Yesterday, again

It feels as though yesterday was a very long and active day yet I don't think we got all that much accomplished. We had a nice breakfast then took Matthew and Christine to the airport.  In contrast to their journey to Aspen they were able to make it back to Chicago on time. Yeah for them.

The cleaning team was supposed to be at the condo in the afternoon so we spent much of the day just running errands and  checking out the shops here in fantasy land.  I had dropped Appachen and Ammachey off in the heart of the town then went by the PO to check for mail.  I'm starting to get to know the clerks there: one is from a small town near Vermillion, SD; one is recovering from knee surgery for a skiing injury, one is generally grumpy and best avoided, and so on.

I parked the van at the condo and walked into town and for the most part just roamed around or sat around watching the people.  Met a couple of nice dogs, said hello to Choepel, the American Monk.  Checked on the mandala progress.  Picked up violin and viola strings we had on order.  Went to a watch shop to look at some $60,000 watches guaranteed to display the correct time at least once a day.

Here is a view of the mandala as of about noon yesterday.  The gang was off to do a ceremony in Glenwood Springs all afternoon so won't be back at work until Friday.  Appachen purchased an Indian statue which weighed 52 pounds.  We took it to a packaging and shipping place to have it sent back to Mountain Home.  Also Jamuna was able to work a bit with the tools of the trade.  One puts the sand in a conical tube with a very small opening at the tip.  Then by dragging another object along the ridged side of the cone the vibration causes sand to flow out the tip.  It takes a bit of practiced coordination but she is getting the hang of it.  As with any photo in the blog, you may click on it see a larger view.

By late afternoon the cleaning crew was just getting started so we continued to find reasons to stay out of their way.  Appachen and I went to a lecture on quantum computing presented at the Aspen Center for Physics by a physicist from Israel.  The room was stuffy which made it hard to stay focused on the already bizarre topic.  Again, I enjoyed it but was glad to get out of the room when the lecture was over.

We met Serina Huang and her brother and parents for dinner at Asie's.  When we eat there we don't even look at the menus but rather just ask the manager to surprise us.  That has worked out well for us in that we have always enjoyed the dishes.  The other surprise generally comes at the very end of the evening, and I don't mean dessert. We had a lovely waitress named Allison (not sure about that) who is of mixed heritage (Chinese father, American mother - very pretty and exotic looking) who lives in Beijing while completing her master's degree in "sustainable development".   She does consulting for the European Union and Soviet Union.  I guess she is just having fun this summer waiting tables in Aspen.  After dinner we walked our way back to a clean and tidy condo, and hit the hay.


Today Maya is going to play some music for a group of children who are in a class called "Gotta Move", at the music school.  The only other big event is a concert tonight in the tent featuring a young cellist by the name of Sol Gabetta.