I got home from Mt. Pleasant around eight or nine in the morning after being up all night for Devi Bhava. I brought my shit in from the car and promptly crashed.

I slept all day, waking just before Brett got home from work.

Amma was awesome, in the literal sense of the word. (I realize I say that every time I see Her, but it’s true.) It can’t possibly make any sense if you’ve never met Her, but She truly is the embodiment of pure Love. Seeing Her is balm for the soul. The love that pours out of Her to all who come to Her is uplifting, humbling, renewing, and awe-inspiring. I love Her so much that I cry every year when She leaves.

In past years I’ve found myself face down in the parking lot after Her car drives off, weeping. This year I merely stood mute while She left for Chicago, then turned to go back in and start cleaning up the hall.

Here’s an illegal photo I took with my phone. The person in white is Amma. Yes, I realize it’s terribly out of focus:

The program went well. Tahmi and Christina worked their butts off and spent massive amounts of time at the Seva Desk coordinating the insanely huge mass of volunteer details that make up one of Mother’s programs. Their discipline and sticktoitiveness amazed me last year, and amazed me again this year. They’re so dedicated and work-oriented… I usually feel like things will work out and rarely rush to get back to the desk from a meal or a break, but they’re both incredibly on top of things.

I ran into Anna. She’s three months pregnant. (Brett totally called it. He announced a few weeks after she ran off with her new boyfriend that she’d breed.) She sobbed and apologized profusely for not bothering to call me for nearly a year. I was blunt, and told her that she was stupid for not bothering to contact me after breaking up with Bo and that it had both hurt me and pissed me off. I mean, what else was I supposed to say? That it was all right to just abandon our friendship because her relationship status had changed? I wasn’t about to give her a simple “there, there” because it wasn’t true. She should know that’s not how people act. I also hugged the shit out of her and we ate together and hung out between programs on Thursday. She’s a sweet girl, and it’s because of her that I learned to knit, and we’ve been friends for years. And she looks pretty cute knocked up, I have to admit.

I also reconnected with Cat. She’s also knitting these days. Her physical problems seem to be somewhat abated, in the sense that she can get out and about, but her body’s still a wreck and I guess she has a lot of chronic pain. She’s still funny as hell, though – she’s mistress of the comedic pause. For example, she ordered a tiny Kali doll from the doll table, and I asked her if she had been excited to receive it. “Yes…” she said, slowly. Then, a moment later, she continued, giggling, “I jumped up and down until my boobs hurt!”

Tahmi and Cat and I spent the break between programs both days sitting in the gazebo, knitting and smoking my cigarettes. I hadn’t realized it, but Tahmi and Cat had been friends once too, so it was really comfortable and fun to catch up. We all marvelled at how stupid we were to live in the same town and not hang out together when we all made each other laugh so easily, and I see some lovely stitch ‘n’ bitch sessions in the future. We’re all of an age and temperment, and we all have less of a female network than we’d like these days.

During Devi Bhava, Dave got a mantra. He really seemed stoked about it, and had even purchased a mala by the last time I saw him. He was there with Steve & Misty, who always come to see Mother in Mt. Pleasant. I saw Chris the computer guy and met his brother. I saw several other old school, random people there as well, including Rodney (who has simply got to be older than he looks, and he looks fantastic), John Huff, Chuckie, and others.

I got to spend half an hour on stage next to Mother, doing a lap seva. That, next to my first darshan, was the highlight of the whole two days of Her visit. It’s amazing to watch Her. She never tires, She never misses anything. She’s so incredibly amazing.

All in all, seeing Amma was renewing and wonderful, and my connections with people were deepened as always, and I’m abjectly grateful that God bothered to incarnate in such a form during my lifetime.

Friday night I went to Kevin & Aimee’s for dinner to meet with Barbara about a recording gig in September. We discussed dates, and if all goes well Aimee and I will go to NYC around the middle of September to record a few songs of Barbara’s acapella music. I was given CDs with old recordings we’d done in the early 90’s (when Barbara was still Ilana Iguana and was living here), and I was given strict instructions to learn my own scat solo on Sweet True Love note for note because apparently it’s considered to be perfect. *grin* The project will probably feature one or both of the Roach Sisters, Patti Smythe, and a few other friends of Barbara’s, along with people I haven’t seen in over a decade like Tane. Over dinner, Barbara told us that she’d been contacted by someone who was writing a book about Jimi Hendrix but that she “probably won’t be interviewed, because I never actually slept with him.” Snort!

Having never been to NYC, I’m competely stoked about the prospect. How fun! To go for five days and record a few songs! Derby (Steven) also wants me to record a track he emailed me called Womanhood for some project he’s working on; the client likes the track but wants a woman’s vocal on it. So now I’ve got all this stuff on my iPod to learn or re-learn. Whee!

It’s so weird how things come and go. I didn’t sing for a really long time, and now it keeps popping up and I’m actually interested in it again. I used to hate recording, but now I’m all about it. People I haven’t connected with in years are inviting me in on projects and inviting me to New York to sing. How cool is that?
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