Is there anywhere else on the planet where one could live with such a diversity of experience?

Today I visited Berkeley's annual Himalayan Fair in Live Oak Park. Noticeable ( don't recall this from past years) was the great number of Tibetan and other Asian vendors showing their wares. They may have outnumbered the usual complement of Birkenstocked western converts -- among whom would surely have been my husband, Bill Soskin, were he still among the living. You can still recognize them by their studied serenity.

Thought of him today with every whiff of incense blowing by on the fragrant heavy summer air or the call-to-meditation rings from a tremendous array of antique copper prayer bowls being tested by potential buyers for resonance and quality of sound ... .

The perfect venue for wearing my crazy-wonderful Dorian-designed Happy Pants, right?

Remembered how much I loved living in that city all those years ago -- and of the many friends with whom I've (sadly) lost contact over recent years ...

But then ... .