Ask and Y'all Shall Receive

I dared myself to attend a "Laughter Yoga" class and became a regular. Our weekly games, exercises, stretches, and meditation are led by a trained leader who knows all the medical reasons why laughter is good for health. "Laughter Yoga" chapters exist worldwide.

We meet Mondays. During guided meditation we are asked to thank the universe for all we have and make one request. Normally I want for nothing, but this time I asked for $300 (heating bills larger than expected). In Wednesday's mail came an unusually early birthday gift from my mother, an unusually generous $300 check, and also -- the cherry on top! -- a letter forgiving a $50 parking ticket I and a dozen others received while attending a special event. We had been told where to park so as not to be ticketed; we did so and all got tickets anyway, and worse, a bill in the mail after we'd complained. As of Wednesday all our tickets were forgiven.

With the day's mail in hand I laughed and laughed, especially at the extra $50.

This had to be the 50th or 100th time in life I've received deliverance on request, of all kinds from all sorts of sources, and it can't be mere 21st-century New Age magickal claptrap. I learned some time ago that "Amen" means "So be it" and yesterday that one possible source of the word "Abracadabra" is the Aramaic phrase avra kehdabra, meaning “I will create as I speak."

The Lavender Farm

Lived here 11 years before visiting the famed Lavender Farm in Eureka not five miles away. There they grow lavender, give spring teas with lavender tea and lavender scones, and strawberries with lavender whipped cream; and the gift shop sells essential oil, tinctures, spray, facial serums, soap -- and plants. Bought me a culinary lavender plant, cultivar "Provence," so I will always have a supply for my own lavender scones. Yes, I make 'em. See recipe here.

First went to the Lavender Farm in May for a spring tea with my "Laughter Yoga" group pictured here: Elaine, Mary, Ria, Kathy, Jodi, all of us dining in a former stable fixed up all nice and we got reservations and food and then a talk from the farm's owner, who said lavender is proven antifungal, antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-aging, anti-anxiety, and all-around good for you, whether absorbed through skin or eaten. Returned there on this electrifyingly gorgeous late June day to see the picnic umbrellas and lavender in bloom and some girls (see photo) out picking it, and also to buy the highly concentrated lavender essential oil to blend with the organic coconut oil used as my skin lotion, and the lavender spray that can be used as cologne or bug repellent. Everybody knows, right, that Lavender Skin-So-Soft bath oil keeps bugs away. Lavender is why. It's beautiful and it tastes good. Lavender is one of those miracle herbs.