a new start | a new blog

now seems like the time to start with a clean slate--the time to add to my blog all of the features i've always wanted to add.

this blogspot site has been good for me, and such a lovely way for me to get my feet wet, and i've met all of you lovely people. i hope you will hop on over and start following me at my new blog (still called "age old tree"). it is time for me to say goodbye to this space. there will be a link back here on the new blog so you can always come back to visit the archives.

on the new blog you'll see all the usual travels, adventures, and day-to-day happenings in my life plus my tips on adventuring into the outdoors, people and explorers who inspire me, more writing, more food and recipes, and lots of good miscellany.

i've already posted some of my adventures in the UK, our new kitchen table, footwear recommendations for the rainy UK, and more.

click here to come on over.

oxford update from my iphone

i can't believe week four is almost over. it has flown by, and yet there is still so much to do.
my laptop won't read my sd card, and so i can't upload photos yet.
so in the mean time i thought i'd just put up some iphone/instagram photos.
here's what i've been up to for the past three weeks:

:: tea. clotted cream. scones ::

:: spending most of my day-time hours in the bodleian libray ::

:: making a book of sonnets at printing class ::

:: organizing and presenting at a conference...i talked about the First Folio and the Academic Girl Gene ::

:: sneaking off to blenheim palace to read in the grass by the lake ::

:: going to as many music events at churches here in oxford as possible ::

:: writing letters home to ceej ::

:: skyping with ceej at least twice a day ::

:: desperately missing ceej ::

:: more tea. clotted cream. scones ::

:: shakespeare in the theater in both stratford and london ::

:: turning in papers, and then researching the next one ::

:: going for walks through these old colleges to let my mind process all the research ::

:: reading out loud so I can hear the First Folio ::

:: eating at High Table dinners and worrying about which fork to use ::

:: gazing out my window at night, looking at the gothic "hogwarts" steeple all lit up ::

:: enjoying my time with my tutor who is a shakespeare super-star ::

:: running every morning near the meadow ::


life is good.

and so it begins...

anywhere you stand in this city there is an incredible view that requires pinching yourself.
it's unbelievably beautiful, and unbelievably old and preserved. history. tradition.
point your camera almost anywhere and you end up with a moody, yet charming image.
academic pedigree meets the cotswolds.

we've had our first week of introductions and classes.
we know what's expected of us: dive deep into the pages of the bodleian library. ask questions that you never knew could be asked. chase the rabbit down the rabbit hole (we are in alice's wonderland after all).  we've been given permission to explore what we've always wanted to explore--because we're at an institution that is almost 800 years old, and we study at a library that is almost 400 years old and receives a thousand books a day to add to its stacks. pick a book. any book. they've got it.

happily overwhelmed.


{p.s. the last two photos are the view i have out my window. just wait until i show you a picture of that tower lit up at night...hogwarts anyone?}

in oxford : pondering "the ephemeral world of sound and echo" via Shakespeare's First Folio

hello, dear readers.

feels like i was here just yesterday. the streets are the same. the library is definitely the same.
the food in the dining hall is the same. the grass in the quad is the same. this place has been
the same for hundreds of years. sort of love that about this town. really love it.

there are a couple of new coffee houses with an eye towards fresh and local which is brilliant.
and i, already feeling confident about navigating the library, have more time to explore
the town's gems and the surrounding area. getting excited about riding bikes to blenheim palace
tomorrow, and visiting the botanic gardens often.

the best news: i get to take a weekly printing class at the bodleian library learning how shakespeare's first folio was printed, and we will create a printing project of our own. and my professor is kind of a big deal. and i could talk with my professor all day about nerd-ilicious details like margins, stage directions, the visibility of text, the sound of theater, and reading as performance.

dreamy indeed.


...now, if only ceej were here. paradise indeed.



[p.s. follow me on instagram to see what i'm up to throughout the day]

there are bluebells in our high desert mountains

a couple weekends ago ceej and i took a break from all the unpacking at the new house
to head up to the mountains to see them in all their spring-green glory...and i was
happy to see that the bluebells were out. a treat indeed.
aspen groves, blooming flowers, and fresh air.
this is the summer i can really get to love...before the sun gets too hot.

it's starting to feel like we won't be settled in our new home until fall.
summer is just so busy.

i hop on a plane bound for england on saturday:
my last semester at oxford.
graduation. crazy.

i try not to think of six weeks without ceej. it rips my heart.
i try to think of shakespeare, oxford, the globe, tea, the bodleian library.
that's the fun part. that's the part that is the dream.
i try not to dwell on the sacrifice.

in the mean time, i'm enjoying my last couple of days at home in my mountains with ceej.

this grey. this light. this place.

after our backcountry days in the north cascades we spent a nice day with the kids and grandma--
i love these pictures of my mom with her "cane" found by the grandkids. she reminds me
of strega nona with her hood on. what a perfect day for a hot, comforting meal.

we walked slowly along the coast as the kids, grandma, and ceej hunted for creatures
left behind by the tide--they were most interested in dead crabs. ceej found a good-sized
dead crab, and the kids took turns examining it while trying to hide away their fear
that perhaps the crab wasn't dead, and could pinch them at any moment.

as we walked away from the ocean we noticed dolphins swimming and diving nearby.
loved watching their fins arch above the water. pretty amazing ocean.

exploring "america's alps" : the north cascades

let's be honest. i was disappointed when mt saint helen's was engulfed in a storm and we decided to go explore elsewhere. and on day one in the north cascades i cried. nerves. bleh.
lesson learned: keep up my backcountry skills (or skiing skills period) before venturing out to the backcountry.

despite my nerves and a bout of crying, the north cascades turned out to be quite spectacular,
and a fantastic experience overall. i was grateful to be with ceej, my brother, and his wife.
a good crew always makes for a good trip. especially when they're just as excited about
ice cream at the end of the day as you are (though my licorice-flavored ice cream turned out to
taste more like cough syrup, and, in a very rare situation, ended up in the trash. what a tragedy!).

another surprise: i was worried about my "mountain lungs" as i thought i may have lost them
while spending ten days in england with voyage magazine...
but my lungs and heart pulled through, and i felt really strong overall. up is easy. down isn't my fave all the time.

this little two-day trip was a nice taste of the north cascades. can't wait to visit this place in summer,
and again in the winter. motivated.


{photos by ceej, my brother (dan), and me}