January 20, 2013
Located on the central California coastline about 25 miles north of
Santa Cruz,
This place gets its name from the Spanish word for, “People of the
coast.”
Story and Photographs
By:
Ned Opdyke
I’ve already decided on my next story, which will be a book report
of sorts. I’ve always admired the Native
American Indians. Their philosophy of
life… their spiritual beliefs… and their admiration, respect, and love for the
land that they live on and depend on, not only for their physical survival, but
also for the nourishment and the evolution of their spirits.
I met Sharon in our room at The Lodge on Friday evening,
just as the sun was setting (see picture
on front cover). She had driven down
from San Francisco, leaving from work about an hour before I did the same thing
from the opposite direction in Santa Cruz.
I got there about five minutes after she did, and was excited that our
timing was so good. She was sad that she
didn’t have enough time to set up the room the way she wanted it. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was
going to be the first of several situations that arose that weekend, that
showed us that as similar and connected as we are most of the time, we are also
very different.
Not in a bad way, not at all. Just different in certain ways that we
instinctively feel and react. More about
that as the story evolves. First a
picture of some of the supplies that we both brought with us, without any
planning or discussion; four different types of cheeses, crackers, bread,
chips, muffins, nuts, salami, hot cocoa, peppermint schnapps, three bottles of
wine, three bottles of champagne, and fresh lavender. To list a few of the items we thought would
help sustain us during our weekend visit to a place neither of us had had the
pleasure of spending time at before.
I’d stopped here a couple of times to stretch my legs a bit
when I was riding my motorcycle through the area, but I’d never stayed more
than a few minutes. I’d never had the
chance to really expose myself to the ‘energy’ of this place like I did this
time.
After a delicious dinner at The Cascade Room just a few
hundred feet away, we returned to our room and settled in. Right away I noticed it was missing
something. I looked carefully around the
room and realized that there wasn’t a television set anywhere! Normally, my re-action would have been to
panic, but my mood was already becoming altered and instead, I relished the
opportunity to spend some quality time with my wife.
The evening was lovely and so was my wife. For any of you who have not had the privilege
to meet her yet… please make the attempt.
She is an amazing woman of many talents and abilities, not the least of
which is that she has been able to corral this stallion and make him happier
than he’s ever been before in his life.
At some point during our conversation that evening, I made a
comment about how this place reminded me of The Ventana Inn in Big Sur, about
100 miles or so to the south. I
mentioned to her that the Native American Indians (The Ohlone Tribe) had
worshipped that area, and had considered it to be Holy Ground. I told her that I had the same kind of
‘calming yet energetic’ feeling here, that I’d had when I’d visited that place
for the first time. I remember walking
around with a puzzled look on my face, until I’d finally gotten the chance to
ask one of the staff about it. It was a
feeling that is difficult to describe, but that’s the reason I decided to write
this story, so settle in and be prepared to read my feeble attempts.
I slept like a baby, and woke up with a silly smile on my
face that still hasn’t really gone away.
It was only 4:30am, so I turned over and cuddled up to Sharon and let
out my form of a purr, (which is really more of a soft growling noise than a
purr) as she squiggled back into me and asked me what time it was. I told her it was still early, and to go back
to sleep. That was the last I heard from
her for almost four hours.
I read for about an hour from the book Sharon found for me
in her personal library called, “The Celestine Prophecy.” It’s about an ancient manuscript that was
discovered recently in Peru, which outlines and describes eight “insights”… the
stages of the human races’ evolution towards its attainment of ultimate
enlightenment… the true meaning of life… of why we are here. I’m currently reading about the fourth
insight, and am completely captivated.
The sun was starting to peek over the coastal range outside
our window, so I took this picture from our balcony… quietly whispered to
Sharon that I would be right back… and high tailed it down to the hot tub with
a small pot of coffee, a cup, and the book tucked under my arm.
Kansas and Myra were working the front desk, and I stopped
and chatted with them for a short while.
I mentioned to them that I was having a strange sensation of
contentment, fulfillment, and a calming and soothing feeling. I don’t think I mentioned the ‘hyper-ness’ aspect
of the energy I was having. This whole
thing is still a little confusing to me, and makes me feel a little awkward for
some reason.
Kansas told me that she and her husband had recently moved
to this area, and had noticed the similar sensations. Her theory is that the ‘energy from the
earth’ is more noticeable because of the lack of electromagnetic waves. No televisions, no microwaves, not much of
anything to speak of, as far as the western civilization’s so called
advancements in this area.
The sunrise
from the hot tub.
Kansas on the left, Myra on the right.
When I was just finishing my coffee and thinking about
heading back to the room, Sage showed up for her morning hot tub. She said she’d ‘taken a spill’ the day before
and was sore from the hard landing she took on her tail-bone.
For some reason it seemed appropriate, so I tactfully and
respectfully asked her if she would like me to give her a back massage. She consented without any hesitation, and
told me after I finished about five minutes later, that I had helped her
tremendously, and that she knew her day was going to be better because of my
sincere and innocent desire to help her.
While I was massaging her shoulders and neck, she had told
me that she was there with a group of her clients for one of her seminars that
her company does. She ‘coaches’ women
who are interested in creating their own businesses. If you’re interested, you can find her at: www.sagelavine.com/.
I ended my short massage with a technique that my mom taught
me when I was in high school. While she would
massage my face, she would tell me to visualize what was going to happen that
evening at the basketball game. She’d
tell me to see myself dribbling the ball, passing, shooting, running, jumping,
etc., as if I was really there… all the time as she was rubbing my face.
While I was rubbing Sage’s face, she was telling me that
she was visualizing her day with her group of women. That’s when she told me how much she
appreciated meeting me, and that she felt we were ‘kindred spirits’ of a
sort.
As I was drying off, I mentioned the book I was reading and
she smiled and said, “I’ve read it twice.”
I just love the way The Universe works.
If I’d left only one minute earlier, we would have never met.
On my way back to the room, I was about ready to jump
out of my skin with this strange, calm, peaceful excitement that I’m going to
keep trying to describe to you. I wanted
to share my experience with Sharon, hoping that she would feel the same sort of
sensations and we could spend the day (almost literally) on cloud nine
together. When I got to the room…
… she was still sound asleep. She’s told me that she much prefers to wake
up on her own and not be woken. I knew
from past experience that if I very gently bounced on the bed and softly panted
into her ear like a puppy, she would smile and kiss me… but instead I decided
to let her sleep as long as she wanted.
I ate some cheese and bread and made myself a snuggler. That’s what the hot cocoa and peppermint
schnapps was there for after all.
My next big decision was going to be what to wear down to
the restaurant for breakfast. Was it
going to be no sleeves, short sleeves, or long sleeves?
By the time Sharon woke up, it was already getting warm
outside, but there was still a little nip in the air, so I went for the short
sleeves.
I guess this is as good a time as any to talk about some of
the differences in our personalities.
Sharon isn’t a fan of tie-dye and I am.
There. I said it. It’s on the table, and everyone knows. That, my dear friends, is one of the biggest
and most important differences between us.
Not really, but it
did make you smile didn’t it?
Here’s about as serious as I can get about our differences
(because there really aren’t that many of them, and none of them are important
enough to make any difference anyway).
Sharon came up with this analogy, and she calls it the “Dog
vs. Cat Energy.” I’m a tail wagging,
rampant, bounding dog, running around almost out of control sniffing everyone’s
butt; while she deals with life on her own terms in an aloof manner, with a
quiet questful curiosity.
Ned-Dog and
Sharon-Cat having breakfast on Saturday morning.
Jose y Elizabeth were our own personal wait staff. They were very young, very beautiful, and
very polite, poised, and… wait a second… they were Mexican! No wonder they were so nice.
After breakfast, we strolled over to the general store and
browsed their wares. BROWSED THEIR
WARES…???... Who the heck is writing this story anyway? “Thor” would NEVER say, “Browsed” or,
“Wares.” Well… at least Honey (my motorcycle)
isn’t in this story. She just wouldn’t
understand this gentle, reserved, conservative side of me.
- - - - insert dramatic pause here - - - - -
HA! That side of me didn’t last
very long did it?! Here I was right
after breakfast, hamming it up with Cynthia the clerk at the store. Sharon found a book with my name written all
over it. It’s “The Encyclopedia of Immaturity.” I think I almost gave Sharon a heart attack
when I told her I was going to buy her these hanging baskets and everything
that was in them.
Cynthia: “He’s
silly. Me: Nuh uh, she’s sillier!” Smores ‘til the cows come home.
After lounging in our room for a while, we head out for our
big adventure of the day. Sharon and I
both have bad knees, and neither of us can walk very far or very fast. The oldsters hobbled about a mile up a slight
incline, and had a picnic, sitting next to some pompous grass.
Yes dear, I know… it’s pampas grass, but I like my way
better. Now hand me my crown and sit
subserviently there at my feet like a good little wifey.
The view from our
butts was royal, and our mood was rich with love and gratitude.
Ok, now I’m
back. This is not our kingdom; we are
only guests here.
As we started back down the hill to our Camelot, we stopped
a few times and exchanged tender and loving embraces. Gazing lovingly and romantically into each
other’s eyes.
Obviously, Sharon’s idea of making a funny face is much
different than mine. Jeesh, another
difference to add to the very seriously mounting list of things to complain
about.
God I
love this woman. God I love this planet.
(View from my heart)
(View from our balcony)
After more lounging in our room, post hike… we once again
hobbled over to The Cascade Room for another very adequate dinner and a much
more than adequate view of the sunset.
Just another shitty
day in paradise.
Sunday morning arrived, and I had now officially made it 56
times around our sun. The day began for
me the same way the previous one started and ended… with the same sort of
positive, happy, joyful, silly, conscious, appreciating feeling that I felt
ever since the first couple hours of arriving.
Sage and her gals even posed for me outside our room, to
exemplify this energy that seemed to be affecting everyone we saw here the
whole weekend. Everyone was walking
around with very happy, almost goofy smiles on their faces. Well, everyone except Sharon. For some reason, she was reacting to the
energy at this place much differently than the rest of us.
My guess is that she reacted to the energy at a different
level than I did, and it manifested itself as uncertainty and/ or
discomfort. I really have no fucking
idea. I can’t even figure out how to
explain the feelings that I was experiencing, let alone have any idea what she
might’ve been feeling. Maybe she’ll
write her own story about it someday. I
hope I hope I hope.
If any of you are interested, she does write, and does it
very well. You can find her musings
at: www.candyonthecouch.com/.
Sage and the women
she was helping to empower.
Sharon decided to stay in bed, while I went down for my
birthday breakfast. Please don’t feel
any sadness or distress about this.
Sharon and I are very comfortable and secure; with ourselves, and with
each other. Like I’ve been trying to
explain (probably with too much jest), the differences between Sharon and I are
like opportunities for us. They allow us
to delve into self-retrospection as well as trust-and-honesty bonding exercises. The more we open up to each other, and share
things that are uncomfortable… the more love we feel and have for each other.
So… back to my birthday breakfast!
Round 1 and Round 2
Sharon came down as I was finishing, and we sat by the
fireplace while she ate hers. Dry whole-wheat
toast, and granola with skim milk. Not
really, but it was a lot less food than what I ate, that’s for sure.
We spent a few more moments soaking up the sun on our
balcony, and then took a short drive to Pigeon Point Lighthouse, and soaked up
more sun and some ocean air. What a life
we have.
Thank you so much Sharon, for the best birthday ever.
Love is Life.
The End
Epilogue:
I know this is a strange way to end this story, but it’s
important, and I couldn’t seem to fit it in.
On Sunday morning, as we were laying in bed before I went to breakfast,
I did something I haven’t done in a long time.
I took a pencil to paper.
Usually… I write at the keyboard, but since I didn’t bring my laptop, I
made some hand notes. Here they are
exactly as I wrote them:
Q: Why am I afraid of developing my spiritual
side?
My goal is to reach
thru the veil, then step into the next realm of happiness.
Most of us want to
find Nirvana, so why am I afraid? Afraid
of Joy? That’s ridiculous!
So, after deciding
not to be afraid… the next steps are nothing more than repeating that
step.
One step at a time; one level of happiness and joy after another.
One step at a time; one level of happiness and joy after another.
So, eventually the
time will come that I will reach the Pinnacle of my journey.
Side note: Is that really possible while your body is alive? A: No. Or at least that’s where I am now.
Side note: Is that really possible while your body is alive? A: No. Or at least that’s where I am now.
At the Pinnacle is my
real fear.
Thinking about my soul, my existence vaporizing into infinity... is terrifying.
Thinking about my soul, my existence vaporizing into infinity... is terrifying.
Therefor: This is my journey. To become aware of the reason I am afraid.
To stop being afraid
of finding out why I am afraid.
