Zen, Utah

i have been reading a fair amount lately. i just finished my third book by cheri huber called "how to get from where you are to where you want to be". in a nutshell, it's an intro to zen. i have begun reading "big mind big heart" by dennis genpo merzel. it is a different perspective on the same topic really. i also flew to salt lake city to participate in a week-long zen retreat. i won't go into details because i have told the story way too many times, but basically, i arrived on sunday afternoon, participated in the evening orientation and met lots of great people. then i awoke at 5 am monday, sat silently through 2 40-minute meditation sessions, then grabbed my shoes and left. it was a crazy, amazing, intense and beautiful place...but it was much too much for me at the time. i went back to my room and called allysia angus, a friend of mine that i met in college. she lives five hours south of slc in escalante, utah. i asked if she would mind terribly if i rented a car and crashed with her for a week, and fortunately, she said "come on down!"
i was on the road by 11 am, and five hours later i was in one of the most beautiful places in the world. allysia has been building her house for awhile now, and i even got to help her a little bit while visiting (can't wait to return in september with jeff and see the finished product). so basically, i found the experience i was looking for. i found peace, i found answers, and i found lots and lots of love...for myself as well as for the cowboys!
below are some pics of allysia's work in progress. i'll post some of the finished home later in the year. also, there is one of me, allysia and her friend nancy taken in salt lake city the day before i returned to seattle.