come into the mountains, dear friend

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers,

the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters,

and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

Went to the mountains yesterday with Miss J, her Dad, and grandmother. A bit chilly but so beautiful. The mountains are so grand and wise, you only have to listen to the quiet and it is all there for you...

turtle bay

More from Turtle Bay in Redding where we went on Tuesday for a field trip with Miss J's school class. Hope to go back sometime when the light is better and we have more time. It's a magical place.

My favorite...the fish...

The legos exhibit...

Miss J working on the monkey puzzle in the math room...

The purple hydrant in the magnificent and extensive native garden...

yesterday

Spent the day yesterday in Redding California with Miss J's school class for a field trip to Turtle Bay Exploration Park. Crazy windy there. Very tiring. And very fun - especially for the kids. Didn't get many photos - had my hands full with the kids - and those I did get were in the middle of the day. Bad light! Took one of the incredible and beautiful Sundial Bridge and did a photoshop action on it called The Seventies. I like the look. Reminds me of some of my Dad's old instamatic photos. What do you think?

wish i was there

I've been dreaming of the ocean. It was only three weeks ago that I was at Salmon Creek on the Sonoma Coast, but my soul was not filled. The last couple of days have been hard. Not hard hard, just icky. I'm feeling alone and separated and uncertain. I want the ocean. I need the ocean. J is going with her Dad to the mountains for the holiday weekend. I've been toying with the idea of driving to Fort Bragg for one day. I'd only have one day because I need to be back to take care of the neighbor's cats. It would only be 9 hours on the road for about two or three hours of ocean time! When I was young, I wouldn't even hesitate. Am I getting old!!!

The last time I was in Fort Bragg, J and I sat in the sand and watched the sun set. Then we went back to our hotel room on the beach. We left the sliding glass door open and listened to the surf. J watched tv, played with Barbies, and jumped on the bed - kind of all at the same time. I actually read a book. Okay, I played with the Barbies too, and after J went to sleep I read the book. It was a glorious time...

Fort Bragg, California

October 2011

off

J and I are headed to Petaluma for a couple of days - to visit Grandma, to visit the fair and carnival, to visit the ocean. We both love seeing Grandma, of course. The fair and carnival is for J. When the fair came to our town, I was in the hospital with pneumonia and couldn't take her. So, I promised to take her to the Sonoma County Fair when it came around. The ocean is for me. Well, J loves it, too. But I need it! We'll probably go to Salmon Creek, maybe Goat Rock. I don't know. Maybe every beach along the Sonoma Coast!

Here are some photos of Salmon Creek. Taken the day after Christmas last year.

BTW - there won't be any posts on Wednesday and Thursday. I won't have my computer. Be back Friday with a free foto...

table mountain

Today there was a break in the rain. Not just a break, but sunshine. Taking advantage, I piled J and my Mom - who is visiting for the week - into the car and headed up to Table Mountain in Oroville to see if the wildflowers were in bloom. They are only beginning, but J and I had a grand time tracking through the boggy land, climbing on fallen trees, and visiting cows. My Mom - who is arthritic - stayed in the car and napped! It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Tomorrow, it's back to school for J, back to crosswords and mystery novels for my Mom, and back to the jury box for me.

J's favorite part was splashing in the puddles...

My favorite part...the cows...

got game

Yesterday, I went to the last SF 49er game of the season. Yes. I went to a football game. Anyone who knows me would be falling over in shock at reading this. I am really not a football person. I've watched a few games on tv with other people, when I couldn't really avoid it. Can't say I enjoy it. But I was invited to the game. J was with her dad. I am always looking for things to keep me really busy while she's away. I miss her so much. I went.

I have been to Candlestick Park before - many, many, many years ago. A few times, actually. For baseball games. This was my first live football game experience. Well, professional football, anyway. I use to go to our high school games, of course. You know, dreaming of being a cheerleader. Dreaming of being popular. Doing just about anything one could to be noticed for something other than one's weight, or skin, or brains, or lack of popularity. Neither here nor there.

It was a rainy day. Poured almost the entire way from Chico to San Francisco. But in SF, miraculously, the rain stopped. From the moment we arrived in the parking lot, I was struck by the colors and the contrasts. Red and gold everywhere. The sky was a beautiful grey that cast a soft blue tint over everything. Anything of color popped. Inside the stadium, the orange seats and green field, with players in red and white and officials in black and white. The lights above the stadium glowing against the grey sky. The flags billowing in the wind Candlestick Park is famous for. I wandered around, watching people, and avoiding being run over by some who - ummm - let's say were having a very good time, marveling at $9 for a cup of beer, and taking photos with my iPhone - wishing I had brought my Nikon.

Oh, yeah. And there was a football game. Can't say I am any more a fan of football than I was before. But I am definitely a fan of the experience.

After the game, we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder in a bread bowl. Yummmmm! A very good day.

feathers and a fighter

On the day after Christmas, J and I visited the ocean. We drove out to Salmon Creek, one of the California Sonoma Coast Beaches, where we watched birds, enjoyed families enjoying each other, ran from the waves, and collected feathers. I love feathers and can't help but collect them when I see them - fallen feathers only, of course. J is the same. I don't know where she got that from! She is so sweet. Rarely a day goes by that she doesn't bring me a gift home from school - either a feather or a stone. I love rocks, too. Salmon Creek Beach is inhabited mostly by sea gulls. There are feathers everywhere. I was struck by the beautiful still lifes the feathers, driftwood, and sea weed formed. We left the feathers in the still lifes - too beautiful to disturb by human hands. We collected "stray" feathers. Lots of them!

... and a fallen soldier

white xmas



White Fluffy Love had quite a holiday season. Had her eye scratched up and bloodied a few days before Christmas. After living as a stray for the past year or so, suddenly she has found herself living in a house. She really misses the outside. Her favorite place to sit is on the windowsill looking out. Makes me sad.

After she was hurt, she stayed in J's bathroom. Because she needed to receive medicine in her eye every few hours, she traveled the three hours to my Mom's house for the Christmas weekend. Can't say traveling is her favorite thing, but she was a trooper. She traveled uncaged, wandering around the car, looking out the windows and meowing. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip!

J and WFLove

She lived in yet a different house - my Mom's - for two days. She loved all the attention and being an only cat. Then another road trip back. Didn't like traveling as well that time. Crawled into the open carrier and stayed there most of the trip - coming out occassionally to look out the windows and meow.

Now she's back in this house. She's not locked in the bathroom anymore. She can go anywhere she wants to. But it's different now. There are other cats living here. No one is crossing each other's path. Occassionally one will hiss at the other. Mostly White Fluffy Love stays in J's bedroom and bathroom and the other cats stay in the living areas and my bedroom. Interesting situation. Curious to see how it will all work out. I'm happy they are not fighting, at least!

Her eye is still not well. Healing very slowly. I'll be taking her back to the vet. We had all hoped the eye would be much clearer by now.

My most precious niece, Cindy Loo, and White Fluffy, too