This had been an unsettling week, with the stock market tanking and the news about COVID-19 growing more dire. Amid all this, I find myself facing a very bittersweet milestone. Our house in Sedona, after two years on the market, sold today. When the call came saying that closing was done, I felt this small crack in my heart. It is really and truly time to say good-bye to a very special time in my life.

I have lots of wonderful memories to look back on. There were Jamie’s many cast bonding weekends, where she filled my house with people and music as she made her initial foray into producing her own works. There were so many wonderful family gatherings, where the people I loved sat around my huge dining room table, heaped with food that increasingly was organic, home grown, and made from scratch as the years went by. There was my prolific peach and apricot harvests, that often overwhelmed me to the point of tears in the summer, but were so appreciated all the way into the months of winter. I will always remember the sky there. The sun and moon did their best work casting their glow over the red rocks as they rose and set. God’s rays pierced through storm clouds casting beams of light across the desert. Double rainbows set everything aglow after the monsoons passed through. And, oh, the night sky, so vast and filled with millions of stars. I really miss that big beautiful sky.

The thing I’ll remember most dearly, though, will be the long walks in the desert. The dramatic vistas, the unpredictable weather and wild life encounters, the amazing energy vibrating all around me, those walks were the inspiration that ultimately led to my writing and publishing Cha’risa’s Gift. I was never alone in my desert wanderings. I got to share that time in the desert with a partner who treasured that freedom and adventure as much as I did. I speak, of course, of my sweet golden retriever, Lucy.

I’ve been reflecting on the time in Sedona with Lucy a lot lately, not just because the house sold, but because of something I recently read. I’ve been reading a series of books written by David Michie about the Dalai Lama’s cat. If you haven’t read any of them, I highly recommend them. They are delightfully written; a foray into Buddhist philosophy that comes from the perspective of this irreverent, vain, little cat. The first in the series is called The Dalai Lama’s Cat, just in case you would also like to read a summary of Tibetan Buddhist wisdom from a cat’s perspective. The bit I want to talk about though comes from Michie’s latest book, The Dalai Lama’s Cat and The Four Paws of Spiritual Success. This book covers a lot of enlightening ground, but there was one section that talked very specifically about the pets in our lives that just really made me sit up and take a good long look at my dog. The book asserts that pets who enjoy good homes are there because they have very good karma. These treasured pets are sojourning with us, because there is some deeper karmic connection between us, and they have come to this safe place to use up the last bits of negative karma they possess before achieving enlightenment.

I can’t tell you how much I love this idea, that Lucy is spending the final leg of her journey toward enlightenment with me. I’ve always felt such a strong connection with her, starting from the moment we picked her out of the litter. If what she needs to achieve enlightenment is to be surrounded by good energy, than I feel like all the meditating she has done with me, and all the frolicking in the vortex energies of Sedona have served her well. I love that I have been able to provide her with the emotional, physical, and spiritual support that such a special being desires.

Lucy and I have helped each other in ways we probably can’t fully comprehend. Now, we are once again facing an unfamiliar trail. We have changed the desert for a coastal habitat, red rocks for forests. Some things have been lost, but some things have been gained. Whatever comes next for the two of us, understanding even this tiny bit about our connection makes me feel so blessed. It certainly has helped with the little crack in my heart. When I meditate each morning, Lucy is still beside me, enjoying the silence, drinking in the flows of Reiki. The Sedona house is a closed chapter, but Lucy and I are traveling new roads together. And thanks to some Buddhist wisdom imparted to me by a cat, I am more aware of just how special the bond between us truly is.

I just spent an entire post talking about my dog, and the Dalai Lama’s cat, and Sedona, so to even things out a bit, I am including some family photos, some special winter moments to tide everyone over until the next time. It has actually been a rough winter for us. The whole family has been sick a lot. But even so, Mark and I managed to go on a trip to Mexico with Jamie and our good friend AuBrie. Mark and I went into New York City to see a show Jamie produced. It was called “She Will Rock You,” and featured all women composers that Jamie had met and admired through her work at Maestra. It was a sold out house and an incredibly well received concert! And last but not least, we went with David, Natalie and Avery to Boston to attend PAX East. Something close to 3,000 people came through their booth! The game will be fully released next month. It has been a huge undertaking, so keep your fingers crossed for them!

I’m wishing you all good health and well being through the next month. It looks like we’re all in for a bumpy ride. But spring is here, the birds are singing, the buds are awakening. Things have got to start looking up soon, right?