***The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts added another “In Conversation With…” me. Unfortunately, that second show is sold out as well. If you were hoping to come, but were unable to get tickets, please check back here every day and I’ll keep you updated about any future events HarperCollins is scheduling.***
 
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Good day, my friend. I awoke to a little bit of a rainbow in my coffee cup yesterday morning, so I knew it was going to be a special one. And it was. 
 

 
How could it not be? We have friends here with us – our senior producer and longtime pal Ian MacArthur and his wife, the equally special Anita Reynolds MacArthur – and we had planned something quite unusual to do that day.
 

 
When I visited my sister and her husband, who used to spend winters here in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area, we had hoped to get our spirits sparked with a visit to a place called the Integratron. Unfortunately for us, it was booked solid; this time, I took no chances and booked our visit months in advance. What, you ask, is an Integratron? Well, here’s what the web tells us. 

The Integratron is a 38 ft tall cupola structure with a diameter of 55 ft designed by Ufologist and Contactee George Van Tassel. Van Tassel claimed the Integratron was capable of rejuvenation, anti-gravity and time travel.

And here’s how it looked, set out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, tiny Landers, California, 75 minutes from our place in Palm Springs.
 

 
In this place, we were booked to attend a sound bath. What is that, exactly? It’s a collection of special crystal bowls made from quartz, precious metals, and other sonically splendid materials that are played by hand or with soft sticks. They make magical sounds that vibrate through our bodies and souls.
 
Rob has had experiences when meditating where he sees a variety of colours; Anita has connections to the other side that amaze me. She and I shared a psychic reading down here this week with a woman we’ve both talked with before and both Debbie Cooper and our Lauren were coming through loud and clear. So, let’s just say we were open to experiences going in. Ian went along too, to see what this massive structure and a 60 minute healing sound bath were all about. 
 
Before we even entered, we were inundated with nudges (or Godwinks) from Lauren. I went to play a song on my iPhone and instead, the Beatles channel on Sirius came on with one significant line from the song “She’s Leaving Home”: “…cried to her husband, ‘Daddy, our baby’s gone….'” We turned it off after those few words and said, “Okay, Lauren, we know you’re here.” And how about a sign, literally, with lyrics from “We Can Work It Out?”
 

 
When we entered the registration area and gift shop, John Lennon’s “Watching the Wheels” came on. Later, I re-entered to another song on the satellite station the man had playing: The Beatles’ “I Will.” And still later, we heard Lennon’s “Imagine.” And no, it wasn’t a Beatles channel, it was the Leonard Cohen channel. Okay…. If you know ours and Lauren’s story, you know how significant the Fab Four are in our family.
 
At 12:15 on a lovely blue sky Wednesday, it was time to take our places in the Integratron itself. The building was constructed by an aeronautical engineer who worked for Lockheed Douglas Aircraft and as a test pilot for Howard Hughes. George Van Tassel, who died in 1978, had strong beliefs in UFOs, but what we came for was the sonic purity of this yurt-like structure in the middle of the desert, set among myriad powerful energy vortexes. 
 
You can see pictures inside the Integratron at the link below; I didn’t feel comfortable shooting inside this place that’s listed as a must-see by travellers on Tripadvisor. There were 30 of us in the second storey room, all laid out on cushioned mats and covered in blankets, and were led through a short history of the space and then a sound bath, whose haunting chords and reverberations had some amazing effects on at least two in our party.
 
Anita and Rob both saw brilliant colours, Anita saw Debbie laughing and Rob saw a show of blackbirds as in a flipped-page book animation. We all came out feeling we’d felt something special and that made the journey, the $40USD per person and the entire outing an exceptionally memorable spiritual experience. Here’s a link if you’re interested and are planning a trip to the Palm Springs area.
 
After our visit, we drove the extra half hour to Joshua Tree National Park, which is worth a whole other journal. But here’s a special picture.
 

 
Thank you for coming along on our unusual spiritual journey – just a perfect extension of the wonderful moments we’ve already shared, the four of us. 
 
Tomorrow, continuing my “Friday Favourites” theme, a product that offers comfort in ways I couldn’t have imagined. And it’s so good, I have to share – in case you have an opening on your gift list this season.