THE DANCE CONTINUES

It has been 15 days since I left Park City. I know, hard to believe, but true.

Someone asked me recently, if I missed it. In the two years that I lived there I met people who lived in, left and came back to Park City.

I loved it and loved the beauty, but surprisingly I don’t miss it. Truthfully? My focus has been so keen on my start here in Ashland that I haven’t looked back.

More importantly, there are people who I will miss interacting with on a daily basis. After all we have our routines, don’t we? I really enjoyed my yoga class and going to PC Roasters after enjoying a latte, chatting with everyone about everything under the sun and seeing my dog friend--a white Great Pyrenees aptly named, Yeti.

There are friends I definitely miss seeing in the flesh, even though I have seen a few since I have been gone. Astral travel does put a whole different spin on things. In truth we are never really separate.

I am now staying in a beautiful spot just south of town surrounded by green, green and horses. Mountains cradle Ashland in an interesting contrast. To the west is the Siskiyou Mountain range which is covered in beautiful Redwoods and many types of conifers. To the east it is rolling hills cloaked in wheat colored grass and oaks. What really speaks to me, however, is the energy I feel from the Pacific Ocean, only two hours away.

Ashland is a bit surreal at times. It is not a big town, but densely populated, thanks to city planning. It is filled with professional aging hippies and college students who are attending Southern Oregon University. As I write this I am recalling the evening I stayed in Bend someone asked me where I was headed. When I replied Ashland, she said “oh!” I asked, “Why?” She very seriously informed me that Ashland is full of hippies and everyone smokes pot. It was all I could do to reply with a straight face. Really! Early one morning I was walking through one of the little parks and began experiencing a slight buzz. I began to notice an all too familiar fragrance, yes; the guy walking in front of me was definitely smoking a joint. Just to be clear, marijuana is legal here for medicinal purposes. Still, I resisted asking him what his physical issue was.

Everyone is a practicing Greenie (environmentally conscious) and traffic stops to allow people to cross the street. Well, most of the time, unless their plate says California. They always seem to be in a hurry.
There is a thriving Thespian community here; as a matter of fact their Shakespeare productions draw people from all over the world from February through October each year. There are deer aplenty here wandering through town and they even wait for traffic to stop before crossing the street--really. Ashland is unique in so many ways, it fits like a well worn pair of jeans and tie-dye shirt.

There are already places that I enjoy being and people I enjoy seeing. Some are beginning to hear about my work and so the Dance Continues…….