Recently, my husband, Larry, and I moved
back to the mainland after
six years in Honolulu, Hawaii. Instead of returning to our old neighborhood
in Grand View, New York, we have settled into the warmth of California.
I was a psychotherapist near Nyack, New York, for twenty-six years,
with a master’s in Counseling Psychology and in Social Work (New
York-board certified). Larry was a Senior Vice President for Fidelity
Investments on Wall Street. We loved the people and the seasons,
although we had a difficult time with the cold.
We married in 1991, and ran the New York
Marathon (Larry’s fourth
marathon--my first and last). I would have never finished if it weren’t
for Larry running by my side, and the encouragement of the people
lining the streets. Twenty-six miles of citizens yelling their support
gave me the incentive I needed to finish.
In
1993, I earned my single-engine pilot’s license. I flew a
Cessna 172, a very reliable and common high-wing plane. As I flew
alone thousands of feet above the earth, I would feel like I was
gliding on the wings of angels. It’s tough not being able to ask
for directions, though. On my first solo flight, I thought I was
upstate New York but was actually near Philadelphia, PA. You can
imagine my surprise, and the surprise of the control tower that hooked
onto my signal.
I earned my certification in American Herbs
from Rosemary Gladstar’s Sage Mountain herbal school in 2001. My interest in herbalism started
when I picked up a magazine called Prevention and read an article
about coughs. One of my clients always had a scratchy throat and,
although he did not smoke, it was constantly dry. The article recommended
Slippery
Elm to moisten the area, and decrease the cough and dry throat. My suggestion
to try the herb was a success, and I continued reading more and more
about the nature of herbs and their applications. Eventually, I integrated
my growing knowledge into my practice. Two Tibetan doctor friends
taught me about Traditional Chinese Medicine, and I have continued
my herbal studies through Michael Tierra’s East/West School in Santa
Cruz, CA.
Larry
and I have always had fun and zany pets. We recently rescued
a mixed Australian Cattle Dog, Lab, and Terrier. She’s forty pounds of sweetness. She loves people and animals.
She sits on command, brings the ball back to you, and is already
housebroken. Did we luck out! We named her Tayya. My aunt and uncle
Googled the name and wondered about its history. It seems to be a
proper noun in every language but English. Tayya, however, is a combination
of our two favorite dogs’ names, Gaia (pronounced Gaya) and Tanya.
It was fun playing around with all the combinations of those two
names.
These days, I have a psychotherapy/herbology
practice in Sausalito, CA, Finding A Balance. I am Vice
President of CAPA: Children’s Aid Program of Africa, and spent
a month near Lake Victoria in Western Kenya evaluating private
schools for AIDS orphans.