Abalone Diving

I've lived in the Coastal areas of California almost my entire life and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

This weekend, some friends and I went Abalone Diving in one of the most Beautiful places on the planet... in my opinion... When we arrived at our location, the first thing we noticed was how nice it was NOT to be in the blistering heat of the heat wave that is passing by right now... The coastal fog was misty but not thick and the air was cool but not cold. A perfect day to be on the coast.

It funny, but I never get much sleep when I go away for a few days. There was a lot of stuff to get together for the trip as well as getting all my Abalone gear together. I haven't been Ab diving since last year but I used some of my diving gear for Gold Dredging last winter and I had to gather everything back up again... it always seems to take forever... going over lists, checking items, bagging and tagging!

I grabbed my floating tube that is wrapped with a cloth and has a net in it so that when you're out in the water, you have something to hold on to when you get a little tired... I think I spent most of my time holding onto that tube... it was exhausting..

The water was a little rough. twice I had my mask ripped from my face by a big wave and twice I had to have my girlfriend make the journey back up the cliff to retrieve my other mask. The first time, I got the other mask and then promptly found the mask I lost. The second time, there was no finding it... another item lost to the Great Pacific Ocean... I bet it almost sounds like I'm complaining... but I'm not, I just love the power of the ocean. It can be calm and alluring almost begging you to come out to play... and then a few seconds later... it can throw you around at will, deciding if at that moment, is it going to claim your life or let you live... this weekend, we all lived, we all got Abalone and we'll Feast Better than Kings tonight!

I hope everyone else is staying cool in this heat and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Fathers Day

Well, it's Fathers Day and for some reason, I'm missing my dad this morning. I'm sitting here, writing this note since my kids aren't up yet and to be honest, we haven't decided what we're going to do today... There's Elvin Bishop at Rancho Nicacio, and then there's the Save Mart 350 at Infinion Raceway... but to tell you the truth, I think I'd rather go sit by one of the lakes in the county, put up a chair, put a salmon egg on a hook, add a bobber and watch it float in the breeze. Relaxing, sitting with my kids, and just talking and laughing...

Yesterday our Motorcycle group went for a ride to Clearlake. It was a beautiful ride, lots to look at and I love the different smells along the road when I'm riding... it's really amazing how much you miss out on when you're in a car...

Where we went I spend most of my childhood summers. Summer Camp at Clearlake! It really brought back some strong memories of my dad. It was because of him that I was able to spend 2 months of every summer sitting on a lake, waterskiing, swimming and going to camp... it was a special place to be for me yesterday and I'm glad I was able to experience it.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

Be well!

Stress

I don't know why, but lately, I've been feeling really stressed... dealing with my sick mother, a girlfriend that wants ALL of my attention. Wanting to spend time with my kids without outside people being around... Anxiety, Male menopause.. whatever you want to call it but my patience level has been KNILL!
Work has been slow, trying to plan vacation time, dealing with everyone else's schedule in order to fit it into my schedule... I guess that means.... overwhelmed.. but I don't think I've been dealing with it very well.
Monday, I meditated about it and felt some relief. I talked to the two people that I felt were stressing me out and realized that it was me that was causing a lot of it. I think I'm feeling smothered... and I don't know what to do about it. So, I had a talk with the GF last night and let her know that it wasn't her, that I needed some down time so that I could feel better about myself. Hoping that she would realize that maybe if she backed off a bit, it would be better for our relationship.
I'm trying to take some time for myself but feeling pressure that I need to be there for others and it's weighing on me. Of course, when I pull back, the GF thinks that something is wrong with "US" and I try to tell her that it's just that I need some alone time. It's something I'm trying to work through...

What is the "right" way to let someone know that you just need some down time?

How do you deal with pressure without hurting other peoples feelings?

I know that taking care of myself is the most important thing but I hate hurting others...

Meditation helped on Monday, bought another book, " No Self, No Problem" maybe I just need to get out of myself for a little while... can anyone say VACATION!


Have a great week!

Just Sitting

Tonight I took my Middle son 17 and his friend out to one of my favorite places. No, it wasn't the nude E bar... we went and listened to one of my favorite people share about living life on life's terms. How to be present in peoples lives without pressing your self on them.

Yes, we went and sat in Meditation for 35 minutes and then listened to Jack Kornfield share some stories about life and how to go through the day to day things in life without feeling the pressure of always being good... or right...
Did you know that you have to have obstacles in life in order to grow. He had some great things to say as he always does. I feel blessed to be able to have such a great place as Spirit Rock to go to.

I look at my son and sometimes I wish I had been exposed to something as extraordinary as S.R. He just amazing me time and time again. When he took entrance exams to get into a private High School, I thought to myself... WHY? where he lives has some of the newest, best public schools in the State of California... but since he passed the exams to get in, how could I deny him.
Fast forward, A couple of weeks ago, he graduated from that school with honors. He also was accepted to a wonderful, exciting College in Washington State. I'm so proud of him as well as happy that he is open minded enough to look into meditating to move forward in his future one moment at a time. Tonight, he brought a friend with us to share this experience with.

If you ever get a chance to read anything written by Jack Kornfield and you have an open mind to learn things that may not be "in your character" please do, he's a great read!

Allergies...

So, it seems like I've lost a couple of days dealing with the worst Allergies. I had the WORST headache! I wanted to cut my head off...

I never dealt with allergies before... and the drugs that I have to take to take away the pressure makes me feel like crap... I love spring, I just hate pollen!

So, what do you do for allergies? How do you deal with it? Right now, I feel like sitting in a sealed room inhaling pure Oxygen... and I have a Rose Garden that most would kill for... Just planted the tomato plants and looking forward to the reward.
Not much to share right now, just felt like writing something. Seeing that I feel like I'm talking to myself anyway, It's more of a online diary!

Have a great weekend and hopefully the Allergies will give me a little break!

Dealing with a GF's daughter

I have a girlfriend that has a 15 yr. old daughter and she's a handful...

2 weeks ago, she decided that she was going to hang out with her boyfriend, her mom told her that she needed to be home at a certain time... but she just said, "Make Me" ... "D" told her that she HAD to come home and she just snubbed her... she told her that she didn't have to do anything she told her to do... I told my GF that she needed to report her to the police as a runaway... what they told her blew me away... " there's nothing we can do"

How can teenagers have more rights than the parents?? She wouldn't tell her where she was, she didn't come home, she's out smoking dope and drinking and still the cops do nothing... in my day, my dad would have Tanned my hide for such disregard! Kids have too many rights!! If you force them to mind, they report you. What are parents to do...?

My GF, kept in contact with the PD but they couldn't find her... then on Sunday night, she came home and acted as if nothing happened. How do you contend with a defiant teenager? I know that it starts when they are young, but she came from a broken home and the father doesn't support the mother... I wanted soooo bad to jump in and get involved... it took everything I had not to flip out at her... we know she's doing drugs, drinking and having sex... why is it that the cops can't do anything??? She needs to be scared straight... but kids these days know all the loopholes. They know that there really isn't anything that the parent can do to "force" them to respect their parent...

I have to say that it makes me sad that this child has no respect for a mother that has done everything to make her life better...

Things need to change, parents need more tools to help control unruly kids. Yes, it will be tough at first.. but these kids need to know that in the end, learning respect, manners and appreciation will only help them in the future... just how to go about it is the problem....

Any suggestions??

Memorial Day weekend

Hope everyone... all two of you.... had a great Memorial Day weekend! I had lots of things going on this weekend.

Saturday, my 17yr old, graduated from private School up in Sac. I can't tell you how proud I am of him... when his mother started dating a guy that graduated from the same school and she wanted our son to go there, I wasn't all that excited about him going there. He had to take entrance exams and he passed them so I couldn't say no even though the area in which he was raised had all new public schools and were considered some of the best in California

Well, fast forward 4 years... he's become quite the young man. Responsible, intelligent and he's been accepted to college in Spokane Washington. While at his graduation, the administrator that was announcing the grads, asked them all kind of questions and told them to stand if they had a certain dot on their program, each time a number of kids would stand up and then sit down again. They did this a number of times and then, he asked "anyone going to college in the fall to please stand up" and ALL of them stood, all 267 young men. Quite an accomplishment. 267 out of 267 kids graduating, accepted to college... I guess there are advantages to private school. They teach them to EXCEL, not just get by. The teach them to HELP THE COMMUNITY, not just use it... Each young man had to do over 100 hours of community service and some did over 800 hours.. amazing was an understatement. 4.78 Grade point averages... pretty unbelievable!

On Monday, I left on the bike to attend a Memorial Ceremony. Our Motorcycle group of 200 led by Highway Patrol and sheriff's, led a procession to the Memorial Auditorium. We escorted the parents of two soldiers from the area that was killed in Iraq last year. It was an amazing turn out. thousands of people came to remember those that had given their lives in defending our nation and our rights to live free... or at least to live better than most!

The fallen soldiers parents are a part of our group and with great pride we led them to the ceremony. There was a granite monument dedicated to those that have lost their lives in the war. When the gentleman that put together the event started talking, he broke out in tears... seeing an 80 yr. old Italian, talking about two 20 yr old young men that died, break down in tears.. was more than most could handle and the tears flowed... what an experience... it really brings home what 5056 other families must be going through... it also makes me glad that my own son's didn't volunteer to fight. I'm glad there are others out there that are willing to put their lives on the line to defend our honor... God bless them!