Four days on the road with Fun Yung Moon from Sedona to California (a cooler box & impromptu salad creations at very very random truck stops, stranger than strange gas stations & frequent attempts to find hot tea), ended at Elaina Love’s house in Berkeley. We made 3 visits to Cafe Gratitude (Harrison, Berkeley & San Rafael – where my friend and very talented artist Aurora Butterfly flew into me) in 2 days. What an amazing experience! Each venue feels completely different and despite it being the most Lovd up of hippy hangouts, the work model is strong, the vision consistent and the same energy of sound professionalism impressed me. Europe could use some Gratitude. I have the book Sacred Commerce with me – that’s my next project. Funnily though, I wondered how you dealt with being in a grump and working there, declaring as you must those positive affirmations throughout your shift, and like the Tree of Life, they have a ‘no gossip’ policy. I stumbled upon some less-than loving reviews last night – I guess you need to be ready to be grateful, stunning, blissed or happy to be there.

My friend Ralph’s voicemail proclaims “I Love California’. I get that. With the stunning land, beautiful weather & abundant produce – what’s not to love? London feels very far away & kinda hard work in comparison when there is so much light and fertility here. The figs are ridiculous, the dandelion leaves and mustard greens - crazily good! Borough market was the highlight of my grocery week at home – here the same produce is available everywhere, everyday and at a fraction of the cost. San Francisco I enjoyed for the first time – probably something to do with the sun and a dog named Ruby. The weather divide (somewhere south of San Fran) gave me winter-fear. But then I noticed my brain working better again so I’ll let go of the need for sweat. Besides which, my facial melasma is getting freaky..

Elaina was reading out You Know You Are A Raw Foodist When.. by Steve Pavlina  by (who just happened to hear our poo talk). The only thing I’d add would be: …you’ve invented an antidote to the smell of durian so no sneaky raw fooders come and raid your stash. I’m now in Santa Rosa with Shea and Stephen, catching up with myself, adjusting to the weather change & preparing for Canada! At last – some (uploading problems) of my FLICKR pics are up. Love ❤

          

PS: Speaking the mother tongue in North America means frequent translations and often hilarious interpretations. The obvious words we all know are different ie. curtains/drapes. eggplant/ aubergine. sidewalk/pavement. Little things like ‘he is moving house’ have these Yanks cracking up. Apparently they are improving on ‘English’ by using longer words such as beverage or refrigerator. Go figure..