CURRENT MISSION

Astrological safe-keeping (this trip), and my profession provides me with my "life's work" interests.

ABOUT ME

My work is very important to me, and 'feeds' me a lot, and it is also very challenging. So my astrologer sends me to certain hand-picked places for a week, every once-in-a-while, maybe as many as 4x a year. My trips are generally oriented around that advice, because left to my own devices, I would probably never take time off! I also enjoy my yard at my house. I call it my "mountain retreat in the middle of Los Angeles." When I finish getting the boxes out of the living room, I look forward to making my place available for couch-surfing.

Animals are important to me, and if a host has furry friends, so much the better. My "dog-of-a-lifetime" died in 2011, and now I have 4 rescues, 2 dogs & 2 cats. It has been lots of work to get them back to OK but very delightful too. I miss them when I'm traveling...so I feel particularly blessed when any host or hostess has animals, (even the 90# lap dog!) I love conversations and sharing food.

Another thing to know about me is that I am a "recovering preacher's kid." Not much into religion but pretty much into spiritual path working. Sitting in church in a pew is pretty much a PTSD trigger for me!

PHILOSOPHY

I try to put myself in the other person's shoes a lot. I have no patience at all with flat-out greed or evil, however. (I mean Real Big stuff, not daily annoyances.) Balance: as best as possible in all things. And just Witnessing this amazing World, and the amazing people in it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I joined couchsurfing (May 2011), still learning what there is to do. I have CS'd in Nova Scotia, Alaska, Lyon France, Bari & Lecce Italy, and Florida. As a guest, I try really hard to reciprocate to my host & hostess, especially b/c I can't yet host someone at my place.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Via a different website / venue, I've stayed with a number of people, especially in New England. One place I stayed, had a beautiful yellow lab. I was graced with her company in the bed for most of the night, and was most grateful, as I missed my own dog quite a bit. When Rome Airport Security took advantage of my use of a wheelchair to trick me out of my passport, it was CS friends who were an absolute Godsend. They saved my butt!!

Interests

I am an arm-chair organic gardener, and wish my rooftop could manage solar energy but I'm told I don't have enough rooftop space. My animals keep me engaged. I enjoy propagating plants, e.g., rose bushes from cuttings, and more, but frankly, I am a rank amateur at gardening. I love movies and never see enough of them.

And it's a good thing I love my work b/c retirement funds went up in smoke in 2008. So I guess Divinity wants me workin' till I pretty much drop.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• dining
• gardening
• movies
• traveling
• surfing
• communications
• divinity
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

I enjoy Baroque music & medieval, some other classical period, not much of current music, although I still have good memories of some Crosby-Stills-and-Nash, John Denver, Neil Diamond, and others of those eras. But cannot listen-while-I-work as music "short-circuits" my brain, so actually I *only* listen to music -- or I don't. I used to read more - recently enjoyed "The Art of Racing in the Rain." Now I pick a book partly on the basis of how thin it is, and trilogies are o.u.t, thank you very much! Favorite oldies are, CS Lewis books, especially Till We Have Faces, and Phantastes and Lilith. I don't see nearly the number of movies I'd like to. One of my all-time favorites was The Red Violin, and Nuts (Barbara Streisand) meant a lot to me.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Twenty+ years ago, I went to 2 weeks of Spanish School in Cuerna Vaca Mexico & took a bus ride, on my own, about 100 miles farther south to visit some Mexican friends - when I spoke almost no Spanish. Because I'm tall & blond, and the people came up to my armpit, I was very conspicuous - and they were all very lovely people, very nice to me. Memorable. And in Italy, with my passport stolen, people in Bari came to my aid in a most amazing way. OK these are not nearly as "amazing" as what others have done - but it required a lot of chutzpah for me!

Another amazing thing I've done relates to certain clients whose histories would curl your hair - learning to know, and be with, and be effective with them, is always challenging and rewarding. These are the folks who the media would like to scorn and discount as having "false memories" -- except they aren't false......

Teach, Learn, Share

As best as I can, Tolerance. And connection to the Divinity in others, and in how life works. I think if it weren't for "somebody" lookin' out for me, I'd have been in Deep Kimchee at least 30 times in my life. So tuning in to that level of being is important to me. I also very much enjoy connecting to the beneath-the-surface feelings & meanings in the people I know.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can readily share bits of info about astrology (tho I'm a dilettante) and Emotional Freedom Technique and maybe some other self-help skills. Would like to learn a little more Spanish. I also would love to treat my host to dinner at a really good restaurant of their choice!! I love to find out about foodie-restaurants!

Countries I’ve Visited

Barbados, Canada, France, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Spain, United States, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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