A Special Day

Today was a very special day for many reasons.  I slipped out early to get some treats and bread from the bakery and fortunately they did have some sourdough bread on hand.  Once everyone got was up I received a pile of gifts for my birthday.  Books, books, and more books!  And a CD of music we recently heard just a couple of days ago in the tent, composed by Faure performed by Gil Shaham and others.  Jamuna made a lovely card for me too.  I appreciate all that I have and the gifts I received this morning.  But the gifts of this day just kept coming.  Here are a few views of the bounty from this morning including a book from Prema's folks and a couple I selected with a gift card from my parents.  Thank you to all.

As with any photo included in this blog, I believe you can click on them to see an enlarged view.





Maya had a good rehearsal with Tamara and lesson with Mr. Kantor.  As usual I enjoyed listening to the AACA orchestra rehearse while I waited.  Maya then practiced more with Stefani and then Mrs. White.

I learned that my Yellowstone friend John Scarlett's son Jay and his wife Erin received their first child late last night.  Addison Leigh Scarlett is doing well as are Mom and Dad (and Grandpa too).  Congratulations to all.

Abe, Jamuna and I walked into town to observe the Dissolution Ceremony of the mandala.  While that was happening Prema had the great fortune of visiting with Ms. Sol Gabetta for about a half hour on the plane.  I believe the three of them (Prema, Sol, and her cello) sat together on the ride from Aspen to Denver. Then Prema escorted Sol (and cello) to her Lufthansa gate since she was not sure were to go.  Nice job Prema.

Here's a selection of shots from the Dissolution Ceremony.  I will explain a bit more about all this later today or tomorrow.  In short, after ritual chanting and music the sand was swept into a pile.  Small bags of the sand were handed out to those of us in observance then the Monks walked down to Roaring Fork River with the remaining sand which was then dropped into the river where it will flow through the valley and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico (might take a while).

We decided not to go the the concert tonight in favor of doing nothing at all.  Ahhhh.....