Wilbur Hot Springs
- established 1865
-
Wilbur Springs,
California 95987
Telephone:
530-473-2306
Email: info@wilburhotsprings.com
www.wilburhotsprings.com
Dear Friends of Wilbur,
It seems that Wilbur's Guest Chef Weekends (GCW) are catching
on. The October GCW was booked
well in advance and had a waiting
list. If being served great meals is for you, instead of cooking for yourself,
please take note.
Wilbur's upcoming Guest Chef Weekends are scheduled
as follows; note that both November and December will feature popular former
Esalen chefs and frequent guest chefs at Wilbur, Charlie
& Marion Cascio. 
Don't Miss Our
"LONGER
IS BETTER" SPECIAL –
Stay
any two weekend nights at Wilbur and
get
additional nights at a 50% discount.
Good for stays through December 15
(excluding holidays).
We
created this new autumn promotion to encourage guests to take a few extra days
at Wilbur to slow down and relax in the soothing waters, bask in the
still-warm sun, enjoy the ideal day and evening temperatures, and contemplate
the golden hillsides and beautiful colors of nature's changing palette as the
season morphs from summer to winter.
Fall
is a wonderful time for a retreat at Wilbur –
and
staying longer is better!
As
you may recall when last I wrote, I was on my way to my 50th reunion at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. If you want to
keep in touch with your classmates, I suggest meeting more often than every 50
years, as it seems that people change and are difficult to recognize. One
highlight was spending a bit of time with my Nobel Prize winning classmate
Dr. Roald Hoffman of Cornell University, who shared
the award in Chemistry in 1981 with Kenichi Fukui of Kyoto University "for
their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical
reactions." (www.nobelprize.org)
New York went from hot and muggy to cold
and rainy -- and was still the wonderful, exciting, energizing Biggest
Apple. Singing in the rain, June and I were
urban hikers and every day was an adventure. One hundred New York City
blocks are only a five-mile walk.
Upon
returning to California, I drove directly to Wilbur for daughter Sarana's Yoga weekend. Getting out of my vehicle in front
of the hotel, I was greeted with the hills being alive with the sounds of
gentle chanting -- and a sunny, blue sky creating a 78 degree ambiance…ah,
bliss! Many of the folks in the Yoga seminar are regulars who have become a
community of friends meeting several times a year. The organic veggies
for Sarana's Yoga retreat came from Full Belly
Farm, a 200-acre certified organic farm just south of Wilbur on
Highway 16. Wilbur guests can stop at Full Belly on Fridays and
purchase nutritious groceries. Here's the contact information for Full Belly Farm:
Email:
belly@fullbellyfarm.com
Telephone:
530-796-2214
www.fullbellyfarm.com
The following weekend I was again at Wilbur and dear friends were
everywhere. The Reverend Ken Barnes, from
Sonoma and Kensington, was on his yearly fasting week, and Brian and Betsy Hand were there for their twice-yearly
vision quest. Brian is now working with hospice playing his music while
people transition. I also made a new friend in Michael
Amster, MD, a pain doc from Davis. Of course, I had a 1-1/2 hour
bodywork session with Dr. Shalamah Yachove, who is
now practicing at Wilbur almost every weekend.
Richard and Rick Davis and I took the screens off the
verandah and replaced them with our new glass storm windows. Richard then
taught me how to use our tractor and we created some additional parking
spaces. The next day we painted a small building in Wilbur's industrial
area near the parking lot. I find the physical work very satisfying and a
worthwhile change from my sedentary life consulting with my
patients.
NATIVE
PLANT REVEGETATION WORK TRADE AT WILBUR
With
autumn rains upon us, Craig Thomsen, Restoration Ecologist, who has been doing native plant
restoration at Wilbur for seven years, is preparing for more plantings during
November and possibly December. An overnight stay (weekdays only) including
use of all facilities is offered as part of this trade, requiring a five-hour
commitment of revegetation work per day.
If
you are interested, contact Craig by email, cdthomsen@ucdavis.edu or phone at
530-752-8810. If responding by email, please leave your telephone number, how
many days you would like to participate (two-day minimum preferred), and when
you can best be reached.
I
am at Wilbur on a regular schedule every two weeks, typically arriving on
Thursday evening. For those of you attending the Guest Chef Weekend on
November 18th-19th, please say hello. I am the very tall young man in the
chocolate robe.
I
wish you good health, with the reminder that the best medical treatment is
prevention.
Richard
Richard
Louis Miller, M.A., Ph.D.
Wilbur Caretaker since 1972
- - - - - - - - -
-
Photo credits: Hillside with
fog (top), Meg
Solaegui; all other photos, Jill Turner.
