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c h aP t e r 16

I

left Ananda feeling rather confused and overwhelmed. It was
now the beginning of a rainy winter. Although I still had some
money left from working in Alaska, it wasn’t enough to get me
all too far down the road, or to put money down on an apartment
somewhere. Once again, for better or worse, I had made a leap into
the unknown, with little clear idea of where I might land.
After leaving Ananda, I visited my mom for a few days and pon-
dered over my options. I decided to hitchhike up to Eugene to visit
Matt and see what might happen along the way. I packed up my
worn backpack and was soon back on the road.
Just north of Arcata, I got a ride with a young woman, Janine, who
was going all the way to Eugene. She was a high school senior check-
ing out the University of Oregon. She planned to stay in town for a
week, before driving back to her hometown of Santa Cruz (where
my brother was still going to UC Santa Cruz). Once we arrived in
Eugene, she offered me a ride back south in a week, and gave me a
local phone number to get in touch with her.
I spent the week in Eugene, staying in a spare bedroom at Matt’s
house. Though he was glad to see me and put me up for a little while,
he was in school and didn’t have much free time. I spent most of
the week just wandering around town, hanging out in bookstores,
reading and writing in my journal in coffee shops, watching people
on campus, and going to a few of John’s yoga classes. John had be-
come used to my popping into class at random times over the years.
I would simply show up, attend a few classes, and then disappear
again. I always made a point of attending his class when I passed
through town, since I found both his yoga technique and his presence