Nashville trippin'

Nanny and Bubba arrived in Nashville last week to be happily consumed by the Land of Little Girls. Bella (6.75 yrs) and Lola (2.75 yrs) adopted us as a set of grandparents even before they were born. (Yes, there is a long story here.) Eight years ago their mom, Mee and dad Lee, were fated to meet through us, and we've all been a family ever since.

It's been 8 months since we've last seen them, with lots of change happening in between. They all moved from their home in Sayulita, Mexico to Nashville, Tennessee, and we moved from our 30+ year apartment in L.A. to Northern California. Finally meeting up with them again was beyond sweeeeeeeeeet!






Part of our time in Tennessee, was spent at The Ranch, Lee's rehab treatment center about an hour's drive west of Nashville. He invited us to be part of a weekend event he created, and we hadn't done any teaching out there for a while, so we came out and had fun meeting up with new and old faces. In the evening, under a star-studded sky, we helped lead a Summer Solstice Mitoté, an all night dreaming ceremony, out at the Medicine Wheel. The weather was super warm, the experience, super cool!

Back to the Nashville house on Father's Day Sunday, Mee held a good ol' southern barbeque for all the Dads. Her friend and cameraman Al manned the "que" grilling thick rib-eye steaks, slabs of ahi tuna and turkey burgers. Mee's on a huge cleansing diet for a chronic digestive condition, so all the food was as wholesome and nutritious as it gets. Well ... maybe with the exception of the sugary blueberry pie Al whipped up for dessert. 

Later we all gathered on their screened-in porch for impromptu entertainment. Steve Young played and sang songs about living in Silver Lake in the '60s — very nostalgic to Ted and I. Lee played and sang his own wonderful down-home originals and Bella belted out songs in both Spanish and English which completely wowed everyone.

So what kind of Southern trip would this be without a visit to an old plantation? We enjoyed doin' the tourist thang and saw the Belle Meade Plantation which had been a race horse plantation back in the day. We took the grande tour and ... yoiks! ... the place is just THICK with antebellum richness ... voices from the past whispering from every corner. 

And speaking of the past ... there is an old farm house (equally thick with it's own historical richness) on The Ranch that Lee and Mee will be renovating into their family home. We can't wait to see what they do with it.

There's so much more to tell, particularly about the Princess-Know-It-All (PKIA) empire that Mee is building out of her tiny used-to-be-an-old-convent office. She's really incredible! Check out PKIA at her up-coming website: princessknowitall.com  (Ted is designing the site and did the illustrations. Yeh, I'm braggin'...)

Moving on to the last day of our trip, leaving our Tennesse family was a big heart-tug, but we said our good-byes and flew off to make a quick overnight layover in L.A. We wanted to visit our friend Gae who we hadn't seen the last time we were in town. 

We spent some GREAT catching up time with Gae. She'd been on a movie for 8 months, so we didn't get much time with her before we moved to NoCal and we were jonesin' to connect. So connect we did! And just before we left for the airport the next day, we dropped by Gabrielle's to see her new baby Ava Xela. I loved how Gab looked in awe of that little creature that came out of her own body. The miracle of Life is just plain Awe-inspiring in every sense of the word.

Now we's back in NoCal and still amazed that we live here. Life is good.

Sunday Drive

One of the most wonderful things about being a “new-bee” to Northern California is EXPLORATION. Nearly every Sunday we hop in the car and head out in a direction to see what’s out there. This past Sunday we drove north through Alexander Valley where green vineyards roll over golden hills.

Driving along with all the windows down, like two happy puppys with our noses out, we breathed in the fresh valley air. Ahhhhhhhhhh! Then Ted’s attention was grabbed by a long driveway with a fat hedge of French lavender and we just had to turn in.

Hanna Winery sits on 100 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vineyards. The building is a contemporary fusion of Early California Mission style with an Asian open space sensibility. Strangely, neither one of us was in a wine tasting mood, but the vision of the place was simply scrumptuous in itself. Ted took some great photos, then we headed out again.

The road through Alexander Valley going north is a giant bouquet of vineyards and ends up in the once sleepy turned up-scale town of Healdsburg. We “puppys” were hungry so we stopped at the Costeaux French Bakery to pick up a quick sandwich — Black Forest Ham and Jarlsberg cheese on a thin, crusty but soft baguette smeared only with butter. Simplicity at its delicious best.

Hopped in the car again and drove back south to A Place To Play Park in Santa Rosa for “Peggy Sue’s All-American Cruise” display of early 1900’s to 1976 vintage cars. We’d seen the actual Cruise down Fourth Street the night before and were propelled into another time by an enthusiastic crowd. Peggy Sue would have been proud.

The Cruise cars were on view at the park — rows and rows of hot rods, low-riders, roadsters and plenty of ‘50s Chevy Bel Airs with painted flames in candy colors. A live band played “Rock Around The Clock” (Bill Haley and The Comets), “Tequila” (one hit wonder The Champs), and a bunch of tunes by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly ... well you get the idea.

I remember poodle skirts when I was little and there they were, pink and black skirts, and white-haired folks dancing in their saddle shoes like they were teenagers. And there were teenagers too, and little kids, not in poodle skirts, but hopping around to ‘50s music, proving once again that rock and roll will NEVER die!

Oh, and who were those young women with their butt cheeks hanging out (see photos)? Well, we left soon after we saw them, so I guess we’ll never know. On to the next adventure ...