Day 221

Tea and stories day! I enjoy the writers and their sharing. Peanut butter cookies for them. First a little house stuff. I dust and vacuum and that’s all. There is still yard work I want to get done and I did get the greenhouse cleaned yesterday with the removal of the raspberries. They are coming into the warm spot. Later, Karen will help my body with her massage techniques. I feel better after she works on me. I’m taking her a bag of apples.

In January, 1977, I took a leave of absence from my teaching career. I wanted to have a different life for a while. I rented my house to friends and had an apartment waiting in Rohnert Park. I was enrolled at Sonoma state. Kind of a busmans’ holiday. I took a bunch of interesting classes just for fun.

The first class was called People in Transition and was designed for older returning or first time students. It was led by two women from the testing center. They were interested in my reason for being there and asked if I would participate in a study. I said sure. I was here for experiences. I become friends with them and was invited into their women’s group. We did lots of things together that I would not have been able to do alone. Later they asked me to be in a documentary about older students at Sonoma state. This had nothing to do with the prompt.

 One was alternative health and I met a bunch of interesting people. The curriculum included kinesiology, nutrition, eastern medicine, all sorts of alternatives to our medical establishment. I found friends in the class and had lots of philosophical conversations that were thought provoking and led to new ideas. I was invited to Forestville for an afternoon  party and was pleased to be included with so many younger people. It was a beautiful place and the crowd was comfortable. Late in the afternoon I was offered a brownie and in my ignorance, I ate it. I found a nice friendly tree and sat down to enjoy its company. Hours went by. I heard the laughing and singing, the dancing and guitar music and I sat. My mind calculated that I had missed out on the fun and vowed never to do it again and I never did.