her family, growing up with a widowed mom, struggling--I think she left school in 3rd grade to help with the family. She was SO full of life and enthusiasm--and stories! She was to "go-to" person in Sahagún if someone wanted to know about the history of the town, long ago or more recent.
She was really something, huh?
She was. See the photo of her dancing at the hermitage in April with her daughter? She was still walking to the Virgen del Puente hermitage outside of town (3 miles, round trip) this summer. She would welcome pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago and give them her famous galletas de hierro (a kind of pizelli cookie) and orujo.... She was SO vital and friendly!
And her kids adore her. To see how they have been caring for her in the hospital--such a close, loving family. I think most of us have no idea what it's like to be so close--Paca was still cooking and eating or visiting with or working with one of her kids every day--even though the kids are in their 50s! And Piedad's kids still slept in her apartment on weekends. The irony is, we came back to live in Sahagún because Paca was here.... Such a loss. I miss her greatly. I'll never forget her saying, "We burned the monastery!", referring to an event that happened in Sahagún in the early 1800s....
We're sorry, Mom.
Yeah, we really are. I guess it really is hard being alive. You die.
You said it.
But on the other hand, you get to live.

All aboard the Transcantábrico!

Mom says we should just go to bed, now that we're back from our luxurious Transcantábrico train ride along northern Spain, but I just can't go to sleep without sharing our adventures with our adoring public!
Honey Bunny, I think Mom's right.
Who's side are you on? After all, we had such a good time, so much to tell people--
Okay, okay, just get on with it.
Well, in fact, much of it was kinda boring. Mom wouldn't let us out to meet anyone except the wait-staff until the very last day--she said she didn't think the Spaniards on the trip would understand about us.
Boy was she wrong!
I know--we had a rave reception when we were let out of the bag!
Indeed.
But we had a great time anyway, didn't we?
Indeed.
I mean--that luxe bedroom at the 5-star Parador of Los Reyes Católicos in Santiago de Compostela.... with a canopy on the bed.
It was a 500-year-old pilgrims' hospital. Really posh.
I do like posh. And then we had our own private compartment on the train. They called it a sweet. And it was!
You mean a suite. Actually, it was Mom and Dad's. But they share it with us. And it wasn't a suite. It was a cabin with a bathroom.
The website called it a suite.
It sounded better that way. But it was very nice. And the bathroom shower was also a steam shower and a massage shower!
We got to watch some gorgeous countryside roll by. Mom put us next to the big window at the foot of the bed.
But we didn't get to sleep in bed with them.
There wasn't room. In fact, Dad couldn't quite stretch out all the way.... The train is a narrow-gauge train, and they could only make the cabin just so big and still have room for people to walk down the corridor. They did the best they could.
Good thing most Spaniards are shorter!
And the food was good.
How do you know?
I heard Mom and Dad moan and groan about how they ate so much they were gaining weight.
Yeah, they had a lot of fun. And Ana, the tour guide, was wonderful! That's her in the dark blue outfit, with dark hair and a big smile, holding us in the Hotel Londres in San Sebastián. 2nd photo from the top. Not only is she cute, but she speaks four languages: Spanish, English, French, and German.
Simultaneously.
Sequentially.
Whatever. Maybe it is time to go to bed....

Mineral Baths, Reincarnation, etc.

Well, Mom and Dad have been SO remiss!
You betcha!
I mean, eight days on the road--trains and cars and--
A great trip to Catalonia. But no update on our blog!
And now they're getting ready to go somewhere else again. Don't they ever stop?
Looks like not. Mom saw this great deal on El Transcantábrico luxury train cruise along the coast of northern Spain--and Dad has always wanted to go....
So there they go. Off again. And what about US?
Well, indeed.
I mean, do we get new travel clothes, I ask you? No!
But we will have a private compartment with a big window, so we can watch the scenery pass by.
Hummph. I want new clothes. And admiration. And you heard them say they might not let us meet the other passengers. Really. I mean, what are we? Pariahs?
Well, you know, sometimes they walk a tightrope. They know that a lot of people don't quite understand about us.
What's not to understand?
Talking fuzzy kids? Time for a reality check, Honey Bunny.
I suppose you're right. It's just not that much fun for us, sometimes. Hidden away in a shopping bag or a backpack... Left in hotel rooms. When they spent a night at Caldes de Malavella VIchy Catalan Hotel Balneario, they didn't even bring our swimsuits!
They weren't planning to go to the hotsprings, Honey Bunny. Cut them some slack.
Only if they buy me new clothes!
They had a great time at the hotel--a fantastic dinner, bubbling mineral baths.... Mom says she wants to go back.
Mom always wants to go back to Catalonia. I wonder whether she lived there in a previous life....
What on earth are you talking about?
Transmigration of souls, silly.
Say what?
You know, the idea that souls lived before and then came back to this planet in another body.
You know, I think you're onto something. That explains a lot. Obviously, you were a clothes horse!

Halloween

Ho Ho Ho!
No, that's the wrong holiday, Silly! This is Halloween.
Oh. You're right. BOOOO!
Not that we look scary. Mom and Dad couldn't find any Halloween outfits for us in Sahagún.
Guess they don't celebrate 'Trick or Treat" here.
Guess not. It's more of a religious thing here. Tomorrow is Nov. 1 and that's a big day--All Saints' Day--and people go to the graveyard and decorate the tombs with flowers. Even though you'd think they'd do that on All Souls' Day, which is Nov. 2. It gets confusing. But then, I'm not Catholic.
One of Mom's Spanish friends said her mother-in-law had been visiting her father's grave for weeks.
Gee, what on earth did she do?
She washed and scrubbed it, that's what.
Oh. That's nice, I guess.... Humans are kinda weird.
You said it, Princess.
And they even eat "bones of the saints"--I guess they're like marzapan--
There's no accounting for taste.
I guess not.
You know, humans just have a weird relationship with death.
Not like us! We're not afraid! But then of course, we can't die....
Let's change the subject. Today in Sahagún is the Fería de San Simón. It's kinda an agricultural fair, with tractors and food tastings. Used to sell turkeys on the street, but the EU did away with that. Something about health regulations.
I tell you, it gets really weird around here sometimes.
Better to be fuzzy kids, don't you think?
I think! I tell you what, Brown Bear. I really like it when you play the bagpipes! So please, 'play it again, Sam'...
I'm not Sam.
I know. It's just an expression.
Okay. Here goes....

Brrr....It's fall!

Fall has come to Sahagún, all of a sudden!
Yes, just a few days ago I was still wearing my bathing suit--but now I'm dressed for cold.
It's all relative, of course. 'Cold' is 40° in the early morning, warming up to 60°.
Well, it feels cold. And the poor trees!
This year we've seen the entire cycle of what happens to the plane trees. Starting in spring, the trees branch out and spread to shade the plaza. Sometimes they even connect from one tree to another.
It's amazing how many big green leaves there are!
And then, when autumn comes, the workmen come along and cut them back, all at once.
They told Mom and Dad that this saves them from having to sweep up leaves. And it keeps the trees from blocking the view. But it seems pretty cruel to us. Poor trees.
But maybe they don't mind.
Really, Brown Bear! If you were a tree, wouldn't you mind being amputated every year for someone else's convenience?
Guess you're right, HB. Didn't realize you could be so empathetic.
I can be. Especially since our pilgrimage into the heart with Ferran. I've learned a lot about gratitude and appreciation of others.
Thanks, Ferran!

Back from the Camino

Hi, our patient and adoring public! We've just returned from an amazing journey with Ferran on the Camino de Santiago. We got lots of attention, and there were lots Chi Gong and 'natural geometry' drawing and meditation practices....
I can see it hasn't affected you too much, though, Honey Bunny. You're still the same old Honey Bunny.
Effusive, you mean?
Hmmmm. Since I've been learning about formlessness and original mind, and space, clarity, and well-being, I think it best not to reply.
Oh. You know, I was puzzled by the 8 Treasures practices. I kept looking for treasure but couldn't find any! Anyway, even so it was great.
It was. Walking in the Pyrenees on an old Roman Road that was the original Camino de Santiago over the mountains--not us, but Mom and Dad. We couldn't have made it. Our legs are too short.
And up into the mountains to Aguas Tuertas--oh my oh my! Mom showed us the photos.
And up steep hills to hermits' caves.... and stargazing and meditation and energy exercises. And purification practices. And visiting old churches along the way and learning the Inner Teachings. Or at least trying to. I've got a long way to go, being a bear and all....
Best of all, we got to ride in front ALL the time, on our "throne"--Ferran's backpack. When we weren't there right away, people even missed us and asked for us. I DO like to be adored!
It was a good trip. Reminded me of the Camino journey with Ferran and Mom last year--and with Lynn. Just want to say Hi, Lynn. I missed you! Hope you'll come next year with your fuzzy kid....
A new friend? What fun! I can hardly wait!
Dad's busy doing a DVD of the journey so they can share it with others. Gotta go now. Besides, I want to go meditate for a while. Feels good, you know, to smile down into the earth....
And Ferran taught us a practice that he says is like a mini facelift. That's MY kind of practice! Oh--Dad's going to post some of Mom's photos (she's getting really good!) of us. You see us sitting on the window ledge at the casa rural in Barbadelo, staring out the window, longing to go for a walk....
You are SO dramatic, Honey Bunny. And there are two photos of us with Dad and the group at the Playa del Rostro, where we looked formlessness in the face! (That's kind of an inside joke...Rostro is 'face' in Spanish....)
You are SO intelligent, Brown Bear. You stun me sometimes....
Thanks,I think. And guess what--they're going to go again next year with Ferran. I think in late May early June. If enough other people sign up.
Boy, they never stop, do they? Glad we get to go with them. They sure have an adventurous time! Bye for now----