Tomorrow is my birthday, friends, and a historic birthday it will be.
Not only because of sea otters (more on that in a second), but because — and I’m fairly certain on this — it will be the first cold-weather birthday of my entire life.
August in Sacramento, Barcelona, Agra (India), New Orleans, Boston…see a theme here? HEAT.
I love heat! Ungodly, crazy heat! The kind of unmitigated heat that gives everyone an excuse to be sweaty and dirty all day long. Where is this heat??? What happened to summer?
As evidenced by the above photo, in San Francisco we have no excuse to get all sticky and grimy. We have sweater weather. Sweater, scarf, wool sock and hat weather, plus a jacket for going outside.
Luckily, my record birthday low will be tempered somewhat by an overnight flight to Massachusetts. (To volunteer at/attend the Zen Peacemakers’ symposium on Western Socially Engaged Buddhism — remember that?) At least I will be traveling toward warmth!
Additionally, it will be an awesome birthday because before my 10pm flight there will be kayaking with sea otters and human friends at the Elkhorn Slough, a coastal wetland reserve near Monterey.
Why does any of this matter to you? It doesn’t, really, except to say that I will be traveling a lot in August (to hot places, hooray!), and will take a break from blogging. Those of you who’ve been following for a while know this is not an uncommon occurrence! I often disappear for months at a time, with no warning.
Anyway, in my opinion, with a mindful blogging praxis it’s good to get out of the internet for a while. Stretch the legs.
I am so grateful to all of y’all for reading, commenting, sharing links, and supporting me (and each other) through this little project over the last couple of years. It’s been an honor and a lot of fun to build and dialogue with you, and I hope some of the stuff you’ve found here has proven useful in your own life.
Big hugs, everybody, and take care!
Kloncke 
I LOVE the picture and a huge happy birthday to you!
<3 Happy Birthday!
I hope to see you on your travels perhaps!
Oooh, sea otters! We get lots of river otters here, never seen their awesome sea relatives though.
Enjoy the break, anyway, just recently started reading here, after your thread on Marxist feminism at Feministe. I’m really liking it so far.
What about August in Rome? Your sweet 16th!! Are you afraid that your audience would learn how your gullible Dad was conned out of 300 euros? It was hot there but the great gelato was some solace.
We’re missing you out here in the cold bay! Hope you’re meeting the radical sangha of the future ;)
Happy Birthday! Have a fun rest of the month!
Hey Katie,
I am a little belated in this birthday wish, though I think I may have sent greetings by Facebook. (All this social media, just can’t keep track!) Anyway, just want to let you know how much I appreciate getting to know via your writing, and our one short in-person visit at Wisdom 2.0), and I look forward to continued connections!
Also loved the photos of the otters. For a short while, I lived in Monterey and even had a kayak there… what a wonderful, magical place. Otters are all about joy and connection… may you have much of that in this new year of your life.
Maia