Smithsonian surprise

The May 2009 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine was delivered today. John was reading an article about Big Sur, CA, and suddenly said, "Read this paragraph". It was about Esalen. Imagine my surprise to read the name, Gordon Wheeler. Gordon is my first cousin, the son of my father's younger brother. Obviously we hadn't had any contact in a number of years - the last I knew, he was still at Harvard. Glad to hear what he's doing. This is the paragraph from Smithsonian.

Today, workshops are offered for substantial fees in a quirky array of blissed-out topics, from Harmonic Presence: Primordial Wisdom to The Music of the Spheres. Last year, some 15,000 guests attended Esalen; an all-inclusive weekend stay costs a minimum of $385. Esalen director Gordon Wheeler, a clinical psychologist from Harvard, was hired in 2004 and charged with putting Esalen firmly into the black. "We've always been about personal and social transformation," which, he adds, means developing heightened awareness that "the world's in tough shape," and, as a result, "we have to step up locally as well as globally." As for Big Sur, Wheeler says "it's the land of the individualist and legendary because of that. It's outlaw country."

Other than that excitement, it was a quiet day around here. The high for the day was 88, tying the record high for this date. So far, it's still staying cool in the house, and we haven't had to turn on the a/c.

Try this view of the window for another Rorschach test.