James and his daughter Skye on the horses

James and I took and hour and a half walk early this morning and I got caught up on the progress of his new business which is called== “Everywhere.” He only recently went out on his own. He works with corporations and individuals on social media marketing and content development—His clients include Georgia Public Broadcasting, Citadel Media, Sanaa Lathan, The Bermuda Music Festival, Jermaine Dupri, Macy Gray, me, and others. Given that he comes from Atlanta I was impressed that at 7,000 feet he kept up with me. It takes some getting used to—like the high altitude flatulence we call “alti-toots” which afflict new comers to the ranch.

After our walk he, Sherrelle and their daughter Skye went riding. Then we spent 2 hours on a blog/twitter/facebook tutorial. Many of you blog friends have said nice things about my new tech-abilities but I am just a beginner and James has taught me a lot—like an easier way to reply to my Facebook and Twitter followers which I didn’t know how to do before. The Andrews family and Matt Arnett leave at 4am, tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon my sweetie, Richard Perry, arrives for 6 days. I’ve got lots planned for him. You gotta understand, this will all be totally new to him—ATVs, fishing, wilderness, etc. Stay tuned.

James Andrews on my horse

James and his daughter Skye on the horses

Sherrelle

Sherrelle and James

See you next time

From left to right, Elijah and Sherrelle on one ATV (All Terrain Vehicle), Matt, Viva and Malcolm on the middle one and, finally, James Andrews and Skye. They have packed a picnic lunch and are off to explore the ranch and camp out. It’s fun seeing the relatively urban Andrews family being exposed to the wilds of the high desert of New Mexico. They seem to like it. Swimming lessons at 5:00 and then a scrumptious dinner cooked by Sandra McDonald who just finished the Upaya retreat. Well, she had a day off in between.

And all the while I sit, glued to my desk, writing about sex. It’s hard knowing how much to say, how much detail to go into, how personal to get. As my daughter-in-law says, “You don’t want to lead the way to your door step,” meaning don’t get toooo personal.

My ranch hands cut all the trees that have grown up over the ten years I’ve been here which have blocked some of my view of the fields and river. This new more expansive view makes me very happy. So, I must say, are my regular blogging pals like Karen and Tim and Kelsey and all the others. I get such interesting feedback. Keep it coming. I’m not someone who has ever felt lonely but hearing from all of you makes me feel I’m not just talking to myself here.

Several very diverse people from Perez Hilton to the woman keyboard player in Richard’s musical have asked me to explain something I said  in the blog of a month or so ago when talking about Michael Jackson’s fear of death I spoke about my rehearsing for my own. I think I will write about that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

See you next time.

Hard to believe it’s already August 10th.

I walked with the dogs for two hours (my daughter’s dog Freaka who was bitten by a rattlesnake last week is ok now and came with Tulea and me) and then did physical therapy in the pool for an hour and have been writing ever since—writing and reviewing a wonderful book I’ve read several times—a book about relationships and sexuality. “The Passionate Marriage” by David Schnarch. I highly recommend it to those of who interested in deepening intimacy. (I’m still working on the chapter about sex and having a lot of fun writing it and reading about sex). It helps that I can talk to my sweetie without worrying about losing the signal. There was such a minute window of opportunity time-wise as well as signal-wise while I was at the retreat so this feels like a treat.

Matt Arnett, father of my grands, has been here. He’s an avid fisherman but can’t seem to get either Malcolm or Viva interested in the sports, something that saddens us both. James Andrews and his family just arrived from Atlanta and I will go be with them in a moment. I’ll also take a picture of them for the blog. A gorgeous family. Viva and Skye just came into my office to play with the dogs. James is the one who persuaded me to start blogging and has been an ever-present and helpful tech friend. Couldn’t/wouldn’t have done it without him. The other end of the duo is JJ in Detroit. I run everything past them both. JJ designed the blog and does the T-shirts which I sell in the “shop” to support g-capp.

Malcolm and Elijah

Matt fishing below the house

Viva and Skye

Malcolm, Sherrelle and Matt

Tulea and Freaka

Sherrelle

Viva and her Obama T-shirt

I’ve only had my MAC Book PRO for a month and still have lots of questions so this week I’ll ask James to tutor me.  Downloading photos from my new camera right now is an endless struggle. But I know that with James’s help I will “get” it.

It’s a perfect New Mexico evening, clear sky, no pollution (there’s never any pollution here), the sound of the river soothes, the hummingbirds dart and dive around our feeders. I feel blessed. My body hurts but I observe it and don’t identify with it. Life goes on.

See you next time.

It has been 7 months since I’ve been back at the ranch–since Christmas. A lot has happened in that time–fun things, exciting things, challenging things, too. I started blogging and tweeting for one thing. Now I’m back and it feels so good. There has been rain almost twice a day. This wouldn’t be good right now if you’re a New Yorker, but here in New Mexico it’s manna from heaven and as a result, the ranch has welcomed me back dressed in its most resplendent greenery.

View from my bedroom across the river

I’ve been hiking an hour or more every day, swimming, getting back into a semblance of shape. Saw a bear yesterday from my office window on the other side of the river, ambling lazily through the grove of box elders. I camped out on various parts of the ranch back in 2000 when I got it and was trying to decide where to build my home. One reason I decided on this spot is because I like looking across the river at the tall cliffs with that dense grove of box elders at the base that turn bright yellow in the fall.

I’ve seen bear there quite often as well as coyote, fox, bob cat, and ring-tailed cat. I look out from my bedroom and office across the river to those trees and it makes my heart sing. I identify with bear. They are social, playful creatures who love to frolic and cavort. But then, they need to be alone. Being here for me is a form of hibernation when I replenish. So much (too much?) of the rest of my life is public, moving around, being ‘on.’ I need this place to fill back up and be reminded of who I am behind the public persona. I have a wonderful crew of guys–Gilbert, Miguel, Rudy and Julien-who take care of the land and the equipment. It’s big so it takes a lot of caring for. Something’s always going wrong: rabbits or gophers have eaten through the electric lines; I am unable to get internet service (the case right now which is why I am writing this on my Blackberry); the roads get washed out; dogs get bitten by rattle snakes which are particularly abundant this year. This doesn’t happen to Tulea because she’s always at my side. A horse gets colic or goes lame. Carole who was helping me out in L.A. post op, is here now with her husband Tommy. I especially need them when my family’s here and right now it’s Vanessa, her 2 children and next week Matt Arnett, their Daddy, arrives along with the James Andrews family. James is the one who persuaded me to start blogging last January and his 2 children go to school in Atlanta with my grandkids. Still, we can hold a lot of people so it’s far from a full house.

and then there's my definitely urban friend, Richard Perry, in his recording studio. What will he think of the ranch? Stay tuned

I’ve finally begun to tackle the chapter on sex. As of now, I begin it with my interview with 101 year old Ben Burke who told me how he had developed a fondness for 95 year old Edith who lives in the assisted living floor of his senior living center. He called her and asked if he could come up and share a banana and animal crackers with her. On the 2nd visit things progressed from there…the slow, titillating unbuttoning of flannel pajamas… It’s nice to know that skin time never gets old even if the bodies do.

I will now got back to that chapter.

See you next time.