In less than a month I will have been virtually alive for nine years, Yordie Sands that is. This thought was on my mind today when I logged in to Second Life.

I’d been thinking a lot about my first really magic moments in SL, no not virtual romance. It was building my Zen gardens and teahouses, and ultimately the Harvest Moon Café.

I created several gardens and cafes in my first six years and there are many photo albums with pictures of each in my Flickr Photostream (check the seven “Zen Gardens” albums). Many of the photos are old school, but the magic was there.

Creating the gardens brought real joy to my spirit. None of the gardens never really lived up to the expectations I had of them, but my memories of them and the activities that revolved around them are still strong.

Anyway, I went over to one of the sandboxes and rezzed the Harvest Moon Café from Dakota Falls. The structure was created from two POST designs that I’d modified into one, created a stage area.

Harvest Moon Café (a modified POST design), rezzed again in 2016.

Below, the Café stands over the waterfall pond at Dakota Falls in 2013. And if you look really close you can see me in both photos. In the bottom one I’m Geisha Yordie preparing for a show. Memories are amazing!

As the sun fades in the sky,
the lamps are lit
and the ochaya comes to life.