I returned from a month in Chiang Mai in late January, 2012, and posted over 200 pictures to Picasa. Many people who viewed the pictures wanted to know and see more about my daily life while I was there. I had taken pictures of the temples and the sights, not my daily life. So the idea evolved to return to Chiang Mai to do yoga, meditate, return to the temples, and write a daily blog telling what I did and include a few pictures. During the late summer of 2013 that idea materialized, and I made plans to spend part of another winter in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I will be leaving Los Angeles for Chiang Mai with stops in Incheon S.Korea and Bangkok on December 17, 2013. The first flight of an airplane by the Wright Brothers was December 17, 1903, and their very first flight was 12 seconds. It seems a fitting tribute to 110 years of flight by flying 12 hours from Los Angeles to Incheon.

Because of my arm problem, my yoga practice in Chiang Mai last winter was limited. But while there, I was introduced to The Green Papaya Sangha, a group who meditate together in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Meeting with this group every week helped provide a foundation to my own meditation practice.  (Prior to being in Chiang Mai last year, I had never heard of Thich Nhat Hanh!)

My meditation practice has evolved, and helped me prepare for surgery on my right elbow to repair the problem. That surgery took place in September, 2013, and I am hopeful that by the time I return to Chiang Mai in December, I will be able to participate in general yoga practice at Wild Rose Yoga (owned and managed by Rosemary Bolivar…thank-you, Rose).