I am 60

The date today is 11-12-13 and it is also my 60th Birthday. Friends from around the world started sending me Birthday wishes late last night as it was already December 11 in their part of the world. When I went out for my run this morning it was -2C and yes it kinda felt cold, but I wasn't feeling old. I have been very lucky that there was blue sky and sunshine for all of the day. I even chatted with one of my cousins in Australia and as my niece said this morning 60 on 11-12-13 will be most memorable :)

New opportunity's

Last week I discovered there was a new smoothie and coffee bar in the city. I went to check it on Monday and it turns out it was the first day open, I went again on Friday and met one of the owners Mike.It seems that he and his wife run a yoga center in Sarajevo and after a few minutes of conversation he asked me if I would be interested in teaching meditation there. So it looks like 2014 has new things for me. Yesterday I went in to see how things are going and and met Mike's wife Ajda and there new baby girl. Turns out she lived in New York for 2 years and left around the same time as me and we also discovered in conversation, that she and Mike came to a talk I gave in Sarajevo 2 years ago go figure :)

Back in Sarajevo

When I left Sarajevo it was quite warm and when I arrived in Ljubljana it was quite rainy and Sarajevo got cold and snowed.
I arrived in Ljubljana just after 6am, the bus trip had been uneventful. After a little nap and a run I went into the city and in the evening had dinner, Mexican food with a couple of friends. The weekend was basically a mix of light and heavy rain on Saturday and Sun and light rain on Sunday, I did manage to have lunch with friends both days.
Monday was nice weather wise, I noticed it was warmer in Ljubljana than in Sarajevo. I gave a talk in the evening on Sport and Meditation at one of the Faculty's to a small group.
Tuesday I had coffee, organic Hot Chocolate and good conversation with my friend Nejc who I met in Sarajevo about a year ago.
Wednesday was a late lunch with 4 good friends at a new Vegan/ vegetarian place near the bus and train station. Then it was time to get my bus back to Sarajevo, by about a third of the way completed we saw snow on the ground and when I got Sarajevo just before 5am there was about 10 cm on the ground.
So I was gone just about a week and the weather had changed from temperatures in the 15 C range to below freezing.

2 more trips before the end of the year.

Tomorrow I will make a trip to Slovenia, specifically Ljubljana. I have been invited to give another talk on Sport and Meditation at the same place that I did in March. It is always to visit and meet old friends especially at this time of the year because so many Christmassy things go on there. I usually take the bus and the trip used to take around 10 hours but since Croatia , which I have to pass through has joined the EU one less border delay has reduced this to around 9 1/2 hours. I will be there for 6 days and have quite a few things planned including of course my talk.
When I get back to Sarajevo I will have around 3 weeks before I make my annual Christmas trip to the UK to spend it with my family. I bought my ticket last week and it was only 1 euro more than last year so that is pretty good. I guess the airlines are staying pretty competitive.

Sarajevo Jazz Festival

At this time of year in Sarajevo there is a jazz Festival . 2 years ago I was invited by a new friend to go and see the Rosenberg Trio and enjoyed it very much. Last year there wasn't anyone that I really wanted to see, but this year when I saw the schedule there was one that stood out. While living in New York I had discovered Jack De Johnette and listened to quite a lot of his music along with others. So when I saw that he was coming to Sarajevo I decided I was going to see him. The tickets cost twice as much as the other acts but he is well worth it. I got my ticket at the beginning of the week and last night I went to the performance., it was outstanding. It has been my experience that the concerts are not sold out but are very close too it.I had a very pleasant walk home afterwards. I hope that I get the chance to see someone great again next year.

The visit

So a little time as gone by but I now want to fill you in on the visit of my friend Uranta Tom Kane. We have known each other for probably 20 years but have not seen each other for about 3 years maybe 4. It turns out he was at a conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia and decided to come and visit Sarajevo. He wanted to come by train but had no idea what this might entail. After a missed connection and delayed trains he arrived early evening and after a short walk back to my place from the station, we ate cheese pie and talk until late.
An early morning run started the day and then we drove with friends to Banja Luka for the day and as it turned out arrived back in Sarajevo in the early hours of the morning. Another early morning run then up into the hills for the day and to have lunch at Ecofutura, the Eco village where I used to work. In the evening we experienced traditional food and drinks in the old part of the city.
Sunday was a day of sight seeing and I tried to show him as much as I could and in the evening pizza with another friend.
I happened that he had a flight back to Edinborough from Dubrovnik in Croatia on Tuesday morning and we had to figure out how to get him there. The answer was for him to get an afternoon bus to Mostar stay there overnight and then an early morning bus to Dubrovnik. So after a last coffee at the train station he was off to the bus and his all too short visit was over. However he was more than impressed with Sarajevo and indeed the Balkans in all, that he will be back again soon I think.

I'm back :)

Ok so I did say I would try to post more often but time went by so fast.
During the summer I was playing tennis on weekends with an old friend of mine, it was nice cross training and I think it helped my running. This summer was not as hot as the last one, though there were a few hot days in there.
In September I had a short bout of food poisoning which was followed by the flu and this all happened, just as I was about to travel to Zagreb to give a talk. I did travel and the talk was interesting, as my voice got a little strange from the flu.
I spent a few days in Ljubljana where I met with my publisher and hopefully my book will be out soon.
Tomorrow an old Scottish friend of mine will be visiting me in Sarajevo for a few days. He was at a conference in Ljubljana and decided to take the opportunity to come. We have not seen each other for maybe 4 years so there will be a lot of catching up to do.
OK that's it for now, will try to keep my promise and post more often.

Linden trees

Well it is June here in Sarajevo and as in many other places around the world st this time, the Linden trees are blooming. Here they are called Lipa and I usually run along Lipa Alley in the morning and it is so nice to run under trees that are filled with fragrant flowers.
On May 29 I gave a talk on Sport and Meditation at the Academy of Sport in Sarajevo, to around 70 students and 11 of them are interested to learn more about meditation.
Tomorrow I will go to a training session of the Sarajevo Athletic club and meet with some of the guys, I am thinking to maybe see if I can train with them during the summer.

Projects

A week ago I had a meeting with the director of the International Peace Center in Sarajevo, he was very helpful in arranging the planting of a Peace tree in 1997. Over the years the plaque by the tree has been damaged and eventually disappeared. So the meeting was about dedicating a new plaque and actually re-dedicating the Peace tree. The director was a bit cautious at first since a few years ago a fountain to the children who died in the war ha been placed nearby, but eventually was quite enthusiastic and will arrange for a ceremony for both in the very near future. I will keep you posted on that.
Then Tuesday this week I went to the Academy of Sport in Sarajevo to speak with a Professor about me giving a talk there on Sport and Meditation and since next week is the last week of school he recommended I give one then , so on Wednesday May 29 at 15:00 I will speak to students from the running class and anyone else who wants to come, I also have the chance to give 2 more talks when the new school year starts :).

Spring almost flies by

Spring arrived in Sarajevo and then it  almost became summer a moment later. with temperatures entering into the 30 degree centigrade range. My friend Elvir asked me if I wanted to play tennis with him, he has not played before so we took 2 lessons with a local coach. It helped me a lot to remember some long ago learned skills. Now on Saturday mornings we play tennis., in our first match I beat him 6-4, 6-3 on the strength of me holding serve 3 times, but both of us are improving and we have a lot of fun, which is of course the main thing.
Rain and cooler temps have seen Spring return and of course as a gardener this will help the plants.
On Sunday Elvir and I ran the Run for Europe 4 k race, he has been running 4k in 30 minutes in training and I paced him to a time of 19:31 which of course he was very pleased with. He wants to run a half marathon in September so this is a good boost for his confidence.

Last weekend

On Saturday 3 of us drove to Banja Luka, it's about a 3 hour drive. After about 30 to 40 minutes of highway  you get the chance to see lots of nature and a few towns. In the evening 10 of us had a get together which included a meal for which a few of us provided an item.Then we drove back to Sarajevo, arriving just after 1am.
Sunday was a day for Spring cleaning which took place in the afternoon and was about a 2 1/2 hour excursion :) , a lot of dust can collect over the winter and the windows needed a good cleaning. Everything feels so much better now.

Overcast

It's a cloudy Monday here in Sarajevo, but the temperature is quite nice. For the last few nights we have had some rain so things are growing and it is supposed to get warmer as the week goes on. Inspired by this I have been potting on some of the new plants I started over the Autumn and winter moving them into bigger pots. I have also started sowing some of my vegetable seeds, Tomato and Peppers for now, but more to follow. My plan is to have fresh salad veggies growing on my balcony so that I can harvest as I need them. I have orange trees that I started last summer and plan to try Lemon and maybe Mandarin oranges this year

Easter

Here in Sarajevo there are not too many that celebrate Easter at this time in Bosnia it is mostly in Hercegovina, which is mostly Croatian and in the Serbian parts of Bosnia they celebrate a week later as with the rest of the Orthodox Cristian world.
Anyway it was a nice Easter weekend weather wise with very Spring like temperatures around 15 C though Easter Monday did show us some snow and rain followed by Sun. Quite a few trees are starting to show flowers and there are Daffodils and Hyacinth just down the street from me so Winter is slowly going away.

Half Marathon and more

March second I drove with 2 friends to Nis, Serbia to participate in the Half Marathon portion of the Winter Marathon there.This is the 4th time in a row that I have gone there. Four races ago I injured myself during training 2 days before so did not run, instead counting and supporting the runners and the 2 friends I ahd gone there with.
Morning of the race was cool but sunny and it got warmer as the race went on. I had some minor stomach problems but was still only a little bit slower than previous years.
Had a nice swim after the race and then got a ride to Slovenia with 3 of my friends who had come to also run the Half Marathon. Arriving in Ljubljana a little after midnight it was cooler and quite a lot of snow around.

What I've been up to.

At the end of February I went for a couple of days to Banja Luka. , an old friend from Canada was visiting for a few days and it was a nice chance to spend some time with him. The weather was quite cold, but the visit was pleasant, both of us like to talk and we had much to talk about, however the visit was quite short. He arrived around lunch time on Friday and because of bus and train schedules, had to leave late afternoon Saturday to arrive in Berlin, Germany for some meetings. I think maybe I have convinced him to visit Sarajevo next time he is in the region.

A day late

It's a day late due to me traveling yesterday, but here is the last poem in the series One Day ;

That tastes so good
I want to eat it all
but if I do
I'll blow up like a ball

So just one piece
will do for me just now
that just one piece
will have to be my lot.

Signs of Spring

Walked into the city this morning and on the way back I noticed  a bush with no leaves but a few pale yellow flowers on it..  Later I also noticed pussy willow. Signs of Spring indeed.

Today's poem;

Don't shine that
in my eyes
I can't see
where I'm going

It's bad enough
to walk here
without even knowing

Will I fall or
will I not
should I just
stand here on this spot

The only way
I'll ever know
is to move forward
just to go.

Just a hint of snow

This morning while I was out running there was just a hint of snow, the odd snowflake falling as I ran by the river. However I think that maybe it was a little too warm and eventually rain began to fall as it has done all day.

Today's poem;

It's that time of year
just like the last
climb through the ages
from the past

Rememberings from
years gone by
they make you laugh
they make you cry

Reflecting now
upon your life
to set the tone
to journey on.

A cloudy day in Sarajevo

Well it's a bit of a cloudy day in Sarajevo, but an old friend called me late morning and we had an early lunch and a nice chat in the city.

When will they stop
maybe never
they just go on
for ever and ever

To inspire
and to give joy
a gift from heaven
for this little boy.

One Day

One Day
is all it took
to get the content
for this book

It came out flowing
like the rain
it came out softly
with no pain

The words jumped out
I wrote them down
to give the answer
to your frown.

Power cuts.

In the 5 months I have lived in the apartment here in Sarajevo I have had I think 4 power cuts. It is usually the block of maybe 4 or 5 buildings.It probably happens in other parts of the city too from time to time and it only lasts for 45 minutes to an hour. Not sure what it is but it happens during the daytime and at night.
Anyway here is today's poem;

The Sun is warm
and gives me strength
warming now
my complete length

The rain refreshes
in the heat
the Moon the Stars
this day complete.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all. Here is the poem for today;

Rain has
washed the air
Sun now
brightens all around

Footsteps move along
making headway
on the ground

Birds are flying
the sky is blue
I am making progress
on my way to you.

This Day

This day
the words have
come for me

Come to carry away

Carry away
these feelings not meant
for me
not meant for me
this day.

What are you doing

What are you doing?
there's people over there
you'll make a fool
of yourself
have people laugh
and stare

I know that you're
a showman
and like to entertain
I know that you're
not stopping
you'll do it again
and again.

The Cowshed

The Cowshed's in the corner
the stream runs
down the hill
the waterwheel
is turning
and grinding
at the mill

It's nice here
in the country
folk greet you
with a smile

The air is sweet
and lively
I would walk
a country mile.

Snow time plus poem

The last couple of days we have been getting light snow and this morning when I went for my run, there was around 10cm ( 4 inches ) of fresh crunchy snow on the ground, though most roads and footpaths had been cleared.
Here is today's poem;

This country is finished
George
I heard the man say
It's not like it used to be
back in the day

When people
were friendly
and gave up their seat
when streets were tidy
and children
kept neat

Our mom's
made our beds
and we played
in the street.

This country's
not finished
soon strong
it shall be

with a coming together
of you and of me.

On a snowy day

It's snowy outside so here a warm poem ;

The warm drink
is in my hand
I swallowed it down
and life is grand

It's warmth inside me
spreads throughout
and comfort
now I feel.

Starting the second third

So this is the 8th poem and so it starts the second third part of the series;

I watch the singer
sing a song
and go within myself

The tune cries out
and up I stretch
for the book
upon the shelf

The words I read
and think again
what musings
can be done

I look out through
the window
am greeted
by the Sun.

Speaks for itself

Sitting here
in my room alone
feeling quiet
and feeling at home

An inspiration
comes to me
and on the paper
I write

A book one day
it could become
I think one day
it might.


Hope you like it, enjoy the day :)

I almost forgot !

I almost forgot to post this today ;

Love is
within the heart
a love that grows
just from a spark

A love you give
without condition
a love received
with kind permission

It stays inside
an eternity
a love for you
that comes from me.

It's number 5 !

The wonder of modern technology had me receiving a video call from an old friend of mine in Australia this morning. I was looking out of the window at foggy cold conditions, while behind him were palm trees and the sounds of parrots.
Anyway here is today's poem;

Hey may I have
that pie over there?
can you tell me
what is the filling?

Will the taste
be sweet or
will it be salt?
if I eat it all
am I at fault?

For wanting that pie
over there.

Your daily poem

On a bright and sunny yet cold morning in Sarajevo. Here is today's poem;

It's the last day
of the month
a new one
tomorrow will come

There's bills to pay
so money to find
and don't forget
my run

and when that's done
and put aside
there are days
for laughter and fun.

I hope this brightens up your day too, back again tomorrow :)

Today's Poem

It was snowing when I went out for my run today, then it turned to rain and now it's snowing lightly again. So here is today's poem, the 3rd in the series;

When are we
going to town?
I want to do
some shopping

When are we
going to town?
I want to
get some tea

When are we
going to town?
I want to
see some old mates

When are we
going to town?
to get some
shopping done.

Hope you like it and remember there are more to come :)

The Second one

Today in Sarajevo it is blustery but the temperature is around 11C, so not too bad. Well as promised here is the second poem ;

My father
was a coal miner
into darkness
he would go

One day with him
to the pit I went
the mines for me
to show

The heat and dust
that I did see
on the faces
of the men

The message
did impress on me
to not go back again.

Hope you like it and stay tuned for more :).

Poems came

Yesterday while I was listening to some music I started to get some poems , this happens to me from time to time they just come in ones, two's and threes, but these just kept coming and over about a 3 hour period I had 21 poems. Then they just stopped. It is the most poems I have received in one session and I have decided to title the series One Day. So over the next 3 weeks I will post 1 poem each day. Here is the first.

Rain runs
down the window
Rain drips
on the tin

Rain stays
outside of the weather

Rain no
you are not
getting in!

By the way I am dedicating this series One Day to my Father.

England and back part 2

So I took a day or so to recover from my trip and to adjust to the warmer rainy conditions, going for my regular run helped.
Then it was Christmas shopping. I also got a power cord for my laptop that was compatible for the UK. I went with my nephew and we stopped in to see one of his friends and we decided that we would all go to see the Hobbit film on the weekend. On Sunday we went and I enjoyed it, oh and yeah I got to watch a lot of football over the weekend.
Christmas was the usual family gathering, though it was slightly delayed since my brother in-law had to work, but he did manage to get away so that we could all open our presents together.
It seemed like it was going to rain everyday I was in the UK, but at least it wasn't as cold as in Sarajevo.

To England and back part 1

So on December 19 2012 I, for the first time in a while, took a flight on a major airline to the UK. My flight from Sarajevo on Austrian airlines to Vienna was a little late leaving but arrived on time, the connecting flight to London was also a little late leaving, but we were told we should arrive on time. We were about 20 minutes late because when we got there we were put in a holding pattern. I managed to quickly get an Underground train to Euston Station and as luck would have it got a ticket for a train to Stafford leaving in 15 minutes. I got to my sister's house at around 11pm, I had left my flat in Sarajevo at around 1pm ( 12 noon UK time ) so I had gone door to door in 11hours, which I was quite happy with.

Snow time

For the last few days it has been raining in Sarajevo and the river has been a little higher. Well today it is snowing. We had a light snow a month or so ago, but this time it looks a bit more serious and they say it will continue to snow for a couple of days. Apart from a short break in the UK over Christmas, this will be my first winter in Sarajevo

Birthday

Today I am celebrating my Birthday in the fourth different country in my short lifetime. I have mostly celebrated them in either the UK or the USA. The previous 3 times have been in Slovenia and for the first time I am celebrating it in Bosnia. It is snowing out there so I am having a white Birthday 2 weeks before Christmas. Tomorrow I get to go to a carol service which I have not been to for a few years now so it should be fun and in just over a week I fly to the UK to spend the holidays with my sister and family. I am just 1 year away from a milestone and must say I have an interesting and enjoyable life.

Internet experience

So I got this cheap internet provider in Sarajevo when I moved into my place in August. Everything was going well until I went make my monthly payment at the beginning of November at the post office. About 2 hours later my internet went off, at first we thought that maybe the payment was late and we would have to call the company to get it turned back on. However they didn't answer the phone and when my friend eventually went to their office no one. So now I decided to sign up with a bigger company, but they say they are busy and it would take 15 days to install, so I am waiting. In the meantime the restaurant across the street has wifi and I went there and ate pizza and got their password so I am using their internet for now. Plus I can use it at work, which is what I am doing now. Things work a little differently than in New York, but you have to figure your way around it :)

Peace Tree

Last Tuesday I took an overnight bus to Ljubljana to complete a project I had started about 7 months ago before I left for Bosnia. On October 11 there was a ceremony to dedicate a Peace tree on the Green ring which is a walking and running path around the city. During WWII it was a fence constructed by the Italians to prevent supplies coming into the besieged city.In 1990 a former mayor Nusa Kerseven had the idea to plant trees around the ring. Earlier in the year I went for a run on the ring and noticed some trees had plaques dedicating them to people or organizations like sport clubs and such. I thought it would be a great idea to dedicate a Peace tree and this led me to meet Ms Kerseven, who I discovered has a golden heart. It was decided to dedicate a tree on October 11 a Sri Chinmoy Peace Tree on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of his passing. The project grew and by the time we came to the ceremony we had 16 children from a local school running with the World Harmony Run torch, a well known radio presenter a well known Slovenian actress and the Mayor of Ljubljana who was able to take 20 minutes from his very busy schedule to help me place soil around the tree and say a few words of support. If you are ever in Ljubljana and would like to visit the tree to take a moment of Peace it is near the 31km mark on the green ring near the start/finish markers at Dolgi Most.

 

Fall

OK it's been a few weeks since my last post. Here in Sarajevo the weather has gone through a few changes, cold to warm to cold again. We have had some rain and as a result mushroom hunting and picking has become quite popular here. I have been picking and eating for breakfast Cep or Porcini mushrooms which are the current ones to be had.
I will be going to Slovenia tomorrow for a week and should during that time have a meeting with my publisher. Hopefully we are getting close to the publication of the book, which is slated to come out in 4 or 5 languages. So will let you know what happened in my next post.

Four Months

I have now been in Bosnia, specifically Sarajevo for 4 months and my experience is quite different than when I left New York for Slovenia. I started working almost immediately and it has been intense at times. I have just recently begun to realize that the city air is quite polluted and at times I have a little bronchial problem, but fortunately my work takes me up into clean mountain air and that helps. After a dry hot summer we have started to get rain and cooler temperatures and I have to adjust to that. Well we will see what the months ahead have in store.

Rain

We finally got some rain here in Sarajevo. It started last night and went on into this morning, stopping just before I went out for my run. The temperature is a little cooler as a result, but the Sun is once again shining.There is supposed to be more later today and tomorrow. Personally I am a little selfish because I am happy the the plants up in Eco Futura will finally get a real drink of water instead of the few watering can's I have been giving them.

Blue Moon

Tonight there will be a Blue Moon, which in case you didn't know is when you have a second full Moon in the month. It does not happen that often and I am told the next one will be in 2015. It seems we will be lucky to be blessed with a clear night here in Sarajevo. They a Blue Moon has a special energy so hopefully it will have a positive effect on things.
It is as crazy as usual at work, which of course is good because it means we are busy and we need that. We are supposed to get some rain over the next few days which is good for many things, but may effect business, school is also back in session so not as many families during the week.

An old friend

I had a visit from an old friend on Monday. We both lived in New York for quite a while and now spend most of our time in Europe. Due to bus and airplane schedules he could only be in Sarajevo for 1 day, but I got to show him around and he was suitably impressed and says he will come back for a longer stay.
The hot weather is continuing, but thankfully the mornings are cool when I go out for my run. I heard that there is a water shortage in the city, but they don't want to say anything so as not to upset people in an election year. Yes there are elections here too.

My Niece

I just came back from spending 6 days on the World Harmony run in Bosnia and in Croatia, check out my running blog for a report. On the second day it was my sister's Birthday and I sent her a message to wish her a happy one. She did however give me give me the news that my niece is quite sick and will have tests son the determine what the problem is. We are hoping for the best and I will post here when I know.

New Place

It has been a while coming but I finally moved into my new place in Sarajevo on August 2nd. Earlier in the week I bought a new bed which is very nice.The new windows were supposed to be installed last month, but things don't move that fast here and they are now supposed to be put in this week, they say Monday and Tuesday they will take 2 days.right now my room is very basic, a bed, a desk and internet :). I will slowly improve things as time goes on and keep everyone informed.

Cooler

There has been a change in the weather for the start of the week, actually it started last night. There was a sprinkle of rain in the morning and was mostly overcast. The high temperature for the day today was about the same as the low temperatures for the last few weeks or so. I have to say it is most welcome and is supposed to last for the next few days.

Survived II

Well I managed to survive my week of being in charge of the kitchen at Ecofutura, it got a little intense at times, but you just have to get through it. I will say one thing I didn't have a problem sleeping at night. Staff numbers are back to normal and yesterday when I finished my run it completed 18 months without missing a day, which equals my second longest streak of all time
The Sarajevo film Festival is over and I am sure the city will be a little quieter as a result, though I was told that the numbers were down from previous years.

Survived

Survived the weekend. It was really hot in the kitchen yesterday and we were busy, it seemed even more so because we were short staffed. Things will be a little quieter for a few days and the other cooks will be back by the end of the week.
The mornings are quite refreshing and it is nice to go out and run .

Hard work ;)

It has been getting quite busy at work and this weekend it got even more so. Normally we have 3 cooks at the peak of the day, but on Saturday the 2 cooks who have been the mainstay of the kitchen went on a trip for 6 days. So now I am the main guy with one assistant. It was quite intense at times because we also had a Birthday party to deal with, but we survived. It was a little cooler in the kitchen which helped. When I got home I had a hard time staying wake and eventually just sacked out on the couch. Sundays have been quite busy the last few weeks so we will see how we get through this one.

Longest day

OK so it is June 22 nd, which is supposed to the longest day. The forecast here in Sarajevo is that it will be quite warm, but with a chance for thunderstorm's later, from an Hortic's point of view this will help the plants since it has been hot and dry for a while now.
After my little break I am settling in again and actually starting to feel comfortable here.

In Sarajevo we have been experiencing some hot weather kind of like New York, but without the humidity.  of course I have the chance to go up into the hills where it can be cooler and we have even had some rain which cools things down a bit

Since I git back in Sarajevo it has been getting hotter and hotter, but I have to say it feels quite fresh when I go out for my run in the morning.
My weekend job in the restaurant at the Eco village can be quite intense at times, but the nature up there is so nice and I am slowly trying to landscape some of the areas there and create some nice plant features and introduce some new trees and shrubs.

So last Tuesday I took a bus to Ljubljana, it was sort of a last minute thing since I was supposed to drive with a friend but there were car problems, so I just jumped on a bus.
I sorted out a way to get the rest of my stuff ( well almost all of it ) to Sarajevo. It involved me driving with some friends to Biograd in Croatia where another friend would take it back to Banja Luka. I got to spend 3 days on the Dalmatian coast which was great, then spent 1 night in Zagreb, before taking a bus to Banja Luka. The weather in Dalmatia was great and I got to spend a lot of time swimming and visited a place called Murtur on an island near to the coast.
Yesterday one of my friends from Sarajevo picked up me and my stuff, so now I am basically moved to Sarajevo :)

This weekend I was in Hresa which is near Sarajevo, I am helping out in the restaurant at Eco Futura which is an Eco village . One of the locals picked some wild mushrooms for us. On Saturday she brought a Bolet mushroom that has quite a strong taste and on Sunday she brought some very nice Morel's like the ones I found in Slovenia, both of them were very tasty. She knows where all the mushrooms grow and will bring us some throughout the year :)

Well it's Friday afternoon and I have completed my first week working at Sun foods. It has been interesting and I mad a couple of mistakes in the first few days. I managing to run every morning, it has rained almost every day that I have been here, but I think I have only run in the rain once.

I took a bus from Ljubljana to Sarajevo on Wednesday night and arrived in Sarajevo at 5 am yesterday. The trip was fairly uneventful, though there was a lot of rain. Everything was done at the last moment, a friend was supposed to come and pick me and all my things up and drive me to Sarajevo. Now that friend will pick up the rest of my stuff next week and then I will be fully moved. It is a little cooler here and they in fact had some snow at higher elevations earlier in the week. My back is bothering me a little from the 10 hour bus ride, but I have managed to get out and run. I run by the Bosna river and notice that it is running quite high, probably from all the rain and snow melt. I have a few days to recover and then it is off to work on Monday.

Last week we had some holidays in Slovenia May 1st being the big one I took advantage of the time to go to Novo Mesto, which is a place I have visited a few times when traveling by bus to Belgrade and a few other places. but never stopped and took a look around. There is a path along the river where you can run and since most people go to the seaside during holidays it was quiet. Of course that meant that there were only a few places open where you could get a drink and something to eat. However the weather was beautiful and sunny and I had a nice day out.

I had said that I would probably go to Sarajevo this weekend, but once again things have been delayed. The move is now set for May 17 one of my friends will come up on the 16th stay over night and we will drive back the next day.

Spring weather is finally here and tomorrow is a holiday in Slovenia. April 27 it seems is the anniversary of when the people decided to rise up against the German occupation during WWII.

Yesterday I set out early and ran out to the Sava river to an area where I picked Morel mushrooms last year. There a re 3 places that I visited just over a week ago where I picked some small mushrooms and due to the steady Spring rains we have been getting there is evidence that there will be much more than last year when the Spring was quite dry. Almost as soon as I arrived on the trails I saw a morel in a new place and when I came to my usual places I saw some very nice large specimens. I decided to explore a few new places and in one of them I found 5 or 6 nice sized Morels hidden in the leaf litter. In total I found 150 g of mushrooms. I also picked some garlic leaf which grows prolifically in the woods too and I use instead of lettuce in salads.
Morels have a very nice flavour and I usually saute them with butter or oil and a few other veggies, they also go well in an omelet.

So on Thursday I went by train to Zagreb, I usually go on a Friday and the train was so less full going a day earlier.
On Friday I had lunch with friends and then we drove to Banja Luka, Bosnia. It was Good Friday or Veliki Petak in the Orthodox church and a group of around 13 of us got together for a celebration.
Saturday was a mix of light and heavy rain, but 7 of us went up into the hills and hiked 10 Km while also gathering some nice healing herbs and edible plants which were pointed out to us by a friend who is an expert in this field ( no pun intended ). We later had a nice lunch that included some of the plants we had gathered.
I had a little meeting with my friends from Sarajevo and it now looks like I will move there on the first weekend of May. So a new adventure is about to begin.

Yesterday I made flying trip to my place in Croatia. It was a beautiful day and I have not been there for about a year. There has been this pending problem with some missing tiles on the roof of the house and I finally replaced them, thus hopefully eliminating a water damage problem in one of the rooms. It is interesting that the tiles on the old house that are probably 80 years old at least are in good shape, but the ones on the new house that are about 40 years old are showing wear. As they always say they don't make them like they used too. I was actually only in the village for about 5 hours, but got to meet a lot of neighbours and some of them helped me do some of the work, I of course returned the favour. I also got some homemade cheese. I am hoping to make another trip near the end of April and this time take a few friends with me. maybe we'll spend the weekend.

Well it has been more than a week since I last posted and Spring appears to be upon us. I am still waiting to see the galleys for the Dilly and Dally books from my publisher, but I am assured they are on their way.
Just this last week I have been venturing into the woods near the river Sava to collect Cemaz leaves which grow at this time they have a mild to strong garlic flavour depending on the time of the season. I have been using them in salads, which I am eating a lot of now.
It looks like I will be in Ljubljana for a little while longer, probably until the beginning of May, but will keep you updated here.

2 nights ago I went to concert of Indian music. The performance was by a group called Desert Slide, which is actually Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and 5 musicians from the deserts of Rajasthan. I was lucky to see VM Bhatt perform in New York in the summer of 1995. The concert was in a small hall in Cankerjev Dom, Ljubljana and it was really wonderful. I would highly recommend you go and see them if you like Indian music and you get a chance.

Yesterday I made a visit to the Ljubljana Zoo. I have been here almost 3 years now and from time to time I have seen the signs for the Zoo. Yesterday was Spring like and seemed the right time to go visit the zoo. When I finished my college life and moved to London, I got a job as a gardener in the London Zoological gardens, so I have been a bit spoiled and didn't expect too much from Ljubljana. It is quite spread out and has a lot of trees, but not too many exhibits and a limited number of animals. I know that maintaining a Zoo is very expensive and Ljubljana is not a big city. They have a nice petting zoo for the children and there were a lot of families there on this day. There are also lots of play grounds for the kids too. I enjoyed the time I spent there, but it would be nice if they got more animals in the future.

A week ago I took a 12 hour overnight bus ride to Nish, Serbia. Arriving at 8 in the morning I got to visit with some friends on Saturday and on Sunday morning I ran a Half Marathon. The conditions were quite good, it was a sunny blue sky morning with a temperature around 6C. I managed to keep a fairly even pace, slowing a little late in the race and finished with a time of 2:29:08. Which was a little faster than my time of 2:29:36 last year.
I spent 2 more days visiting and took an overnight bus on Tuesday arriving in Ljubljana a little late after border problems for 3 passengers. It has taken me until now to recover from the 2, 12 hour bus rides and Half Marathon and feel like I am running fairly normally.

About 20 years ago a friend of mine whose husband had studied as a chemist, told me that he said that as we get older we have fewer colds, because the body has built up more immunity to them over the years. That what we do get is the newer ones. I guess it's the old, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger theory.
About 9 days ago I had a sore throat and the next day it developed into a persistent involuntary cough that has been with me ever since. At one point I thought it might be Whooping cough, but when I researched it didn't seem to be.After a few days it got worse at night when I got tired and in fact made it hard for me to sleep and would even wake me up during sleep. Some 6 years ago I had the same cough that was left behind after a bout of the flu, but something must have changed since based on the previous theory mentioned my body does not seem to be dealing with it quickly. Things are improving and I don't seem to cough as much and with some adjustments I have figured out how to sleep better with the situation. Last time it improved more quickly as the weather warmed up and that is exactly what has been happening the last week. My energy levels have been good the whole time and I have managed to run everyday.

The last few mornings have been quite cold in Ljubljana, -8C and -10C, so this morning it was almost pleasant to go out for my run and it was only -6C.
It has been sunny during the day for the last few days also and that has brought the temperature up to within a few degrees of freezing.

So there is about 1cm of snow on the ground the wind is gone and it is still -7C so when I went out for my run this morning it was nice and crunchy underfoot.My flatmate likes to put bread crumbs out on our terrace for the sparrows in the morning and I noticed that a robin joined them this morning. With the snow it had the look of a typical Christmas scene. The Sun is shining as I write this so I guess some snow will melt, but it creates a very beautiful picture.

I was supposed to go to Novi Sad this weekend, to an event that some friends organized. However the heavy snow that has been causing all kinds of problems in the south of Serbia switched to the north yesterday. So everything has been put back 1 week. I am not sure if I will be able to go then, but we will see how things progress through the week.
We have had the occasional flurry of snow here on occasion, but it has not amounted to anything until now. I woke up this morning to the sight of a light covering of snow. The temperature is still well below freezing so it should stay. Though it is not much to talk about.

I went to Zagreb on Sunday and it was snowing a little on the way, a little more so in the evening so that there was a light coating of snow on the ground.
Stayed with my friend Sead Sunday night leaving on the 6:50 am train Monday morning, when I got back to Ljubljana no snow. It is colder here than a week ago, but I talked with a friend in the Ukraine today and it is much colder there and a lot of snow. So you have to put everything in perspective.

I spent the weekend in Zagreb, it was really nice there especially on Sunday. I took the early morning train back to Ljubljana on Monday and went to a new book shop with a friend. While talking with the owners I got into a conversation about children's books with someone there, who turned out to be a children's book publisher and now says she wants to publish my books. I have a meeting with her on Thursday.

Cold one this morning, it was -5C when I went out to run and it had only got up to +1C by around 1pm. It looks like I will go to Zagreb this weekend, so we will see how things are there.
Hey I have been back in Ljubljana for a week now!

I have slowly become used to being back in Lubljana. It is colder here than it was in England and that is taking a little longer to get used to. I have managed to keep my running up and on Saturday I completed 1 year of running without missing a day. It has been quite a while since I did that, so I am quite pleased with myself. I think I am about 3 weeks away from making my move to Sarajevo, but there is no exact date set, so stay tuned.

My journey back to Ljubljana turned out to be quite an adventure. I was given the wrong information about the train to the airport and it turns out there wasn't one so I was unable to go and missed my flight. Then it turned out there were no flights the next day, so I had to book one for the following day. It also happened that the flight time had now been changed to 3 hours earlier and I did not have a train in the morning to get me there in time. So I had to get a train that got me in the night before and spend the night at the airport. Which apart from not being able to get much sleep was not so bad. The flight went really well and I was back in the apartment by 2 pm. I managed to get in a run, a little something to eat and some chatting with friends and then I slept really well.
It is colder here in the mornings, which I experienced on my 6:15 am run today. A few more days and I complete 1 year of running without missing a day.

Yesterday I took the train into Birmingham and my old running friend Abichal came by train from Bristol. When spent the day eating lunch, drinking coffee and talking about old times and times yet to come. This is the second year in a row that we have got together in this location. Is this the start of a tradition?

I have been in England for 11 days now, Christmas has come and gone and 2012 is just around the corner. This time last year there was snow everywhere and the UK was going through one of it's worst winters in more than 100 years. It has been very mild this time around. Even though I now live in the very beautiful country of Slovenia I always enjoy visiting my sister in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside.

I ate 3 snickers bars yesterday over a about a 12 hour period. My sister cooked me a nice vegetable stew for tea.
The weather is getting a little warmer at the moment and this morning I managed to buy my last 2 Christmas presents.

OK so I am in the UK for the holiday season, that would be Christmas and New Year. My sister has complained that I do not update my blog enough, so here I am.For the first time in 2 years my flight from Ljubljana was on time and I managed to get a train quickly and was at my sister's house before 11pm. It has been a little bit colder than Slovenia and rainy so far, but very relaxing.Nice to go running in the English countryside and over the next few weeks I will get the chance to see a lot of football ;)

So I am back in Ljubljana after 2 months in Sarajevo and the first thing I did was stub my toe and badly bruise it, sore but still able to run. I have to say it feels colder here than in Sarajevo, but for now it is nice to be back. I have two and a half weeks here before I go to the UK for the holidays, but it also looks like I will make a short trip to Serbia in about 9 days time. Hey it's December and another year is almost over!

Last night I gave a talk on Meditation and Sport to a group of around 20 people at the Bosnian Cultural Center in Sarajevo. Considering that it is a holiday here that was a decent turnout.
The weather here is still quite good though it is supposed to start getting cold at night in fact the coldest it has been since I got here. When I left Ljubljana I didn't bring a winter coat or shoes, I made a request from one of my friends there and yesterday I finally received them, just in time for the cold nights ;)

Here in Sarajevo the jazz fest has started and last night was the opening night. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to see the Rosenberg trio. The concert was great, though it did start a little late, not sure what the organizers were up to.
I have been in Sarajevo now for 1 month and I am very happy with the time I have spent here so far.

I was supposed to go to Maribor, Slovenia this weekend for a special ceremony on Sunday, but after my run on Saturday morning I had quite strong sciatic pain in my left hip area. This made sitting in a car for 7 or 8 hours very difficult so I did not go. I figured my hips needed adjusting and was able to do this myself however the discomfort continued for sometime. By this morning the pain had moved to my middle back area and seemed manageable, I decided to go for a run which turned out to be uncomfortable in the beginning, but got a little better by the end. I am confident it will improve as the coming week goes on, but a little sorry that I was unable to make the trip.

With a few exceptions I have gone to the UK to visit my family at Christmas and today I bought my ticket. The last couple of years my flight has been late each time. I hope I am not tempting fate by saying this, but if the weather is good this year I wont be delayed.

It has been I while since I have written anything here, so a quick update. I ran the 12 hour race in Belgrade on the weekend of 23/24 September. Though I got sick just before I was quite happy with my run completing 42 miles ( 68 Km ) and finishing 3rd in my age group. Eight days later I took a bus to Sarajevo, Bosnia where I am currently staying. I am in the process of trying to set up an organic coffee business, things are progressing well and hopefully....

My return

I have been without internet access since I got back to Ljubljana on Saturday, so was unable to post what I am about to now.
Saturday September 10 I traveled by bus from Belgrade to Ljubljana, there were some delays at the borders between Serbia and Croatia and also Croatia and Slovenia,but I reminded myself of the delay I had experienced 10 years before on the next day. On September 10 2001 I took a flight from Skopje, Macedonia and then had an overnight in Vienna, which I was quite happy with this because I had a chance to visit with some friends there.
The next morning after an early breakfast, (I was staying in an airport hotel provided by the airline) I checked in for my morning flight to New York.. There were a group of Russians on my flight and sitting in my window seat I was surounded by some of them. The flight was quite uneventful and as we approached Canada and 3 hours or so from New York I decided to catch a little sleep. I woke up a few minutes later to the sound of the captains voice and the last thing I heard was him saying was " And then we will continue on to Vienna". Of course I was confused by this and wanted to ask what was going on, but none of the Russians spoke English. After a short time one of the cabin crew came through and when I asked was told that there had been an attack on the financial district in New York and the airspace over America had been closed. The captain came on again and explained that the attack had happened while we were about halfway and we had been told to continue on and land in Canada, but as we approached were told that there were too many plane on the ground and we would have to fly back to Europe. We would in fact land in London, refuel and continue on to Vienna.I had been in New York when the WTC had been bombed and thought that maybe something similar had happened. As we approached London we were told that the airspace there had also now been closed and were directed to Manchester, where we landed safely and refueled. A lot of planes did the same thing and it was quite a while before we were back in the air.
We finally arrived back in Vienna about 13 hours after we had left, we were processed and eventually taken to hotels in Vienna. I was luck enough to get a nice hotel on the edge of the city.
It was not until September 15th that my flight made it into JFK airport. We were the first flight in and it was quite an experience to see a completely empty airport and of course the atmosphere in the immigration hall was very strange.
So 10 years later I had a much simpler journey with just a small delay to remind me of what is now sometimes just simply called 9/11.

On Saturday ( 2 days ago) a few of us were invited to an animal sanctuary in Djurdjevo. It seems that every year there is a sort of open day where there are tables with information about animal protection and also healthy vegetarian eating. As the World Harmony Run we did a small run with some of the local children and then got to enjoy the vegetarian buffet that was served to everyone. The whole thing is organized by a Swiss national, who I believe works for the Embassy in Serbia, Monika Brukner and she does a great job. Had a great time and was happy that I had a chance to go. Check out her website http://www.dzzdjurdjevo.com

Late this evening will mark 16 years since my mother was killed and I became an orphan. So much has happened since that time and my life has gone on and on. It is a time for me to reflect and to be grateful for everything I have had and have. Our parents help to make us what we are and I think of them both.

For those of you who know another side of me I would also like to wish a Happy Birthday to Alo Devi, who has helped me with much guidance in my life.

Some years ago I was unlucky enough to get a case of poison ivy and I was told at the time that it stays in your blood for several years. I don't know if this is true, but I do know that every year it flairs up at some point in the summer, though I must say it seems to be getting weaker, so I guess it is finally going out of my system.

A few days ago after finishing my work I was sitting in front of the cafe with Dejan the manager, when a casually dressed man walked by, he looked familiar. After he had passed I looked at Dejan and he said yes that was Vojislav Kostunica former President of Yugoslavia, it seems he lives nearby. He is still the leader of a political party here, but as he walked by he didn't look like a VIP.

While I was living in New York Squirells were ever present, they were like a plague in the city. I have been here in Belgrade for almost 2 months now and I have not seen even one.

One of the guys I work with in the cafe also works with a small theater group and last night I went to see a performance of a play called, Pagan Phantasma or The secret of Betrayal. It is basically about Judas's betrayal of Christ, but in a very modern interpretation. It was quite interesting, most of it was in English. It rained on my way to town and it got quite cooler as a result.

This morning I went for a run in the park near where I live and followed the path by the river all the way to the bridge that I cross everyday on the way to work.

This past weekend I went with a few friends to Slovenia. After about a 5 1/2 hour drive we stopped at a friends house in Bled and had lunch then we continued on to Planica, where we were going to spend the night at the Olympic sports center there, On Sunday some of the group went up Triglav mountain. I actually spent the day visiting Lakes Bled and Bohin. We all got back together in the early evening and drove back to Belgrade, arriving at around 1:30 on Monday morning. After a sleepy day at work and an afternoon run, I met up with some other friends and drove 2 hours south to Nish were I watched and listened to some old friends give a concert and arrived once again back in Belgrade at 12:45 am, tired but having fun.

On Friday I went with some friends to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia. On the way we stopped in Skopje and did a little sight seeing. This included the new statue that has been erected there. For political reasons it is officially called the rider on a horse, but unofficially it is Alekasander the great. It is quite impressive.
I was in Orhid twice before, once for a few days in 1995 and a second time when I flew out of the airport there when the airport in Skopje was closed for runway resurfacing. We stayed in a nice hotel about 5km outside the city of Ohrid, with a beautiful view of the lake. On Saturday we climbed up Galicica mountain and then visited Ohrid city. On Sunday we went to Sveti Naum or Saint Naum. Inbetween I ran a 2 mile race ( which it turns out was 3000m ) and a 1 mile race up and down a hill the next day. I had a really great time and returned quite tired and sore to Belgrade on Sunday night. I had the opportunity to stay for 2 more days, but needed to get back to work this morning.

I have been in Belgrade now for almost 2 weeks and I think I am pretty well settled in. This past weekend was interesting for me. Saturday morning, after running with some friends. I played a little 3 on 3 football ( soccer ) and I think I surprised a few people with my goal scoring skills.
Later in the day it got pretty hot, when I took the bus into the city it was 39.1 C which is 102 F, the humidity was not as bad as it used to be in New York, but it takes something out of you.
On Sunday I heard that my old friend and spiritual brother Mokshogun Clarence Clemmons had passed away, so my thoughts were with him. He had a big heart and a big smile. In the evening it rained and now everything has cooled down a little.

I am staying in an appartment on the 13th floor.We have a balcony that give me a nice view of the river and the city just across the river. There are a lot of linden trees in this area and actually there are some in front of the building. June is the month that they flower and the fragance wafts up and is so beautiful.This morning, after my run I strained something in the right side of my back and it was very painful when I first got to work. I managed to do my job ok, but it let me know it was there from time to time.

Some 4 days ago I came by bus to Belgrade where I will stay for the next 3 months. It is quite hot here, around 30C, but there are thunderstorms at night and ocasionally during the afternoon. I am staying in an appartment in New Belgrade, on the 13th floor. It is near to the river Sava and so I can run by the river veryday if I want to. I am quite familiar with the place as I stayed here in March. I am working 4 hours a day at a cafe owned by a friend of mine, I work in the mornings. I have worked for the last 3 days and I am starting to get my job down. I hope that I will have time to write more and also to finally learn Serbian well enough to have conversations with people and that it will help me with my Slovenian. We will see how things go, I am looking forward to my time here.

It's hard to believe that I didn't post in May, I guess I was busy. First of all I went by train to Munich on May 9th, this was not wothout incident. Due to track work they took us by bus from Ljubljana to Kranj, where the train left as soon as everyone was on board. Again in Austria we had to change trains twice to avoid track work and so I arrived about 40 minutes late. From then on the week went really well. I got a 1 week subway pass and found it quite easy to get around the city. I gave 2 talks on the relationship between Sport and Meditation, both well attended. I also ran a 2 mile race in a rain storm.
On the weekend I went with some friends to Berlin, though I didn't get to see much of the city. it's an interesting place.

In the last part of May I spent a few days in Zagreb, Croatia, where I got to attend a performance of some of Tagore's music as part of Indian culture week there.

The last few days of the month were in Banja Luka, Bosnia, where I actually met the League Champions Borac the day before they celebrated their first ever league title.

I will try to post some photo's later.

Ok so I was in New York for 10 days and it was quite cold there, spring is 3 to 4 weeks behind what it is here in Slovenia. Anyway in the week that I have been back it has been quite busy I went mushroom hunting twice. The first time I found just 4 Morels and yesterday I went out again and found a nice haul. In between I made a short trip to my place in Donje Dubrave in Croatia and came back with some organic eggs and my favourite smoked cheese. The morels are quite small and I am told by locals that this is because of the lack of rain. We had rain last night and more is expected through the week, so I expect to find more when I go out again. In the photo is about half of the mushrooms I found.