wow, what a wild ride the last couple of days.  I believe I last wrote after my sisters left.  Monday was a good day.  A troop of 60 boyscouts left that day and Sara and I had to clean all 60 bunks, and the rest of the hostel.  But most everyone was helpful and it helped that I was in a refreshingly good mood after my sisters visit.  I was even getting along with Subra.  Monday afternoon Sara and I snuck into town and chilled at a coffee shop for a few hours so I could catch up on some emails and decompress after a hectic morning. 

Tuesday was a pretty bland day.  I woke up and got straight to work. It was hot and everyone was in a distant mood.  The garden was conversation-less which was remedied with music - but even still there was just a weird worn out energy to the day. I weeded all morning and then began to thin the lettuce, which was surprisingly time consuming and exhausting. After lunch Sara and I were in the mood to do acupuncture so we stuck Teagan.... and while delightful it was still pretty “blah” as far as the energy flow is concerned. 

And then a beautiful thing happened - the clouds came over the mountain and it started to rain!  We saw it coming and raced out there and scattered horse shit around all the plants and just like that new life was given back to our quirky home.  Everyone is dancing and laughing and getting along.  AND THEN we all wind up at Mouna’s and Kenny hands out these mushroom chocolates and before you know it we are all having a wonderful trip together.

I love mushrooms.  This was only my second time doing it but both times have been so incredible. Opening my mind to another dimension and gaining insight into the world and my life - who I am and who we all are as humans interacting with the earth and each other.  It’s truly a beautiful thing.  Not to mention entertaining.  It was extra great because everyone was there.  Teagan was working the desk so she came later, but otherwise everyone was in the same boat. Sara and I spent a lot of time together and it was further confirmation that she is indeed a genuinely beautiful person and that we were meant to be friends here. This experience (both the hostel and the trip) would have been far more uncomfortable without her presence. 

Surprisingly I did wind up back in my cabin and was half way between sleep and wake for the rest of the night.  Even more surprising is that I woke up at 7am or so and helped Emily harvest peas for the market today and felt fine.  We all got straight to work on all of our little tasks.  We promised Mouna that we would clean her whole house for her while she is away.  We cleaned a lot yesterday but then we decided to make lemonade while tripping on mushrooms and the house looked like shit again.  But we all bucked up and got it done.  We also started drinking mushroom tea in the morning, which helped.  

It’s the 4th of July today!  And without a doubt this one will go down as one of my best 4th of July’s yet.  Coming off a great trip into a lovely community of people was remarkable.  But the whole atmosphere of today - the huge parade through the little town of Arroyo Seco, the street food, and good vibes.  I came back and took a long nap on the couch in the smokers shack - that was incredible.  The epitome of laziness in my book - it was heavenly.  Kenny, Teagan and I went into Taos and bought a whole ton of food and beer and we through a very impromptu and very delicious family dinner. Kenny was so generous and bought everything and then we all took part in crafting it together.  It turned into fajitas, a cabbage salad, corn on the cob and watermelon - a perfect 4th of July meal.  I was so overjoyed by this simple occasion - between the cool weather, another dumping rainstorm, and the compradore I couldn’t help but love this place and love my life. I spent the afternoon applying for jobs in Denver, and I am so excited to move on with my life, but somehow this strange little hippie town has wormed its way deep into my heart and I feel changed in ways that I can’t express yet. God Bless America :)