One of the brothers asked me if I wanted to go to San Diego this weekend for Earth Day. Apparently, the monastery scored a booth several years back, and once you have a booth, you get first dibs on it the next year, and they've been maintaining it. I wasn't so sure. I got a migraine on Saturday, and by Sunday morning my head was still pretty fragile, like I had huge marbles in my head and every time they touched, shocks of pain would sear through my cranium. I also wasn't sure if I was done vomiting anything I put down my gullet, and I had eaten some cereal and soymilk. But I also felt I needed to get down off the mountain, so with just a little convincing, I hopped in the van with two monks and two nuns.

It was a good call getting off the mountain, and I had a relaxing day in Balboa Park in San Diego, right near the zoo where I had went with my uncle and cousin. The booth sold Deer Park and Thich Nhat Hanh merch, and in the back we set up cushions and held 15-minute sittings every hour or so. I must say, though, that one of the best parts was the Christian-based group across the street doing folk dances on the lawn all day long. They were mesmerizing! One of the brothers made contact with them and found they had a place not far from our monastery. I want to go just to learn the folk dances - the wave of the future, I say - but the brother said that the literature he read of theirs looked a little sketchy. I still want to go. If someone organized a field trip on a lazy day, I'd sign up. Those dances were just so cool!

Our merch booth:


Sitting session behind the merch booth:


If you were there, you couldn't miss us: