We literally went from the mountains to the sea within a few hours this morning. That is the beauty of living in Santa Cruz. But it also meant going from peace to chaos, mindful to mindless. It was a complete Santa Cruz experience.
We first did a good deed and visited Land of Medicine Buddha. This Tibetan monastary is hidden in the redwood forest above the little town of Soquel, just a few miles from where we live. The darkness and coolness of the evergreens opened up to a sunny terrace where several buildings housed meditation halls, living spaces, a bookstore and even a swimming pool. It's a well known place for the Buddhist minded people. Even the Dalai Lama had spent some time here.
The children enjoyed spinning the prayer wheels, sounding the gongs, and saying hello to all sorts of buddha statues. A small hill led us to the biggest pagoda with a large buddha inside. It is a very peaceful spot, hidden from all the hubbub of the rest of the world.
Especially from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk! In just a few minutes, we descended from the most peaceful and picturesque locale, to the noisiest, gaudiest place in the Bay area. None of us had visited the amusement park before, however, so we thought, why not?
We found some rides for small children that put smiles on their faces as well as ours. We also found some very unhealthy foods which also put smiles on our faces: ice cream, cotton candy, french fries, corn dogs. You name it, we had it!
The good thing about this whole morning was that it distracted me from feeling the flu that attacked me a few days back. Now that I am thinking about it, I think I should go lay down and take a nap before the little monkeys wake up from theirs!
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