Ok, so not sure those words go together all that well in the larger sense at this moment, but I will say that I'm impressed with what I've seen here. Certainly, I'm gravitating to friends, shops and restaurants that offer a green lens to see this city, or at the very least friends who talk about sustainability even if by way of poking fun at it (I know that means they want to know more:). There is a strong sense of community and interest in the eco-trends. The old joke about Cincinnati not being aware that the world ended until 5 years after it happened doesn't match up for the moment…well, at lease not in all areas. In recent years, I have to admit that I've noticed myself being curious about this city, what would life be like to live here again? uh…..maybe I'll come back to that later on another blog, not gonna entertain that quite yet.

My time here has been gratifying. I'm happy to come back to this place that's filled with great memories. As I mentioned in my "Winter wonder-land" blog of how I view my parents with love today, much of how I view my past comes through me with a new perspective. The events haven't changed, but how I view them has. I've learned how to transform the painful memories into gifts of life experience by practicing peaceful acceptance. I've learned how to build from the difficult times in order to develop deeper compassion for myself and others. So much so that I wouldn't want to change any detail. And then all the wonderful memories become that much more sweet.

The yoga class on Wednesday night in Westchester at Sonya's studio was perfect. Not a huge turnout up in this area (a bit far to travel for most with the recent snow) but the group that night, mostly Pilates instructors, were very open and interested to have this experience. Sonya and I went out for dinner afterwards to Wild Ginger, a Thai restaurant in Madisonville/Hyde Park area where she lives. We closed the place down and got to enjoy the burning bleach mop aroma and artfully stacked chairs-on-tables sculptures. Even a warm thank you from the manager who asked if we would like to box up our left-overs with the vibe of "it's time to go now." Our server was great though, never giving the slightest message that he wanted us to leave. We had a good time catching up which happens so easily with Sonya. We haven't seen each other in a couple of years and it feels like we're picking up where we left off. I've always seen Sonya as someone with a gentle strength that guides her to express her truest self. She was in a relationship with a woman some years ago having never even entertained that before. (We didn't catch up on relationship news so we'll have to do that next time.)  She brought a new kind of experience to Over the Rhine when she opened Kaldi's Coffehouse and Used Bookstore with Mike back in 1991 and now is a Pilates instructor and studio owner. Courage, transformation and grace come to mind.

Thursday was a cool day. After my hatha practice and yummy vegan protein smoothie by Jay (Jay makes smoothies for himself and Amy everyday and while I'm there I get to share in this ritual…it's so nice!!) I went to have lunch with high-school pal Melissa at Myra's Dionysis - a delicious, vegetarian/vegan-friendly restaurant in Clifton. It was there when I lived here and now owned by another high-school pal, Mallory. I was hoping to catch up with Melissa and her family of 4 kids and husband Tim, but we couldn't work out my schedule with her amazingly full schedule of events for her kids, so she and I got to have a one-on-one lunch together. We had a blast and caught each other up with all of our latest news. I always get to hear about each of her sisters, including Becky who's been on and off a soap-opera show for some years. Melissa and I share right from the heart, from the difficult matters around our lives to the incredible joys we're experiencing. She is a touchstone for sure with our 25+ years of knowing one another. After a tasty lunch, we took a quick trip downtown to look at the new SCPA building opening this Fall as the highly anticipated new location for our old stomping grounds. I felt like we could have spent the whole day together but she had to return to work, and I was meeting friend Andy for a second lunch in moments! Melissa and I parted and hopefully I'll see her again Saturday morning for yoga. I encouraged her to bring her eldest son, Conner for class too.

Andy is an SF friend who's currently in Dayton with his girlfriend Jannelly, finishing up some loose-ends with some property there. He's been up there for some months and when I told him I'd be in town, he was excited to have a chance to leave Dayton and connect with an SF friend. We had a great, jam-packed visit. We drove around and I proudly gave him a very brief tour of the city and then we stopped for lunch at the Iris bookstore cafe, owned by former Kaldi's co-owner Mike - the grey-bearded character who cares more about books and the beatnik years than anything of this era. He shared with Andy and I the progress of his new venture which is a record/movie rental/old movie poster shop with a basement for showing movies, live music and theatre workshops. Talk about reduce, reuse, recycle - Mike's on the cutting edge because he's lost in time…in the best possible way. Mike once bought a used car that was shared between him, Ken (co-worker from back in the Kaldi's days...where is Ken?) and myself. I think I used it the most until it got towed away for having too many parking tickets and then because of how much it would cost to get the car back, we just left it. I was a little irresponsible back then. :-/ I feel a family connection of sorts with Mike and have always appreciated his trust and respect for me...I think that's what it is!

Next was yoga at the 3 legged dog yoga collective owned by Donna. I know Donna from Cincinnati days. She performed in my senior college thesis - a performance-art project which might have really only been recognized by myself as my final project since I was in visual art school and a painting and drawing major. Donna moved to SF, moved back to Cincinnati, came back to SF, and now back. I think I understand how that can happen..... Now that she's back, she's opened her own yoga studio. I taught to a cool crew of folks, mostly Donna's students and it was invigorating. Andy stayed to take class before heading back to Dayton and he shared how much he enjoyed the class. And when he shared, we both felt our eyes tearing with good feeling. I was touched and honored. I definitely enjoy sharing all that I've learned. And it's not just what I've learned in yoga training and classes, but from dancing, from painting, from laughing and crying, from everyone I know and every place I've visited. I can feel how it all channels through me. It's one of those experiences that happens nearly effortless and energizes me after.

I made a stop to visit my parents this morning at their home. I laughed with them more than I have in years - an amazing thing to experience and share with them after so many stressful times of late. It was a short visit so that I could try and catch lunch with Alan. It was hard to make such a short visit with my parents so I missed lunch with Alan since he only had a quick hour to meet before a work meeting. I figured I could take this time to go visit an all-vegan shop called "Park and Vine" that I learned about through yoga-friend Donna. College friend Danny owns it and Donna said I should check it out. Danny, whom I knew as Dan-o back in my UC DAAP days when I was a Planning and Design major, has gathered a nice collection of eco-items ranging from clothing and babycare, to house paint and cleaning goods. There's an area for vegan foods made locally including a local coffee roaster named OTR (Over the Rhine). I met the owner while in line to pay as he was in to pick up lunch with his little daughter. I haven't been a coffee drinker for many years but I said I'm sure his coffee is really good! Geesh, what else do you say? Danny's managed to get a huge array of things in one shop and it looks like it's going well. I bought a good handful of stuff including a t-shirt that says, "Make love, not bacon!" Their latest design. Happy to support the local movement!

I drove up Vine street to head to Clifton for lunch. Figured I'd go check out Aquarius Star and Om Cafe on Ludlow Street and get started on this blog entry. It was a great place. I'll have to share the details later…gotta get to sleep. I'll get to share about long-lost friends, a new friend and having a visit with my biological father. Then there's the events of the evening and getting to bed at 2am! Oh yeah, and at some point I'll get some pictures up...