So where does a 50-something Zen Buddhist living in Atlanta go for vacation in February?

Why, Bloomington, Indiana of course.

I'm in Bloomington tonight, having flown from Atlanta (after the morning sit, of course) to Indianapolis and driving from there to Bloomington, home of Indiana University. I'm here for Shohaku Okumura's weekend Nirvana Day sesshin, two 14-hour days of non-stop sitting - 50-minute periods with 10 minutes of kinhin (walking meditation) - with no interruptions. No tea service, no meals (you take any meals you need to strengthen your practice off-site), no sermons or dharma talks. Just sitting.

We start tomorrow at 4:00 a.m., so if you'll excuse me, I have to go to bed. I may not be posting much over the next few days, due to both fatigue and to keep my mind focused, and also because my hotel does not have an internet connection (I'm sending this from a Barnes & Noble) , but I'll blog all about it sometime after the Sunday morning service when I get back down to planet Earth.