MSIA travel staff are currently in the Southwest, providing MSIA Services (Innerphasings, Polarity Balances & Aura Balances) as well as MSIA events. Staff member, Angel Gibson, provides this update from the trip:
Day 4
Today we get to drive from Santa Fe to Boulder. We’re like little kids, super excited to take this most beautiful scenic drive. But first we all have a hearty breakfast together. Our route will take us on Highway 285. We’re trying to remember what was that great little town in Colorado where we stopped last year for lunch. Luckily Roger remembered the town and the restaurant–our hero! He also had the foresight to Google the restaurant and get directions. We are doubly happy that we won’t be guessing. John is going to fly so we will rendezvous with him in Boulder. We pack up our cars with equipment, luggage and snacks for the road – Lesley and Vincent in one expedition; Roger and I in the other. And then we are underway.
It is a most perfect driving day. As we drive up through Northern New Mexico we have this wide open space rimmed with mountains in the far distance, and blue, blue sky. We had a fun moment when we stop for a rest break and realize that this is the exact place we stopped last year. We stretch a little and, feeling lighter, we start our engines and head out again. Soon we are crossing the border into Colorado and now the scenery changes. There are more pines and green. We are right near the mountains and the colors are deeper blues, greens, silvers and grays. The air is cooler. We drive by a river along the way marveling at the beauty of the water tumbling over the rocks with the pines alongside. There are horses running in the fields, and sheep. At one point the beauty is beyond words as we gaze up to snow-laced mountain tops. We’re hungry and all eyes are keenly watching for signs for Salida, our little town. None too soon Salida markers start showing up and we are delighted to enter the quaint downtown of historic Salida with Victorian type homes. it doesn’t take too much to imagine horse and carriages, ranglers, cowboys, ladies in long dresses and bonnets walking along the streets. We go right to the First Street Cafe on First Street (of course). Lunch meets our expectations (hmm, the fresh trout melts in the mouth). Then we visit the Cowgirl Coffee Cafe for a little quick shopping and coffee/tea and goodies, and then we get back into our saddles (seats that is) and drive through some more gorgeous God-country. This is a day of blessings and gratitude for us as we motor along, thanking God and the Travelers that we can have the gift of seeing this part of the country.
We roll into our hotel in Boulder around 6:30pm ready to get out of the car for awhile. The Traveler has arrived there ahead of us and we rally (with the help of a shower for some of us) for dinner at the historic Hotel Boulderado. This hotel is a trip back in time from the moment we enter the lobby with its Victorian sofas, reception desk, and accoutrements. We’re eating at the hotel’s Q’s restaurant which offers a scrumptious menu while most importantly looking after our need for food without onion/garlic/pork. We “ooh” and “ahh” our way through each course and are like warm contented puppies at the dinner’s end, ready to curl up and–you guessed it–do a few more emails before falling into blissful sleep. Meanwhile our Boulder MSIA family has been busy preparing the place for the Traveler and staff with sweetness and thoroughness as we will see the next day.
Day 5 — Boulder
There’s lots to be done today. Breakfast is grabbed on the run just before Services start. Roger and his band of merry assistants, headed up by Joel Blakeslee and Dan Kendrick, start setting up the audio/video for tonight’s workshop, An Evening of Blessings. Meanwhile Jack Henderson, ably assisted by his lovely wife, Karen, hosts the Services. Throughout the day Jack is a supreme Maitre D’ of the Service realm. He makes sure each person coming for their Service is attended to, as well as making sure that each of us Service staff have what we need. Once again we have the honor and delight to be with our friends from all across Colorado who are coming for Services and to be with the Traveler this evening.
Our day flies by and we join our Colorado MSIA family in the seminar room. Roberta Babinet is our MC for the evening. Gracefully she welcomes the group and introduces Luanne Sugar who shares a poem; we watch a Moment of Peace and the beautiful PTS slideshow of loving moments, and then the Traveler, John, takes the stage to bring us to the heart of our blessings. The blessings come present within seconds–and keep on coming. All too soon the evening is over. Sweet and sweetness is the word that is heard to describe the experience…that sweetness that emanates and permeates.
Day 6 — Boulder
We start today right off with the Traveler as we’re having a Question and Answer seminar with John Morton for MSIA Initiates and/or Ministers. First, before the event starts, there is an ordination in which all of us ministers are blessed to participate. The Q&A event starts with Virginia Ridgeway as our MC this morning, and in her introduction of John she tells of her memory of John many years ago playing with her children encouraging their expression of freedom and joy. There is much laughter and that special Traveler loving that flows to and through us throughout the morning. At Baruch Bashan John takes leave for he must go to the airport–ah, these Travelers are eternally traveling. Roger is also back to LA with some of the equipment as there’s a webcast happening later this week. No rest for that guy! We staff enjoy the plentiful assistance in packing up the equipment and the wonderful schmoozing with our Boulder family. Many thanks to Dan and Kate Kendrick, Steve Dreher, Joel Blakeslee, Zach Munroe (young in age but wise and what a techie–we think he must be destined for NOW Productions staff–watch out, Phil!) Thanks also to Terese Mahannah, Barbara Cooper and the lovely products and registration assistants. You held a beautiful Light focus for both events.
We have just enough time to grab some lunch and then it’s off to Reed Bernstein’s house for a few hours of Services. Reed is a dear friend, and former Colorado MSIA Rep. His edgy humor and tender heart is a zesty sweet combination that keeps us loved and teased. The repartees are fun, and you should see all the beautiful violins (he makes them) that Reed has in his studio. Services done, hugs to Reed, we head for our hotel and some down-time. We’re happily tired and there are those ever-ready emails awaiting us too. I get a few emails in before sleep claims me, and tomorrow is another day of Services. Night night.
Day 7 — Boulder
We spend the whole day at Reed’s doing Services. Mary Ann Settembrino and Bruce Rosenfeld have also been with us in Boulder continuing their balancer-in-training process, and they are with us today in hopes of getting a few more sessions under their belts. Roberta and Bertrand Babinet and Dan Kendrick help out Reed in the hosting department. We’re just happy to be among friends, catching up, being in the Light, witnessing the blessing and grace that comes in each Service as we let go and let God. Lunch is a treat and we’re grateful to Reed for the caring he puts into the food preparation. We sit out in the garden enjoying a little outdoor time. The afternoon whisks by and we must hug and say goodbye at least twice with everyone there. Finally with much gratitude we leave waving goodbyes. As we drive towards our hotel we find ourselves relaxing into that special moment that takes place when we’ve finished all the Services and events to be done in a city. It’s another moment of peace and fullness. This evening we have our own little staff dinner with some friends and then return to our rooms to pack and prepare to fly tomorrow to Austin. Thank you, dear Boulder MSIA family, for opening your hearts and arms to all of us!
Day 8 – if it’s Tuesday it must be Austin
Yes, it’s Tuesday and yes it’s 5:45am. Must be time to get up and drive to the airport. Hmm, we’re a little slow this morning in getting it all together, but somehow we manage to get checked out and packed into our cars and by 7:30am we’re on our way to the airport to catch our flight to Austin. As we drive down Hwy 36, Lesley walkies us to look out the back window. We see a breath-taking view of snow-covered mountains and receive of the beauty and majesty of these mountains. When we get to the airport there’s quite a lot of people there. We’re happy to finally get checked in and through security to our gate with just a little time to spare. Once on board our plane we barely stay conscious through takeoff. My SE’s have a lot of Z’s in them, I confess.
Soon I feel the plane begin its descent and then we seem to be at the gate at our Austin airport. Lesley runs to get a porter and Vincent and I head to the rental car location. With ease we get our cars and rendezvous with Lesley who by now has a veteran luggage man who has our luggage/equipment at curbside. He proceeds to help Vincent load up both cars. We come to find that he is 75 years young and has no interest in stopping his work. With a twinkle in his eye he waves us off and we’re on our way to–did you guess?–Whole Foods of course, and not just any Whole Foods, but the Flagship Whole Foods. Well, this store is a wonder. We hardly do it justice as we’re really just refreshing a few supplies, and then we move on to our hotel. Our rooms overlook the river and this is a treat. I opt to do some walking outside for what’s left of the afternoon. I walk up Congress Avenue across the river all the way up to the Capitol building which looks like a miniature Washington, D.C. capitol. This is one of my most favorite sites in Austin. Along the way there is a variety of architecture punctuated with building fronts right out of the old days, like the Driskill hotel and the old bakery, to the modern new buildings, like the one with lights that look like a pyramid at night.
6TH Street is famous for restaurants and historic buildings. Austin is the home of many music festivals and gatherings too and you can find live music in many of the pubs and restaurants around town. As I walk back to the hotel, Celia Allen-Graham calls me. She has been at the PAT 1, and today doing Services in Austin, and is my roommate and fellow travel staff person for the Austin/Dallas part of our trip. I’m delighted to hear that she’s soon to arrive back to the hotel and we make plans to do dinner together and catch up. Lesley and Vincent decide to have a quieter night, so Celia and I walk back into town for dinner at La Traviata, a fun Italian restaurant that gets high marks for providing a very tasty dinner without onion/garlic or pork. After dinner we stroll home across the bridge and we see a large crowd gathered to watch the famed bats do their evening departure from under the bridge. The air is that perfect combination of warm and cool-stress-less. We enjoy hanging out chatting with other visitors as we wait for the bats to do their night-travel. Well, the bats seem to like the cloak of darkness and we can hardly see them as they disappear from under the bridge. Nevertheless just being out in the fresh air and under the stars is plenty for us. And maybe we’ll get more of a glimpse of these bats tomorrow. In the meantime it’s time for bed. Light to our Austin Services and events coming up!
Day 9 — Austin
We start off our day today with togetherness at the gym–ah the staff that exercises together stays together–what a team. Vincent, Lesley, Celia and I then have breakfast and drive over to Sherri and Kevin Robinson’s home for a day of Services. Tim Teagues and Jennifer Miller and Sherri are happily waiting for us. It’s fun to hug and chat all at once trying to quickly catch up on a year’s happenings since last we saw them. Tim is our chef for the day and all morning long I’m smelling various parts of lunch in the making. By the time lunchtime arrives I can hardly wait to fill my plate. We eat outside overlooking the pool and this veritable devic paradise of old oak trees and magnolias. I take a few moments to swing under one of the oak trees that looks like it could have been there since the early Austin days. Lunch is so good–grilled salmon today with fresh greens and vegetables. Thank you, Tim. We are blessed to have you. I feel a mini-siesta coming on as the balmy breezes lull me. Mercifully a few sips of green tea revive me for the afternoon’s fun. We greet our friends throughout the day–Carol Beau, Rhonda Teague, Marti, George, Mark, Lynn, Rosie and Don…just to name a few. Some are just back glowingly from the PAT 1 in Wimberley. All are buzzing, eagerly awaiting John’s visit tomorrow. The afternoon whips by and we bid goodbye to our hosts and hostesses, knowing that we’ll see almost everyone tomorrow at the workshop.
Our little band of staff drive off, planning as we go what we’ll do for dinner tonight. We decide to go to Green Pastures, a lovely mansion built in the late 1800’s, for dinner. As we drive up, we see amidst the live old oaks that surround this house many colorful peacocks–the traditional blue neck ones, two lovely all-white peacocks and a brown and white one. Immediately it seems like we’re visiting back in time. This grand old house has a large wrap around white front porch complete with rocking chairs and plants. The foyer has a large staircase that branches off both right and left. The dining rooms have individual names–the Burgundy room (we eat here), the Music Room, the FDR room and the Grand Ballroom. There are upstairs rooms too but the most interesting to me were downstairs. Each room has a special fireplace and we can so imagine a beautiful woman in a flowing white dress playing the historic piano in the Music Room The garden off the ballroom is lovely. This house and estate has hosted many weddings and celebrations over the years, and is famous for good food and a few ghosts too. Our waiter, Ralph, who looked like a combination of David Sand and Rick Greene-our special friends from Los Angeles–was a combination of excellent waiter, stand-up comedian and travel guide. We kept him on his toes with all of our special food needs and wants, but he gave as good as he got, keeping us laughing along the way. We had the whole house to ourselves for the first part of the evening (no ghosts made any bold appearances) and we felt truly spoiled with the good care. Our food was delicious. At the end of dinner we clapped for Frank – Bravo! What a lovely night! On the way back to our car we spotted the peacocks resting way up in the trees, majestically perching beyond reach of any trouble. Heading back to our hotel we once again we’re counting our blessings and are grateful. Well, it’s time for more emails and a little sleep. Tomorrow the Traveler comes to be with us!
Day 10 — Austin
Hmm, we love our beds this morning, but after a shower and a little stretching Celia and I are on our way to Services with Martha Boston as our friendly chauffeur. Lesley and Vincent head over to the Four Seasons Hotel to set up the sound equipment for tonight’s “Spiritual Warrior” Open workshop.
It’s a short Services day with only four Services each to do. Mark Rose is our host and almost before we know it, we’re being driven back to our hotel by the radiantly effervescent Rhonda Teagues. We have time to grab a quick hamburger around the corner at vintage “Threadgills”, famous for launching Van Morrison and others. Originally an old gas station, this location became a place for grabbing beers and listening to jamming musicians, a number of whom went on to be famous, like Van Morrison.
In the meantime our Traveler, John Morton, has safely made it to Austin after a bit of a delay. The air is thick with humidity and heat–feels like a really warm summer day in Washington, DC. Celia and I change for the evening and then gently walk across the bridge to the Four Seasons. There we find Vincent and Lesley relaxing, as they have completed the sound set up for the evening. The assisting team was well underway with preparing the room, and Candy Spitzer and Carol Beau, the Austin co-MSIA reps, were on hand to consult, assist and do their pre-MC warm-ups.
All is in readiness and soon John appears warmly greeting those that are nearby. We see a number of new faces in amongst our friends. Kevin, Sherri and Drew Robinson make it a family night; Rhonda and Tim are assisting. Erik, Martha, Peter, Marti, Jennifer, Steve, Robert and many others are here–a little reunion. Carol and Candy welcome the group with down-home warmth. After a few videos John takes the stage and leads us right to the heart of Spiritual Warrior-dom. We examine what it is to be a Spiritual Warrior; who are our Spiritual Warrior role models, and what are the qualities of a Spiritual Warrior. I love the themes of impeccability and ruthlessness, and once again I find myself looking more closely at how I can activate these qualities even more in my life right now. All too soon the evening comes to a beautiful close with one of John’s special blessings. As we say goodbye, we know the parting is only for a short time, for tomorrow morning we re-join our Austin family for a special Question and Answer session and brunch with the Traveler too. Sweet Dreams!
