Judi Stauffer
  • Home
  • Artist
    • Artist Statement
    • Portfolio >
      • Three World Series
      • On The Road
      • My Peru
      • Montana : Homage
      • Cuba
    • CV
  • Shamanism
    • Background
    • A Return To Ayni
    • Joy of Awakening
  • Community
  • Blog
  • Contact Info

In memory of a dear friend

5/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today I discovered that one of my oldest friends, Cyndi Toth, passed away earlier this year. Since returning from Morocco last week, I've been thinking a lot about her because every year on or around our birthdays we would send a birthday card or call each other. This year, while I was in Morocco, there was no birthday email, or upon my return a card.

Cyndi came into my life at just that perfect moment. I had recently turned 16 and was bored with life — I was ready for something, but had no idea what. A few months younger, Cyndi didn't have her drivers license yet, but she did have an idea. The local university's radio station was looking for volunteers to catalogue their record collection. So, off we went. Five days a week in the company of college guys. Life became exciting and our imaginations ran wild. We'd stop off most afternoons "after work" at Friendly's Ice Cream and eat a hot fudge sundae going over the details of the day — what college guys we met, who was cute, what we'd wear the next day. That summer we learned to smoke pot, French kiss, and most importantly for me, I discovered a strategy for getting on with my life and out of Connecticut

One morning, sitting in the university cafeteria, we met a guy who mentioned in passing that his wife had applied for and gotten an early admittance into Bennington College while in her junior year of high school. Brilliant . . . the light bulb went off. By the end of summer I knew my future, just not the details. By  Spring, I had accepted an early admittance to Franconia College . . . skipping my senior year and escaping my boring suburban life. Freedom. After graduation from high school, Cyndi briefly moved up to New Hampshire and lived with me before heading off on her own incredible life journey. 

Cheers, dear friend . . . may the next stage of your journey be as (if not more) fulfilling!

0 Comments

Remember the Pigs? ? ?

5/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I fell Sunday . . . yes, it's true. While taking "the boys" — Simba and Peetie — for their weekly walk with friends to Nojoqui Falls. Per usual, they are infatuated with the pigs that live in a wooded glen. Peetie can stand absolutely still watching them. Simba, on the other hand, is not so patient . . . he wants to incite them to chase him without care or concern that their is an electric fence between.

The problem was that after about 5 minutes of my doing my best imitation of a "K-Mart mom" — yelling and yanking on their leads to come away so we could finish our walk — Simba actually listened and moved towards me.The break in tension caused me (who was clearly not being present with the situation) to loose my balance and fall hard on my right knee onto the road.

For the past couple of days I'd been soaking my knees with epsom salt and slathering it with Arnica cream. However, this morning running late to meet some friends for coffee, I quickly reached into a bathroom drawer to rub the Arnica cream into my knees. Hobbling off I noticed that they felt stiffer, and made a mental note if they didn't feel better later on I would go get an x-ray. After coffee (hot chocolate, really), while sitting in the hair salon, I caught out of the corner of my eye a familiar looking tube. In that instant a flicker of understanding rose to my consciousness — the tube I reached for this morning without having my eyeglasses on and slathered all over my knees was the same one. No wonder my knees felt stiffer all day . . . I had gelled them!

0 Comments

    Author

    I am an artist and writer who aims to live life consciously and creatively with no "Plan B." My musings include experiences from my travels as well as those who inspire me.

    Archives

    April 2015
    January 2015
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Cuba
    Food
    Getaways
    Montana
    Morocco
    Sacred Space
    Santa Ynez Valley
    Simba And Peetie

    RSS Feed

    COOL BLOGS

    Cinnabar Foundation
    Further Adventures of the Traveling Nuest'as
    Petunia Girl 
    Christine's Journeys 
    SBDigs 


Proudly powered by Weebly