goodbye, goodbye california : what i'm going to miss {part two}

i'm really, truly, with all my might
going to miss driving through the green hills
of marin county in the spring...it makes me feel
like i'm driving on narrow roads through ireland,
and i love seeing those happy cows (that just happen
to make the best milk i've ever tasted).

i'm going to miss taking a drive in search of
autumn to orchard after orchard of delicious apples,
and ordering a dozen warm apple cider donuts
for cj and i to eat throughout the day (yes, we eat
them all in one day though we try to use restraint).

i'm going to miss the enchantment of yosemite...
the frosty fall mornings, the cliffs watching over us,
our heated tent, and a valley so mysterious.

i'm definitely going to miss being close to such
a wonderful city as san francisco.
i loved spending a day there eating our way through
the city and finding little bits of stationary
and longing after blooms in all the flower shops.

we're going to try to visit the sea this weekend,
and maybe we'll swing by the city for something
delicious to eat.

see you next week sometime when i've had
a chance to take it all in and settle in our new home.

goodbye, goodbye california : what i'm going to miss {part one}

the movers came and went this morning...
a miracle that they can pack up so much stuff
and load it on to a truck in a matter of hours...
this could have taken me weeks if left to my own moving skills.

i think we're mostly excited for this move,
but it's funny how when i find myself sitting
in an empty apartment on the floor (of which i
will definitely not miss the carpet)
that my mind wanders to all of the adventures
that ceej and i have had in this western state.

i will miss going to the sea
where we would sit for hours reading,
drawing, or snapping photos in a rain fury.

i will miss walking slowly through old-growth
forests with trees ancient and terrible.

i will miss farmers markets year-round.
i'm quite dreading a grocery store. blah.

and i will miss our drives across the nevada desert...
people used to feel sorry for our journey
this way, but they don't know the wonderful
breath of air it was for me to be in the desert
with wide open skies and mountains bare.

we're happy for what is ahead of us...
and quite pleased with all that we discovered here
over the past two and a half years.

"i am bewitched, enchanted"

here's a bit of that wonderful frosty morning we had in yosemite.
isn't it absolutely fantastic?
i dream about it every second i can.

we were oh so incredibly tempted to return to the valley again this weekend,
but grown-up things have kept us home...
you know, saving money rather than spending it and cleaning our house
and packing our bags for three weeks of travel we have ahead of us.
we're really missing the valley...especially since there will be snow there this weekend.
big sigh.
we'll just have to come back next year.



"i must return to the mountains--to yosemite.
i am told that the winter storms there will not be easily borne,
but i am bewitched, enchanted,
and tomorrow i must start for the great temple to
listen to the winter songs and sermons preached and sung only there."
-john muir

yosemite: "every rock in its walls seems to glow with life" {project film}

wouldn't it have been something to have run into john muir on a trail
back in the day?
he could tell us about how the valley lives in his scottish brogue...
about how he would climb to the top of a tree during a storm
just to see how the tree felt being blown about,
or how he first entered the valley with birds singing and flowers carpeting every inch.

at least this wonderful place has been preserved to a large extent
so we can enjoy it.
thank you, john muir, for advocating national parks.

welcome to our yosemite weekend abode : heated and oh so cozy

i usually try to avoid winter camping...
or sleeping in a tent when the temperatures are freezing or below freezing.
i hate thinking about waking in the middle of the night
to have to go out into the freezing cold.
so...
was happy indeed that we reserved ourselves a heated tent cabin
in curry village, with half dome watching over us.
it made the trip so very lovely indeed.
i was in heaven every night after hiking and climbing all day in the cold
{i do love the cold during the day for sure...i just don't like it at night when camping}
...it was nice to hang out in our tent reading, writing, and talking until we
easily fell into sleep.
next time we return to yosemite in the cold weather we will be
reserving one of these again...so worth it.

yosemite: "in every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks"

lately i've been dreaming, thinking, and talking about how
desperate i have been for a frosty cold morning...
yosemite gave me a frosty morning beyond my sometimes
limited imagination.
it truly does pay to wake just before the sun
{and before the rest of the tourists}.
as we began our hike looking for the trailhead
i could see just beyond the pine trees that there
was a frozen mist hanging above a meadow just beyond.
i quickened my pace, and my giddiness overcame my lips and my eyes...
i knew this was going to be pure joy.
i'm awaiting the development of my film images that i captured;
you're going to love them.
we hiked up a little canyon and i was so pleased to be wearing
an oversized sweater and a ridiculously huge down coat to keep me warm.
i loved our hike.
i loved stopping to take photos,
and i loved talking with ceej along the way about the things most important to us,
and how we were going to work hard to achieve simple, but profound, goals.
we had a mid-morning picnic on a granite rock near the water...
you have to have mid-morning picnics when you wake up so very early.
this was the beginning of our trip.
and the rest was just as good.

i had no idea how much the cold and the changed leaves
would rest my soul and heart,
and give me inspiration and determination beyond anything else...
i've forgotten how powerful mountains are.
can't wait to live in a mountain valley again...very soon.

we're back from the valley and i've never been so refreshed

there were frosty, november mornings that my heart has so yearned for,
there were early morning walks among fall leaves and giant granite cliffs
with hardly another soul in sight,
there were homemade chocolate chip cookies,
there were deer that wandered quietly, nibbling away at their meals,
there were sunsets that warmed with every passing moment,
there were nights snuggled up in our cabin and the reading of john muir passages,
and there were tourists (ourselves included) lugging around camera equipment
and lining the roads to see half dome lit by orange then red sunlight,
there was climbing up rocks and meeting people who know our people (small world),
there were lots of words about how much we love the valley
and wished we could move from mountain valley to mountain valley.

this week: be prepared for yosemite-photo-extravaganza.
i'll try not to over-do it.
there are many difficult decisions ahead of which photos to share out of
4 rolls of film and hundreds of digital images.
see you back here tomorrow afternoon for the beginning of the photo flood.

apple hill : if this day was every day

this weekend ceej and i made our way up to apple hill...
drawn by the thought of apple cider donuts and cool fall weather.
there was no disappointment to be found anywhere in our hearts.
we went straight for the donuts...one dozen to last us through the next few days...
their warm smell lingered in our car throughout the rest of the day.
oh my. just thinking of it made me take a deep breath hoping to smell that glorious smell.
we also made a stop for apple cider, pears, and other goodies.
i especially love looking down the rows and rows of apple trees in all the orchards.
i could set up a picnic for the entire day and just gaze and eat to my heart's content.
we also stopped by a very "sincere" pumpkin patch...almost sincere enough for a visit from
the great pumpkin.
i don't think we can avoid another trip this month.
it will just have to happen.



{p.s. i took lots of black&white photos...can't wait to see them!}