When paths cross... I'm trying to be more aware of the magic that happens.

My view of 'reality' has changed radically this past year, principally due to my attempt to completely immerse myself into the teachings of Abraham, better known as the Law of attraction, and/or commercially introduced as 'The Secret'. The landscape of my 'reality', the beliefs I once held are very quickly dissipating... borders of distinction are more like feathered lines in the sand... and I feel like I was secluded on a desert island, separated from the 'real world'. And/but now, instead of a sailboat washing ashore, offering me the promise of freedom... there arrived a cruise ship. And Instead of having to just spend a few hours learning to sail, and then letting the wind carry me to the promised land ;-) ... I find myself excitedly running all over this big ship, overwhelmed with the immensity of possibilities, extrapolating infinite potentials, etc. But in the mean time, while I'm enjoying this incredible learning curve... I'm still tied to the dock until I learn to get more focused, find my way to the helm, and empower myself to explore the open waters.

During my housing transition, I've been camping out at the Van Zandt Dike Restoration land. 1,000 of acres of woods and logging roads. This is a part of my 5 mile driveway. Not too bad :-)

And I crossed paths with this lost little guy a week ago on that very same road. It took me about 45 minutes to finally get him into the jeep, after following him around for a mile or so. Every time he stopped, I stopped, got out, and he start running again. By late pm. I had placed him in the hands of some good people at a shelter in Bellingham. By his overall appearance, his previous family didn't take good care of him at all... so once he's cleaned up, he'll definitely have a shot at a better home. He was really a good boy for being lost out there.

Some of the fellas (l-r)... Jeff, Chayse & Fred. Anyway, that whole diatribe above is just to preface to the next segment of my journey I need to catch up on... And this time that's on the people whose path has crossed mine. My job at the 'Everybody's Store' in the LITTLE town of Van Zandt, came about when my former landlady & I went looking for the 'turkey lady'. We stopped by this little country store and I was just captivated by it's ambience and eclectic inventory. As you can soon see by the pic's below, it is floor to ceiling and wall to wall, jammed full of goodies, imported cheeses, tasty salami's, fine chocolates, Tibetan prayer flags, Yoga CD's, masks from India, etc...

Some of the ladies... Amy, Keeley, Osa & customer. So having no luck finding the 'turkey lady' we left to go home and it was then that I thought, maybe I'll check their website and see if they have a link or two, that might connect me with the people, persons or org. that would steer me into the right direction of starting my own 'science of mind retreat' of sorts... So there were no links I hoping for, but there was a 'position's available' ad for a 'shopkeeper'. I desperately needed a job so I went in the next day, and long story short... got the job.

This was unknowingly at the time, the beginning of a new mentorship for me. Jeff & Amy Margolis have been running this store for almost 40 years. Amy is now retired from the symphony where she played violin and Jeff, relocated from Brooklyn, was one step away from becoming a political science professor at the University of Amherst, MA. I'm going to include here a link to a page (http://www.everybodys.com/about/press/seattle_times001.html) on their site that has an incredible story on how they got started with this business. But basically in the 70's, they were living out of a station wagon with a child in tow, when they came upon this business for sale. They needed a roof over their head and the rest, as they say, is history.

During my interview with Jeff for the job, I quickly realized that I was in the presence of a master retailer. Being a 'free standing' building with no pedestrian traffic meant that one has to sell, woo, entertain, court, converse, and 'extract' every available penny from the customer. But I learned (am learning) that that doesn't mean hard sales, or chiseling the customer... this is a VERY small community and these people are your lifetime customers... So it's literally a 'dance', and you have to recognize early on, who is going to lead, what music sways their desires, size them up for the particular item they're looking for and then help them to purchase a few more, accompanying items, to complement their purchase. To watch Jeff with the customers is to truly watch a Master in action! And having had a few jobs in the food industry myself, I say that with the absolute & utmost respect!

So anyway, these past few months have been pretty amazing. 'Finding' this job was an absolute Godsend. 4 days a week I'm surrounded by a richness that most be experienced, can't be explained. I'm humbled as I sweep the well worn, 100 year old wood floors at the end of the day, to remind myself that Jeff & Amy have been sweeping these same wooden planks for almost 40 years... that's five years less than I've been alive. And they're not just ordinary shopkeepers... they have an active life in the community, been and are members of many local org.s, helped start a local radio station, etc... I feel my life pales in comparison... but like the Dali Lama who claims to only be a simple monk, Jeff claims just to be a simple grocer...

When I needed a place to live that was DIRT cheap or free, Jeff told me about the River Farm Community around the corner. He has an old friend who has a house there, and would out of town, working in Alaska teaching the natives there about recycling, biology, protecting the environment, etc. Then a couple of day's later, Jeff introduces me to one of the women whom I'd have to meet in order to inquire about living there... syncronicrity.

We (employees) were 'told'... by Jeff, that if you want to get into the good graces of the boss... then taking up handball is the first order of the day. So naturally I 'signed on'... not for the garnering of the good graces part, my good work ethic grants me that... but for the further camaraderie, and to bring a sport back into my life. Jeff's played handball in Brooklyn and now has brought it here to Van Zandt. He again 'spearheaded' this park, and the community came together to help build it. And now we've got three of the young guns from the store into it, Chayse, Fred & Ira, plus Jeff's 'older friends' who he's been playing with for years... we might be able to get some sort of league started up before to long. But for now 2, sometimes 3x times a week, before a shift, or on our lunch break, we walk across the street to the park and play handball... and I really like it ;-)

This valley is a magical place... a wide range of people live here. From the original logging family's to transplanted hippies, and everyone in between. Professionals who want to live outside the city, living on acreage, with gardens, chickens and the like, to the young people who never really left the area for long, but have a pretty good grasp about what's going on 'out there' and strong, intelligent views on life. The young people I work with are good to the core and despite the age difference, I can call good friends. For the first time in my life, I am getting an inkling of what it might mean to consider 'settling down'...

I'm also leaning what it means to live a such a small community. Everyone knows everybody! Everyone looks out for each other. I've attended 2 meetings recently, spearheaded by Jeff of course, concerning a rash of thefts in the area and surrounding towns... and I've experienced even more, the overall intelligence of the community. Again, people coming together and trying to work as one for the common good. I 'could' see myself being one of these people one day.

Jeff & Amy had a small employee party at their home shortly after the 4th of July. And afterwards Jeff gave me a tour of the house that he had helped design and build. We talked about the east coast and he told me of some of the special people in his life... some 'mentors of sorts to him and how he viewed them as living 'impeccable lives'. That resonated with my Castaneda books where Don Juan always spoke about living a impeccable life. Jeff in his 'small universe' here in Van Zandt. embodies that to me... and it is truly a wonderful learning experience.

So having crossed paths with Jeff & Amy and the Everybody's Store... at this time of my life is pretty interesting. Walking back from a break time handball game, sweat rolling down our brows, Jeff said with a big smile, something to the extent of "so now you have a job, a place to live... get to play handball whenever you want, you just need a woman and you could settle down and call it a life" I paraphrased that a lot, but the gist was... and what got me thinking is... that here is a man, who has led an incredibly full life. The store is a work of art in progress, attention to detail never wavers (because they can't afford to), the customer service, the diligence they take to educate everyone from the employees to the customers... and yet it is in the end just cash flow, and a spring board to building 'Social Capital' in the community. They have an incredibly rich life outside of the store, they never really let themselves be defined solely as shopkeepers, but in hindsight, they way they do it... brings honor to the old school, neighborhood grocer, and I'm honored to be a part of it. It's opening my naive eye's to a whole new world out there... a simple, but rich life, existing at the same time, in the same moment, right in front of me... while I sweep those 100 year old floors. As always... much love and keep taking very good care of yourselves... Alexis

p.s. I am house sitting again, for another couple... It's a small yoga/meditation center out in the country and it is absolutely, incredibly beautiful, and I have a zillion pic's for next time ;-) Now for those of you who know why I came up here... Know the significance of me 'crossing paths' with this home, and what they're doing... Almost scary ;-)