Back From Vermont

Got to Vermont ok....I was worried because my visa was expired, but I got to the boarding place, and showed the attendant my visa, she said "You need to go to immigration...but there's not enough time...so, just get on the plane."

Whew! Once I left, coming back was no problem, because if they don't get your money before you leave, it's like a reset button and you start new when you come back in. Vermont was splendid...I ate a lot of food....read some poems on my son-in-law's radio show, signed my will...had a good cry with my daughter..got a new computer (MacBook Pro) for half price...and went to an art show opening for a local artist...realistic style of Vermont scenes...and there were mostly people upwards of eighty years old there, all very sweet and lots of cookies. Nancy, (my daughter) 's mother lives in an apartment they built next to them, and she was there,

and we seem to be able to be friends now, which is great because she really is a good woman. She read one of my poems on her radio show (http://www.royaltonradio.org) (her show is 7 AM Eastern time USA on Wednesdays...Rick's is the same time on Fridays) and one night we all watched a movie of my Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa. He was also Nancy's teacher. A crafts fair at the local town...it rained, but not very hard. My daughter and her husband sold wool from their sheep.When I hit the Dallas airport and started to have drinks, my luck shifted a bit...I had about eight drinks and then let it all hang out. I had purchased a book, "The Dude and the Zen Master", by Jeff Bridges, the acorn, and Bernie Glassman, a western Buddhist teacher known for his social projects. Basically, it's a conversation between them, inspired by Jeff Bridge's role in the movie, the Big Lebowski...they are dear friends, and it a kind of non dogmatic intro to some basic Buddhist ideas in folksy language....anyway, I gave it to a young man, a financial planner from Orange County, California, who was traveling with his sister. It seemed he could use the information. So, I was pretty tired and blitzed by the time I got into Mexico City. (no problem with customs Reset)....but, no more buses to Tepoztlan for 6 hours. I lasted three. I was skyping my friend ThomasI had just had 8 drinks, and a brief earthquake, and he said: "Get a taxi!"  I said:  "Yes!"  I went downstairs, where all the real-looking taxis were. "Seguro!" So, I got the cost got in...that's when the fun began. We hadn't gotten far, when another taxi cut in front of my guy. My driver honked and flashed...but that wasn't enough.....oh no....he drove up along side of the other  taxi and slammed into his side, then, raced away. I wasn't drunk enough not to be slightly surprised. I laughed a couple of times, and he laughed. A short distance and we were stopped by the police. "Cien pesos.", my driver asked and received. He talked to them, then they asked me to get out. They asked if they could search my bags and I said "Sure!"  They asked a couple of questions and I said what they wanted to hear, (which happened to be the truth)...and we were sent on our way with handshakes.

We continued, over a small animal, into Tepoztlan. The road was familiar as we came into town, but when we turned onto the main street, something happened to my TPS (Tepoztlan Positioning System), and I couldn't tell where the fuck I was. We got lost for a while, retraced our steps, finally asked someone where my street was. As we were going up the street my usual way, I couldn't recognize it...when we got to the church and turned right down my little side street...I had no clue 'til we arrived at my door.  Strange. So, the whole thing was a great adventure.