Today, Father Roy picked dogwood fruits and ate them. They were sweet and we were surprised. Figs ripen next to the church. Tasty acorns fall and we bake them into cornbread. Overhead, monarch butterflies are heading south. And grapes hang from a vine, reaching for the sky.

Oren and I walk to a hilltop near New Paltz. This feels like a holy ground to us. In the setting sun mountains darken and become silhouettes. He leaves for Yeshiva next week.

In Boston, Guy Mendilow rehearses classical and folk music traditions from around the world. Shari and I are experimenting with pesto lasagna topped with almonds. Their cat Basil overhears us talking about the her childhood home, New Orleans.

It’s early September, the world’s fair in Jamaica Plain ushers in the autumn season to the sounds of Latino, Brazilian, and world fusion music. A baker is selling home made donuts and leaves are already changing colors. Apple orchards can hardly bear the weight of their fruits.

The Fung Wah bus pulls into Boston and the city is crisp, clean. We pass my college dorm and a bank downtown where I once worked. I buy a new 'Charlie Card' for the red line subway to Central Square, a samosa from Shalimar’s and walk up Norfolk to JB’s house. It’s great to see Mindy again and their sweet little one growing up starting to speak.

Kevin Sheehan introduces his new book to me, "A Leader Becomes a Leader". We sit in Cafe Algiers enjoying toasted pita bread with apricot jam and mint tea. He quotes Thoreau, “In an imperfect work, time is an ingredient. In a perfect work, time is not an ingredient.” Cooking, ayurveda. I think, "devotion to the sacred lessons of those two arts really can become 'perfect'".

I’m struggling in the Northeast with the illusion of wanting to be successful. And remembering a radical, powerful act of healing - looking out the window for a half hour during sunset. Then remembering Dr. Lad: Life begins in the belly, the placenta. Not a heart button, not a head button, a belly button. Belly, the place of our being. And when we come home to ourselves, we come home to our belly. That is how we relax in the city.

Some new links

http://www.joyfulbelly.com
* My favorite addition to Joyful Belly this month is the "Threads of Cooking"
* Or, try a search on "vata-" for recipes that pacify vata.

http://www.guymendilow.com/
* Guy Mendilow's Band

http://www.yogaspiritstudios.com/KimValeri.htm
* Valeri Kim’s Yoga Teacher Training

http://www.flashearth.com
* Search for Pune, India and zoom in. We'll be living there until mid-December, studying ayurveda with our teacher Dr. Lad. With a great faith we are peaceful and confident in our journey to India.

Keep in Touch,
Love and Light,
Blessings on our Journeys,
-Joseph