My son Jon-Paul’s birthday is this week. I’m so proud of this gifted, loving, caring young man. Before Covid, he juggled three careers, but when teaching yoga and wilderness guiding went on the NO CAN DO list, he focused his time and considerable skill (he is a fourth-generation carpenter, after all) on our family business, Salonen Construction. His willingness to take over the company is a huge blessing because it means his dad and I can do more RVing!

JP’s also an awesome dad, a dedicated musician, chef/bread maker, naturalist, wilderness EMT hiker, group leader in Mariposa Search and Rescue and friend.

To celebrate his 42nd birthday, I’m making my every ebook in Deb’s Bookstore 42% off from now until March 31. You can get them in your desired format, and if you have any problems downloading to your ereader, BookFunnel is there to help. (Hint: wait for the email with the direct links after your purchase. I jumped the gun and discovered I didn’t have a clue as to how to transfer a downloaded book from my laptop to my Kindle Paperwhite. Once I followed BookFunnel’s step-by-step instructions, it was a breeze!!!)

Click here to be connected to: Deb’s eBOOKSTORE
Enter this code when prompted to save 42%: JPBDAY

Last week's Q&A was: Have you ever practiced Zazen meditation?

I’m not surprised that nearly everyone said, “No.”

A month ago, I’d never heard of Zazen, either, so I did some research. Here’s what author Josho Pat Phela says about it: “Zazen is the practice of awareness, of bringing your attention, or concentration, to the present moment—this whole and complete moment—by bringing your awareness to your physical presence, including your posture, your breathing, and bodily sensations as well as to your state of mind.”

A quirky set of circumstances aligned to allow me to participate in this daily practice with an old friend who spent ten years living in a monastery practicing this type of meditation. For the ten years prior to Covid, Paul and I both did yoga twice a week with Jon-Paul and a senior friend who liked to tell everyone that yoga saved his life. In mid-March 2020, Covid fears drove us to shut down our private studio. Without a teacher/leader, I got lazy—and very out-of-shape. Then, last month Kelly hired Reen, an old family friend, to be the little girls’ live-in Nanny. Talk about a win-win. The girls get to spend quality time with a very special teacher, and I get to do yoga and Zazen every morning. I even bought myself a “zafu” (meditation cushion filled with buckwheat hulls).

Have I achieved enlightenment? Not yet, but I’ll keep you posted. 😉

My two randomly selected winners this week are:

Marie Bourgery
and
Norma Morris

(Marie and Norma congrats. Please email me your pick of either a $5 Starbucks or a $5 Amazon gift card.)

Q&A

This week’s Q&A: Will the Easter bunny visit your house this year?

(Two winners will be chosen by random drawing to receive either a $5 Starbucks gift card or a $5 Amazon gift card. Please reply the usual ways:
email or on my DebraSalonenAuthor Facebook page.

Stay well, my friends, and happy reading,

Deb

PS: I got my second Covid vaccine shot last Thursday. Slept all day Friday, but woke up feeling 100% on Saturday. I feel a sense of optimism I didn’t expect.

Next week: Oh, what a gift! (you’ll be impressed)