Last Summer I went on two deeply moving trips. At the beginning of the summer, near the end of May I visited Northern California. My goal was to reconnect with nature and take a break from the daily grind of city life. At the time I had recently taken a class in Massage School about Chakras. Massage is full of people that claim to be “Healers” and are into all types of “New Age” teachings. The lady that taught the class was one such person. She told us that the earth had Chakras as well and the Root Chakra of the earth is at Mount Shasta Northern California. When my friend who was living in Berkeley at the time asked me to visit I told her about Mount Shasta and asked if she’d like to check it out. I researched it online, not only did it have all this bizarre cultish spiritual history attached to it, it looked beautiful! She also suggested that we go check out Yosemite since it was nearby. Brilliant Idea!
Yosemite
I had never been to San Francisco or Berkeley but wasn’t very interested in spending much time in the city. San Francisco was gorgeous, she dropped me off there and I spent a day wandering about the city by myself. I sun bathed in Golden Gate Park for several hours before getting started. I wandered into Haight-Ashbury where I met a man who was also on vacation. He was older and regaled me with stories of San Francisco in its hay day. He was there for it all in his younger days. He gave me a list of all the addresses of the places that the famous Hippies once lived in. I never found any of them. After hanging out with him I stopped in a coffee shop and made friends with the young guy that worked there. I told him I wanted to go to China Town and he said he lived near there. He offered to take me there on the bus when he got of work so I helped him close up shop. We reached downtown; I gave him a hug and thanked him. As soon as I stepped off the Bus my purse broke and the contents of it went everywhere. I cracked up and suddenly I heard a man with a thick New York accent say “That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all day”. I looked up, he had a big warm smile and told me “lady we need to go get you a purse”. He was on vacation too, we walked to a near by Old Navy were he bought me a canvas “Hobo Bag”. He accompanied me to China Town and we had lunch together. After lunch he split and my friend came to pick me up.
Mt. Shasta
The next day my friend and I headed to Yosemite. The view was spectacular. I'd never been in that sort of Alpine Mountainous landscape. She told me that John Denver once said that Yosemite was his Cathedral and he fought hard to preserve it. I know what he meant even if you don’t believe in God the awesomeness of being there will move you to wonder. I distinctly remember driving through a tunnel and upon exiting, having the over whelming sight of natural beauty unfolded around me in panorama. My friend and I both exclaimed “WOOOOOOW”! As if we were at a theme park. I even drank the water there straight from the river which tasted so amazing!!!!! We ducked into hidden water falls, climbed boulders and stood on rocks in the midst of a rushing newly melted snow raging along in a river. I felt like a giddy brave child doing things I know are dangerous but not caring about the risks.
Mount Shasta was amazing too. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast called “Shasta Mountiin Retreat and Spa”. I highly recommend it! It’s so cozy http://www.shastamountinn.com/ . The man that owns it does massage, he has a sauna there and a Jacuzzi. It was wonderful relaxing in a hot Jacuzzi that first night polishing off a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck we got from Trader Joe’s while looking at the star filled night sky in the cold mountain air. We could see the peak of Mount Shasta from our room at the Inn. The next day we went up the mountain and played in the snow a bit then down hiking though McCloud to frolic near the river and some waterfalls. We ended our trip to Mount Shasta lounging and sun bathing at Lake Shasta before the long drive back to Berkeley. I came home feeling greatly refreshed and connected to nature again.
New Orleans French Quarter
The closing of the summer marked a major milestone for me and an old friend. It was my 30th Birthday and my friend’s wedding would be the following weekend in the French Quarter of New Orleans. New Orleans is another place known for a mysterious however darker spiritual history. Although living close by in Houston, TX my whole life I had never been to New Orleans. I had always had a fascination and felt a kinship with the culture there.
Just before my trip there I had an awful feeling that I shouldn't go. I went anyway choosing to ignore my gut feeling. It was a disaster from the get go. My ride woke up late and hung over. On the way there we stopped at a Pizza Inn in a poduck town in Louisiana. We were going to a casual wedding, my friend has tattoos and was wearing a corseted top fitted short jean dress and I was all Rockabilly looking with a sleeveless dress that had a deep V cut down the front and back. So we were basically gussied up like Rock n Roll whoes. Not only did we get stares but I walked out of the restroom with the back of dress tucked in my lime green panties for the locals to see.
We barely made it to the wedding. As soon as I stepped out of the Jeep I felt a sort of eerie home coming that creeped me out. After the wedding we drove around for an hour and a half looking for parking so we could check into the Hotel. We missed the reception and had to walk 5 blocks with our luggage to the hotel. When we got there the hotel said they had parking after all and I nearly went off! We finally met up with everyone else for a night out on the town. We saw a brass band and bar hopped. Even though I was in New Orleans something told me I shouldn’t drink too much, my ride and roommate for the night however got loaded.
World Famous Cafe Du Monde
She ended up taking some Joker back to the room which was ok with me. I figured I'd give them an hour or two. I went to the room later on to check on them and they were still in there so I decided to make the most of things. I went exploring, I roamed the Quarter from 4am until sunrise by myself.
While roaming I met a strange sleazy native man claiming to be this and that who offered me "party favors" which I declined and offered to walk me to Café DuMonde which I agreed to. While having coffee he went on a rambling tirade about Jesus and God, real loco style. He told me to look into his eyes and see "God". I looked him in the eye and whispered “I ain’t no jive ass nigga so don’t get crazy with me”. He started cracking up and started acting normal, he said “I like you girl! You have balls!”. After coffee and an overrated beignet we went to a local bar for a Bloody Mary. After that I went my own way. I went back to the hotel room where I found my ride and her new friend snoring. I freshened up and gathered my things since I had no idea when check out was or when she’d decide to wake up.
St. Louis Cathedral
I set off back into the quarter sporting sunglasses and dragging a wheel clad carry-on behind me. I needed more coffee, I hadn’t slept. At a cross walk I asked a nice handsome young Jamaican man where the closest place for coffee was. He had a wonderful British accent and pointed the way for me. It was Sunday morning in the Quarter and there were lines everywhere! I was smack dab in the middle of Jackson Square so I decided to check it out. Mass had just finished in the Cathedral and people were flooding the square. I stood at the doors of the Cathedral wondering if I could go in. Then I heard that British accent again saying “Hey what happened to your coffee”. I turned around and smiled. He asked “Do you want to go in?”. He could read my mind. He escorted me into the church and watched my luggage as I took photos.
For whatever reason I felt safe with him, he had a peaceful humble demeanor. After I finished photographing he took me to the restaurant where he worked near the water. We sat on the patio, I had my coffee and we watched the boats go by. He told me his story and I told him my story about the weekend. He told me he was planning on attending Mass at 11am before he had to work and asked if I’d like to join him. I said yes and off to church we went. I don’t know if it was the lack of sleep but the Sermon that day really spoke to me. It was about being strong, only the strong and committed where going to make it to heaven. In my head I was pumping my fist in the air going “YEAH!” My new friend and I held hands as we said the Lord’s Prayer, took communion together and gave each other a hug good bye. I realized the power of the Lord's Prayer that day. I caught a ride home from my other friends that were at the wedding and finally got some sleep on the way back to good O'le Texas.
All in all it was a strange bi-polar sort of summer. From the wide open spaces filled with cool fresh air at the peak of Mount Shasta to the hot humid foul odorous narrow back allies of the French Quarter, it ending with a message of strength and commitment to my personal spiritual path. I think I’ll just read by the pool this summer.
Here are some New Oleans music Links I think you'll enjoy. This guys is awesome!!! Also some New Orleans jams my fav brass band song, zydepunk, blues, old school Nola Bounce and some other story related video I found on youtube.
