Laughter Yoga in an Albuquerque Jail

Over this long weekend, we are ensconced in Albuquerque for the 5th Annual All America Laughter Yoga Conference. Prior to my arrival to the conference yesterday, Mary spent three days training to become a Certified Laughter Coach as a compliment to her new certification as a Life Coach, so stay tuned for more details about our new business venture as coaches!

Yesterday afternoon, our teacher Dr. Madan Kataria of Bombay, India and Jane Davis of Hope Howse brought twelve of us to the Bernalillo Metropolitan Detention Center for a Laughter Yoga session with 90 inmates. This is the largest county jail in New Mexico, and thanks to the work of Jane Davis and Hope Howse, we were allowed entry to the jail and access to one of the pods where 90 inmates are participating in programming geared towards improving their life skills.

Although many of us, including myself, experienced some level of trepidation and anxiety when entering the facility and the pod itself, the ice was quickly broken after Dr. Kataria gave his introduction to Laughter Yoga and the science of laughter and we began the participatory portion of the program. While some of the men hung on the side and only marginally participated, the majority wholeheartedly took part, laughing uproariously, smiling and enjoying more than an hour of the cohesiveness and joy that group laughter can engender.

While we were aware that these men could have been incarcerated for anything from a DWI to aggravated assault or various violent crimes, it also became quickly apparent that they are, of course, as human as the rest of us, and being given this opportunity for a wholesome hour of laughter was a boon to their spirits and their mental, physical and spiritual health. The level of enthusiasm was contagious, and we all shared some very genuine laughter followed by a brief period of handshaking and socializing before our group of 12 had to take our leave.

Mary and I have offered Laughter Yoga sessions in universities, health facilities, senior centers, private parties and other venues, but this may have been the most satisfying session we've ever participated in. Many of the men were obviously very grateful for our visit, and the plethora of hearty handshakes and thank you's were heartfelt and extremely sincere.

Driving back to the hotel and the official beginning of the conference, we were all high from the experience, and many of us are now considering bringing Laughter Yoga to our local jails and prisons, both for the inmates and the officers. Stress is a common state in the jail environment, and bring some relief to those who most need the stress relief was truly a joy and an honor. Any of us can make a mistake or a wrong choice in life, and when seeing those who are incarcerated through the lens of "there but for the grace of God go I", one realizes the essential humanity of these men and the extent to which they, too, deserve the gift of laughter, joy, and unconditional positive regard.

Mailboxes, Galisteo

Flowers at the Farmers Market

Another Week in New Mexico......

It's been yet another great week here in New Mexico: celebrating my birthday all week with live music on the Plaza every weeknight: surreptitious swims in the pool of our favorite downtown Santa Fe hotel (sshhhhh!); an overnight visit from our dear friends in Taos; and a brief visit with friends from New York who were here in Santa Fe with family. With brilliant blue skies every day, an easy week at work, and restored health, it's been a fun stretch of long summer days.

Aside from engaging in various forms of summer fun and celebration, we recently learned that our casita is infected with two types of mold, and we are gearing up for having to move out temporarily as the mold is remediated. Luckily, we'll be house- and dog-sitting for some community neighbors for more than two weeks beginning this Tuesday, giving our landlords time to (hopefully) schedule the work to be done in our absence. We have no idea when the work will be completed or whether the casita will be a healthy space for us once it's done, so we're prepared for the possibility of having to live in our rig for a while until the dust (and mold) settles (or move elsewhere if need be).

Meanwhile, we continue our grounded adventure in community living as I continue to work my nursing jobs and Mary prepares to officially launch our exciting new business venture. (Stay tuned for more on that soon!)

This past week, house- and cat-sitting for some neighbors allowed us time to bond with Peachy, their very interesting cat.......

And I began to practice on my new birthday guitar in earnest....

We observed some strange desert wildlife that apparently enjoys fresh tomatoes.....

And we took the time to observe the play of shadows on adobe walls......

Through it all, Tina has maintained her happy equanimity......

And we continue to enjoy the many pleasures of community living.....

In the coming week, we will both be going to Albuquerque in order to attend the 5th Annual 2010 All America Laughter Yoga Conference, so stay tuned for highlights from the conference. Our teacher, Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of Laughter Yoga, will be coming from India for the event, and on Thursday evening will take us to an Albuquerque jail for a Laughter Yoga session with a group of inmates. It should be an exciting time, and we look forward to sharing it with you!

Til then, "be well, do good work, and keep in touch" (with a grateful nod to Garrison Keillor).

---Keith

A Birthday To Remember

After three days of acute illness, my birthday dawned gratefully on Sunday with a relative cessation of nausea, the blessed absence of headache and fever, and only a lingering malaise that I would not allow to mar my day in the sun.

Mary was kind enough to make delicious French Toast for breakfast with chamomile tea, and following our morning repast, she proceeded to blindfold me and lead me outside for what she termed a "sensory awareness trust walk". Joined by two neighborhood boys along for the fun (and holding Tina for us), Mary led me on a gentle walk through the community, having me touch plants, run my hand along a rough yet somehow smooth adobe wall, and then stop under a tree in the central community plaza to listen to a swarm of bees busily pollinating the arboreal flowers overhead.

I was then led into the Common House, where my blindfold was removed and I was presented with a lovely handmade birthday card. Still not finished with the surprises, Mary then had me sit with my back to her and close my eyes while holding out my hands. A cloth or canvas object was placed in my outstretched hands, and the sound of zippers being opened and closed several times commenced.

When I could no longer bear the suspense (or guess what I was holding), I was allowed to open my eyes to see a miniature "travel guitar" in a cloth case, a gift that Mary was certain would bring me joy and delight. (You see, I very much regretted not bringing my classical guitar on our 10,000 mile journey, and Mary was determined to right that wrong by presenting me with my very own miniature guitar that would take up less space and be my musical companion for the remainder of this peripatetic sojourn.) Needless to say, I'm thrilled, and looking forward to having it restrung with nylon strings for my tender, unpracticed fingertips.

My birthday continued with another return to the Rio Grande 40 miles north of Santa Fe, where we met our son and daughter-in-law for a picnic at a local winery (accompanied by a bottle of local chilled dry rose), and a swim in the river. We also visited the beautiful and special land owned by some new acquaintances in the small town of Dixon.

Ah, a wonderful New Mexican birthday.

Happily, we were visited by dear friends from Taos on Monday, and we spent the evening having a community meal at The Commons and listening to yet another free evening of music on the Santa Fe Plaza. Unfortunately, the music was disappointing Beatles tunes Mariachi-style, so we wandered the streets surrounding the Plaza, visited art galleries, and ducked into our favorite cafe for free samples of gelato.

Walking back to the car, an all-female Mariachi band (Santa Fe's own Mariachi Buenaventura) was playing on the sidewalk across from the Plaza, and the acoustics of the arcade structure above them made their resonant voices carry with great gusto and force. It was a Mariachi tour de force, and the lively crowd spilled into the street, whistling, clapping and singing along as cars and diesel pickup trucks slowed to a crawl, their occupants yelling in Spanish to the musicians.

On the heels of three days of illness, these several days of celebration and birthday fun were sublime, and I am so very grateful to Mary for her kindness and generosity, to Rene and Bevin for meeting us on the river, and for Pam and Bruce, our dear friends of 17 years, for gracing our home with their presence for a brief but magical overnight stay.

Forty-six is looking good, and I am happy to be healthy again and ready for the remaining weeks of our first New Mexican summer.

Fun Friday: Canceled Due to Illness

Sadly, what would have been our fourth consecutive "Fun Friday" was cancelled due to my becoming ill on Thursday with some sort of virus. Neither of us ever had anything more than a common cold or our usual chronic back pain during our seven months on the road, and with only catastrophic health insurance, this is a very good thing. My current illness is most likely a viral infection causing garden variety nausea, headache and malaise, but not feeling well is certainly a bummer, not only because of having to cancel "Fun Friday" but because this is also my birthday weekend (I'll be 46 tomorrow).

At any rate, we're lucky to have the free and unfettered use of our neighbors' home during this weekend and the coming week, a very kind offer which allows us to have an extra 1500 square foot home in which to rest and stretch out. It's a treat, and it also reminds us how much we don't want a house of our own and the responsibility and the (inevitable) accumulation of stuff that that would entail.

One of the nice things about this house is its inner courtyard that includes an outdoor bed that's protected from the rain that recently never seems to fall. (Protection from the ubiquitous flies would be nice, too, but you can't always have everything.)

Here's a daytime view of the courtyard from the outdoor bedroom....

Here I am, reclined in the outdoor bed, nauseous and resting....

And this is a nighttime view (without flash) from my reclined position.....

Mary has been taking very good care of me, and I can only hope that I'll feel better for my birthday. Still, plans to travel up to the Rio Grande again for the day tomorrow may be scuttled in lieu of something less taxing. Being sick on one's birthday is never fun, but I'm grateful that it's a self-limiting illness that will no doubt works its way out of my system soon. And after all, there are many more Fun Fridays---and birthdays---to come.

---Keith

On the Santa Fe Plaza

Pilar and the Rio Grande

This past weekend, we took our rig out on the road for the first time since arriving to Santa Fe in early June, and it sure felt good to have the White Beast rolling on the tarmac once again! All systems were go, our solar panels kept the batteries charged, and everything worked like a charm. Ah.

So, we sailed up to Taos, spent a final night at our son and daughter-in-law's place on the mesa in El Prado (they're moving to downtown Taos in September), and then spent two lovely nights and blissful days in Pilar, camped on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Although some of our fellow campers were a little noisy in the evenings (it's the height of summer, after all), they always quieted down by midnight or so, and the cool night breezes lulled us to sleep, along with the sounds of the rushing river.

During the day, we splashed and swam in the delicious water, bicycled along the river road, and enjoyed a visit from our son and daughter-in-law (and a spontaneous visit from some Taoseno friends) on Saturday afternoon. We also enjoyed watching dozens of friendly rafters and inner-tube riders float by, and we hope to partake of a river ride ourselves quite soon.

Here's our son and daughter-in-law treading water in the mighty Rio Grande.....

And this is Rene contemplating the wonders of nature from his rocky perch.....

We spent a great deal of time reading some good books......

And Tina did a lot of what she does best these days.....

The weekend was a very needed getaway that soothed our spirits, quieted our minds, and bathed our bodies in the delights of a high desert river. The Rio Grande is alive and well, and we'll take advantage of it's rushing currents as many times as we can before the summer comes to a wane.

On the Road Again.....

Well, we're not really on the road again, but we'll be away for a long weekend in the vicinity of Taos, so stay tuned for more adventures, photos, stories and videos when we return.

Next week, tune in for a roundup of the latest news and a post to mark two months of living in community at The Commons on the Alameda.

Til then, enjoy your summer days (unless, of course, you live in Australia), and we'll be back with more adventures next week!

Po' Girl!

As if seeing Over the Rhine in Albuquerque last Saturday wasn't enough musical bliss for one week, tonight we were thrilled to see Po' Girl perform a free outdoor concert at the Santa Fe Plaza as part of the series of summer concerts on the Plaza that offers 79 free performances over two months.

Po Girl is a Canadian band that plays "urban roots music" like no other, and their spirited show was just fantastic. They obviously love the Southwest are frequently stop in Santa Fe and Albuquerque when they tour. The members of the band are talented multi-instrumentalists, switching between banjo, bass, slide guitar, accordion and clarinet with apparent ease, with inflections of Louisiana, Quebec and the American West. The bass and accordion player of Po' Girl is also a member of The Be Good Tanyas, another roots band whom we adore.

Hundreds of audience members reveled in the music, transforming the Plaza into a happy summer evening party uniting Latinos, Anglos, tourists, locals, and children who danced uninhibitedly onstage alongside the performers.

Some neighbors from The Commons joined us at the event, and other friends also showed up, introducing us to even more people with whom we will most likely continue to cross paths as we weave our way into different Santa Fean social circles.

It was a magical night on the Plaza, and Po Girl was the musical catalyst for dancing, tired feet, and smiles all around.

Over The Rhine in Albuquerque

Last night, Mary and I had the delicious opportunity to see Over the Rhine perform at the Outpost Performance Space in downtown Albuquerque. Over the Rhine is the lovechild of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, a married couple who first met while they were poor music students living in the Over the Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. This particular show featured a live recording of a 45-minute interview for the "Art of the Song" radio series, often heard on independent and public radio stations. The interview taped last night will happily be available on the Art of the Song website quite soon.

While living in Western Massachusetts, we had seen OtR perform several times at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton after discovering them via the excellent college radio available in that area. Having not seen them for several years, catching them here in New Mexico was an incredible treat.

What we love about Karin and Linford is their willingness to make themselves vulnerable, to write about their lives, their relationship, and their own struggles as human beings. They see songs as a means for the listener to experience deep feeling and a vision of what life could be, and they use their gifts deftly. Not averse to fun, they are both very capable of irreverence and play, but the preponderance of their ouvre consists of songs depicting stories, people and situations of great emotional depth and introspection.

We were lucky enough to be able to bring Tina into the venue with a special dispensation. Knowing that Karin and Linford love dogs (and were probably missing their dogs as they continue on tour), Mary ran into them before the show and told them that Tina was in the audience. After their encore, Karin and Linford came out to greet their fans, making an immediate beeline for little Tina. Instantly transforming from performers to dog-lovers, they sat on the floor and engaged with Tina (and us) for a good five minutes before moving on to the other fans waiting to chat and have their CDs autographed. It was a watershed moment for Tina, and Mary was equally pleased to receive a kiss on the cheek from each of them as we parted ways. (We also made sure to give them our card and the url for this blog!)

In November, Over the Rhine and some musical guests will be headlining a 5-day musical train tour of the West, with many lucky fans riding the rails with them, making stops at many spectacular places in between impromptu jam sessions aboard the train and scheduled concerts at various whistlestops. While we can't afford the train trip, we plan to see them again when they disembark in Santa Fe to play a gig during that trip, and we also look forward to their new recording when it's released later this year.

It was a wonderful evening, and left us with that breathless feeling when musicians and audience members share a mutually transcendent experience somewhat beyond description but almost universally understood. And to paraphrase the guitarist Robert Fripp, a recording may be a love letter from a musician to his or her fans, but a live performance is nothing less than a hot date.