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Luxury
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Tours And if they inquire whence
came such trees - Where not a bough once swayed in the breeze -
the reply still comes as they travel on. Those trees were planted
by Apple seed John
We're all making history, leaving seeds of change behind, even if we don't realize it. This year's quarterly news I'll touch on inspirational historic events and history makers from each season that may power up your own call to inward or outward action. I'll also dish up background on the particular place that is Health Habitravel's destination of the moment. If you're joining me there you'll find to enrich your visit. If you can't make it to that event, you'll have the information for your own use. But before sinking into the mellow tones of fall - which officially arrives on the Equinox on September 21, let me savor a salacious summer that included...
NOW TIME TRAVEL WITH ME: Today, September 12, 2003 an American treasure who sang soulfully with grit and guts passed out of this world, but his spirit survives in music and lyrics that broke through genre and generation. That train does keep a rollin' but I know I'll never forget survivor and voice for the real folks, Johnny Cash. Famous mountain climber ANNIE PECK SMITH was almost 60 on September 2, 1908, when she became the first person, let alone woman, to ascend the icy nearly 22,000' northern summit of Huascaran in Peru's Andes. A scholar and gentlewoman, she began climbing in her mid 40s, and continued adventures into her 80s, when she chronicled her twenty thousand mile flight over South America in 1932. Come August '04 you can ascend the Andes on Health Habitravels Body and Soul Journey To Peru, which includes time at Machu Picchu. Info at www.healthabitravels.com Icelandic heroine Gudrid "The Traveler" born 985, helped settle Vinland in what is now Nova Scotia in fall of 1000 AD. Her son Snorri was the first European born in North America. Gudrid journeyed all her life, and after a Pilgrimage to Rome, established nunneries as spiritual centers in Iceland. Born September 26th 1775, John Chapman tirelessly planted apple orchards and herb plants in the U.S.A. frontier for decades. We know him as folklore hero Johnny Appleseed. His efforts propagated the seeds of sustainable living in frontier settlers. The Johnny Appleseed Festival occurs falls in Fort Wayne, Indiana, www.johnnyappleseedfest.com More on Johnny at www.urbana.edu, where the Johnny Appleseed Society maintains a museum. The Sistine Chapel was first exhibited on All Saints Day, November 1, 1512. Viewed by millions since, it took Michelangelo 4 years to complete, has miraculously survived natural disasters and wars, and continues to uplift and inspire. Watch for an HHT Body/Mind/Art Italian Villa retreat in '05, including a chapel visit. Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of the Species" November 24, 1859, challenging biblical creation stories, battling the established order, and launching a biological science revolution. Creationists and Evolutionists continue ideological wars despite the fact that humans and chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA. Visit www.janegoodall.org for more about our relatives and the Roots and Shoots program. December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. Her quiet determination sparked resistant that grew into the Civil Rights movement. Half a century later our world is different because of this woman's silent protest that ignited a cultural and spiritual journey for us all. December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright manned the Kitty Hawk forever changing earthbound mankind's perception of exploration and adventure. October 23, 1910 Blanche Scott became the first woman to solo pilot a plane, and October 11th 1984 Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to walk in space. You'll find other women aviator's bios, and voluminous words on women's history at www.herstory-hffu.org December 18, 1839 the first celestial photo was taken. Now cameras point back at earth from Space. By December 18, 2039 we may step off shuttles to capture images of Mother Earth with contraptions we can't even fathom. So, this fall, experience all you can of the world - no, think bigger - of the Universe - give yourself time to meditate and create - be true and authentic - follow your convictions - this can only make your life fuller and the world richer. ONE RICH REGION TO EXPLORE IS CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL COAST. For those of you free October 11-13, a Health Habitravels group will be in Cambria, California. A few spaces remain for the trip, which includes a Hearst Castle tour, optional wine country or kayak excursion, plus free time for galleries and beaches: www.healthabitravels.com Here's some Golden State background: I arrived in California when I was 8. For me, a Canadian prairie girl who knew only flat-as-a-table landscapes, it was paradise. That's what most anyone who explores this land of varied terrains and peoples concludes. It's why people came in droves, and are still coming, proclaiming as Steinbeck's Corporal in The Pastures of Heaven did; "Holy Mother! Here are the green pastures of Heaven to which our Lord leadeth us." The natives: Essalen, Costanoan, Salinan Miwok, Atsugewi, Yokuts, Tubantulabal, Wintun, Yana, Chumash, Hupa, Cahuilla, Karok, Pauite, Wappo, treasured this heaven on earth. Chumash oral history claims you could walk from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, feasting on abalone and acorns, shaded all the way by a canopy of Live Oaks. This Yokuts prayer states that to these peoples land and human are one: My words are tied in one with the great mountains with the great rocks, with the great trees, in one with my body and my heart. Do you all help me with supernatural power, and you, Day, and you, Night, all of you see me on with this world But in the 1500s the Spanish arrived, "civilized the Indians," who they ignorantly considered primitive "diggers." Of the estimated 300,000 natives who thrived here in 1500 A.D. only 60,000 remained in 1960; and there were as few as 30,000 in 1920. Learn of these lost cultures in "Ishi in Two Worlds" a poignant account of Ishi, the last of the Yahi, .by Theodora Kroeber. A native presence remains: the Modoc tribe inspired Santa Barbara's Modoc Road, farming town Nipomo named after nipumum Chumash for village, Pismo Beach after Chumash "pismu" or tar. Russian fur trappers, traders and whalers plumbed and settled Northern California, while Spanish Padres and Conquistadors dominated central and southern areas. The Spanish came for gold. It eluded them, but their ranches and farms prospered. Using a Missions network built on El Camino Royale - "The King's Highway" - they converted, or more truthfully, enslaved the natives, who's labors allowed land grant families to flourish. Yankee Richard Henry Dana's 1840 classic Two Years Before The Mast authentically depicts the race-stratified society of Alta California, which Mexico governed for two decades. Ironically, the discovery of gold in the 1840s at Sutter's Mill, near now state capitol Sacramento, ended Hispanic dominance and transformed California into the US of A's alluring Golden State. Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and handed the territory over to conquering gringos. Gold fever struck American fortune hunters, and thousands of "49'ers" streamed west to stake a claim. California came to symbolize a rags-to-riches utopia. That myth prevails, despite the fact that agriculture is California's biggest business, and hardworking people comprise the majority of the population. Gold struck prospectors gave way to 20th century entertainment business fame seekers and dust bowl "Oakies", desperate for a fresh start, who inspired Salinas Valley born literary giant John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", and most recently to the boom and bust dot.com Silicon Valley yuppies. This beautiful seductress of a State became an international vacation destination, with tourism being the number two revenue maker. In the early 1900s East Coast blue bloods and robber barons came and built grand mansions, adding to California's luster. But a California native son created the ultimate west coast palace. Now a State historic monument, it crowns the quiet ranchland of the central coast, and changed the region forever. Midwest born George Hearst made his fortune mining in mid-1800s California. He amassed ranch land holdings of 250,000 acres. What had been the family camping ground transformed into "La Cuesta Encantana" now called "The Enchanted Hill," when George's son, publishing Tsar William Randolph Hearst, erected world renowned Hearst Castle. William, then 56, set out to construct a modest ranch house on his favorite hilltop above former whaling station San Simeon. But he and the family architect Julia Morgan - the first woman to graduate from the Paris Architectural Academy, were blessed with grand vision, and the ranch house expanded to the max. The resulting estate draws 800,000 visitors annually. Hearst believed, "Dreams are meant to be shared." While alive he shared his dream home with luminaries and dignitaries. When he died the family deeded it to the public, and tours began in 1957. Visit www.hearstcastle.org to study up on this amazing place. When in central California it is a must see. Reserve in advance Call 800-444-4445. The Castle opening led to public discovery of adjacent remote gem, Big Sur. Originally called El Sur Grande or The Big South, the rugged high country boasts a 90-mile stretch of amazing hikes, magnificent vistas and the famous Highway One drive. Cultural rebel/author Henry Miller (Big Sur hosts The Henry Miller Library, www.henrymiller.org) found the Sur and exposed this jewel to his San Francisco's beat generation cronies. The days of isolation, which had been prized for 150 years by hardy local families, ended. For forty years writers, poets, mystics and a motley crew of free thinkers have come to mentally mine Big Sur's volcanically produced, awe inspiring, spiritually stirring heights. www.bigsurcalifornia.org offers more on this mystical place. So there's an introduction to some of Central California. Continue north from Big Sur and fall under the spell of misty, windswept Carmel and Monterey. Wend your way inland to Salinas Valley ranchland and wine country. Head south to culturally rich, stunning Santa Barbara. I spent my formative years in Santa Barbara. With my in-laws in Cambria, and close family still in Santa Barbara, I'm blessed with easy access to these mind-body-spirit-restoring havens. I look forward to being with some of you in Cambria, and I'll keep you posted on a Santa Barbara retreat I hope to offer within the year. For those visiting Central California this fall consider these events:
AND THESE LINKS FOR CENTRAL COAST OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES
Try these moves to focus the mind & power up the body for your spirit reviving autumn adventures:
As long summer nights subside, and early star sightings fill fall's skies, take inward and outward paths that empower you. When late fall brings that wonderful Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, which is celebrated in California and Southwest USA, consider a favorite quote of that holy day and know that the seeds you plant by living fully today impact a far off future: "Hay mas tiempo que vida" and translated - "There
is more time than life."
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