Strolling Sacred Ground

Did you everything of your own neighborhood as sacred ground? Enjoy every day. Look at what's around you. Take it in. The sights, the sounds, the restaurants, parks and the sounds of kids playing in the playground. My neighborhood in Austin, Texas happens at the nexus of Burnet Road and North Loop Boulevard- hence the blog name North Loop Zone.

I discover a few new places and rediscovered some old familiar favorites in the last few days. My goal was mainly to walk. The temperature in Austin hovered around 50 degrees, perfect for strolling. I had noticed a little place on a cul-de-sac called Mediterranean Chef Cafe. (The address is 5908 Aurora Drive, and the little alcove street adjoins Koenig Lane, near McCallum High School.)

I had circled the area around Brentwood Park and decided to check the place out. Interesting, Mediterranean Chef Cafe is somewhere between a take-out place and a sit-down restaurant. A young couple ate humus at a nearby table. The place had a friendly vibe. Two managers assembled plastic to-go containers. The kitchen area totally visible had a friendly, unpretentious quality. A couple of cooks joked with each other, sliding their necks like Indian classical dancers to the music on the sound system. A young hipster greeted me with a friendly smile. I ordered the chicken gyro plate and a falafel sandwich to-go. He asked if I wanted jalapeños with the gyro plate! "That's a new option!" I thought. "Yes, sounds good. Put them on the side. When I got home I found the food to be delicious. Somehow the jalapeños worked! I liked the generous portions. Very good!

Today I decided to go to a familiar favorite-- Torchy's Tacos on Burnet. Torchy's has a great reputation in Austin and has exploded in popularity in this town. Torch's has set the place on fire. Hell, the place has been raved about on Zagat's:

What started as a trailer in South Austin is now “a bona fide institution” with locations across town serving up “addictive”, “inventive” tacos (fillings include fried avocado, jerk chicken and smoked beef brisket) alongside “to-die-for” queso; the no-frills outposts have a “laid-back feel” and “patio seating”; P.S. the “breakfast tacos are also delicious.


Yeah, so I went for the breakast tacos on corn tortillas. You get two corn tortillas with every taco order. I got Monk's Special and the Migas and a side of black beans. I mean this town is amazing for food. You could live on this meal! And the coffee tasted fresh, dare I say better than Starbuck's!
Okay so I had a good appetite and a couple of excellent, modestly priced dining experiences. But then I stopped at Savers, one of the local thrift shops in my neighborhood. This place is large, strong in the books department but has tons of second hand clothes as well. I found as inspiring book Pathways to the Spirit, 100 Ways to Bring the Sacred Into Daily Life (1999, Hyperion Books) by Susan Santucci.

Lots of amazing material in the book-- but I especially enjoyed chapter #23-- entitled "Treat Your Life With Reverence." Let me quote from page 46:


The very ground you stand upon is sacred. Sacred ground is wherever you dwell with awareness. Sacred ground is where you choose to be.

Sacred ground is in my own neighborhood-- and in your neighborhood too!