Greg Murat (mur-rah)
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Journal May 2008
Saturday May 20, 2008
I need a lasso to slow the days down. I hit the ground running in France and in the USA and there is little time to write or play. Just for a moment I picked up my guitar tonight and Kayden wanted Papa for story time. It is my cycle now. Andie and I both get Kayden cycles. Andie is always in more than she realizes because he adores her and she is so incredibly good with him. I haven't talked to Sarah since France. She should be in New York by now and life is happening for her like for all the rest of us. I did call Freedom and found he had been in a bicycle accident and broken his collar bone and possibly some ribs and garnered some ghastly bruises. He sent some wounded pictures and it hurt to look. He is a kind soul for although he did mention that he was in a lot of pain his only concern was not being able to help Natalie with Anjali, and to help with packing and moving. He is an amazing healer though and I am sure all will fair well with them. Josh is busy studying jujitsu in Ojai and really loving the training and the physical workouts. He can touch his toes again he said. I said it hurts me to look at my toes and think about touching them. Unless I use one of those long back scratcher shoe horn combinations.
As so often happens last weekend we had the opportunity to go over to a musical gathering with the Delivery Boys and Jamie and Becky or go to a gathering with Jason and Blu which we had planned for months. We ended up at the Jason and Blu gathering. It was a lot of fun. It was Jason's 3rd-ee-ish birthday party and a wine blending party combination. It seemed kind of spooky but turned out to be a lot of fun. We offered to team up with the other set of parents but were promptly rejected due to our suspected lack of knowledge of wines. Blu's friend Rebel was there visiting from Budapest. She was on our team and we all opted for a spicy rather than fruity blend. Here is our recipe 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec, 3% Verdof.
We came up with the numbers the first try but wrote them down wrong, realized it and mixed the wrong combination just to eliminate it as it felt perfect. We had tasted each wine and imagined the combination of flavors. The wrong mix was good but the right mix was fantastic. After you get your blend you mix up 1000 ml to fill a wine bottle and the drink the left over. The bottles are labeled and then brought out for tasting when everyone is finished. Each person gets one vote. Here is the funny part. Rebel saved a taste of our blend and when we tasted the wines it was really hard to tell. We had tasted Jason's teams wine last and their blend was fruity but delicious. There were twelve voters from three teams. If it had not been for our four votes which went to Jason's team, we would have won unanimously. Everyone but us voted for our wine. It was a fun evening.
There is so much I want to write now as the days swish by in the rain. Paris and the time with Sarah and the whole experience is wanting to be written. I didn't document my stay as I would have liked. I am an early morning and late evening writer and those two times have not leant them selves to creativity of late. I decided I will stay in the studio until I simply fall over rather than lie in front of a TV. Here is to that purpose, for peace and prosperity and wholeness in our lives.Saturday May 10, 2008
Days that are cold and gray and lonely do not last forever. Birds know this and that is why they sing. Lynne Gerard
It is a cold morning and Kayden and Andie are still sleeping. Little dog spot is tucked up under my sweat shirt and shivering against my tummy. It is cold in the studio without all the gear operating. I spent an hour this morning playing my guitar in the light of the pre dawn. I listened to Life in a Northern Town on YouTube. I just put up the link to the photos I shared with Andie while I was in Paris. There are a few more and I am going to put the little shorts and I mean shorts, from 12 seconds to a few minutes, of Paris sights and sounds up on YouTube. I am still processing the whole trip. It shows the power of focus, asking for what you want, believing you deserve it, see it and feel it happening and then letting it go. It helps if you have a wonderful wife who loves and supports you. I am filled with gratitude and thinking here comes Mother's Day on Sunday. I talked to my dad on his birthday and he mentioned he wished he had spent more time with his mother and I said so do I. I wished he was closer too. That is the thing about Murat's is they move. They are mostly not chained to any location and land where there hearts take them and it seems it is often far away from other Murat's. We have the Asian tradition of raising a grand child with Kayden but I want to know and share in Sariah's, Anjali's and Sebastian's lives as well. Still life happens in moments and we need to be able to find contentment in moments. Ask what is it I need right now? The time to ask that question is best after the kids are asleep, or you are not working and you have a moment of quiet. It seems like we are tugged in so many directions in the course of a day.
I just got a note from Dale with a joke about sun block. When asked for the best sun block the person paused took out a pen and paper, wrote for a few minutes and then handed the paper over. "What is this?" he asked. His friend replied, "Directions to Seattle." I thought of that as I looked out this morning and thought that it is the springtime of the year in Washington that makes you want to stay. Everything has been so barren all winter and now the flowers are blooming, leaves have returned to the trees and all that rain makes for some very rich green colors. It is just lovely.
You know I haven't felt much like writing, that may not be accurate. I think finding the time to write is very challenging. The puppy is scratching for me to stop writing and pet her or cradle her in my arms. It all involves stopping typing. I wanted to write about my trip while it is fresh in my mind but am finding it difficult to do so. Perhaps later.
Monday May 5th, 2008 The Joy of Life :)
As I write this I am looking down in an ice covered land below from 30,000 feet in the air. I am excited to see home, Andie, Kayden and the gang and I am teary eyed leaving France. I am still saying merci when I get a glass of water and excusez-moi to get past someone in the isle. It is a 9 and a half hour flight to Atlanta and then another 5 to Seattle. Sarah was so sweet. She went all the way to Chateaulete with me which is a Metro station with numerous stations intersecting. I was pretty nervous to take the train all the way to the airport. Sarah made me a nice picnic lunch with including French potato chips and I forgot to take it from her at the station. I was so happy to have been and so sad to be leaving. She said in all her world travels I am the only one who ever came to visit her. Her loft is fantastic. It is the home of French artists with 2 children. I believe they are in New York at this time. Last night we drank a bottle of wine and sang songs together around her piano. We were both very tired so we didn't go for a walk. We watched The Great Gatsby and enjoyed each others company. What a wonderful hostess she was. Had she not called the last time to say fares had not gone up, and had Andie not encouraged me I would not have gone. I think the charm of Paris, besides the architecture, is the pace of life, the cafes, the metro, the walking, the flower shops, the vegetable stands, the delicious and inexpensive red wine (2 Euros for a tasty bottle), all the cheeses, the olives, the incredible bread, Patisseries and Boulangeries on nearly every other block, the pastries look like something to photograph, the multiple cultures. There were people from all over the world. Strolling through a square you could hear half a dozen languages. I love the fact that you can stroll around the city at one o'clock in the morning and soak up the scenery safely. I love the way there are gardens in the middle of some of the roadways. I was not equipped for shopping. It was a budget trip but if you wanted to shop, could you ever. Clothes seemed really reasonable. I was the only person in Paris wearing Crocs but good for me. I saw some terribly sad looking feet in saddles that had been blistered and calloused by bad shoes. I don't think I could have walked for 6 or 7 hours up and down hills in any other shoes. Back to food. I discovered a wonderful combination of purple grapes, French chocolate and red wine. Croissants and cafe creme is a wonderful breakfast. A long baguette of bread makes for nice treat as you walk the sloping streets. There are bike rentals everywhere. I never tried them though. I wasn't in much of a hurry though but maybe when Andie and I go. Having a place to stay and the warmth and charm of Sarah to share it with was a fantastic experience. More later.
Sunday May 4th, 2008 The Joy of Life :)
Here another spring has come and with it four inches of snow, heavy rains and warm sunny days. Though often various shades of gray there is always variety in life and each and every day. Sprinkles, possible showers, Intermittent rain, gusts of wind, arctic breeze, polar inversions, convergence zones. Who says talking about the weather is not interesting. I am ready for summer, ready for change, ready for more joy and more music in our lives, for more family time together, more love for one another. I am ready steady to walk to new heights. This Sunday morning I am so grateful for the many blessings, the many friends and the many days I have had on this planet. There is so much beauty above and below the waves and in the skies. The wonder of life, old and young seem to sparkle with a deeper meaning and I sit in moments of quiet just soaking life in and breathing it out once again. The beauty of my bride's lovely face seems more radiant than ever, the amazing beings who call me papa bring a wave of joy to my heart and a song to my voice. Good times are coming. Good times are here.All contents ©2003-2022 and to infinity and beyond Andie Murat and Greg Murat All Rights Reserved
Greg Murat (mur-rah)
Singer-Songwriter Guitarist