September 24, 2006

Buddhist Not In Nebraska

This Buddhist is in Colorado, at Shambhala Mountain Center. It feels like coming home. It feels like family, even with all the unfamiliar faces of the summer staff. There are more than enough familiar faces, smiles, and hugs.

I am doing my best to have a good time and keep my energy up despite lingering on the verge of altitude sickness, complete with fatigue, headache, fuzziness, dizzyness, and worst of all, nausea. I'm never had altitude sickness before, but then I've never tried coming here when I have a cold.

I drove ten hours on Friday with a van full of students from the College of Architecture, leading a second full van to someplace only I had ever been. It shows that the college has put a great amount of faith in a student and I appreciate that. Not that they didn't do their research, of course. We have kept them running around, investigating, and talking to people and overall I think they are having a good time. They are already having good ideas.

Dickie can't stop telling me how thrilled he is that we are here. I was thrilled on Friday. Now I'm just kinda tired, but a strong sense of satisfaction remains. I did it! We did it! We're here!

The place has matured and changed over the summer. Flowers are blooming and people are bustling about. The Rigden Lodge is finished and being used. The Dalai Lama came and went last week. All the cats and the magpies are safe and fat. A few of the aspen groves are just starting to change to gold.

It is very good.

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