Green, Yellow, Purple, White

Spring is here. The garden is calling!


Daffodil


Lilac Bud


Forsythia in full bloom

Grecian Windflowers

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California, There and Back again...

Here is my final report of our trip. Here is the link to the photo album for those of you without time to read another rambling travelogue. For my own sake, I am grateful to have it all recorded. For those of you who have read along, it means so much that you care so much about me. I really love my blogging friends and thrill to your kind comments. Thank you. You deserve a prize for reading these vacation entries.

So where were we...Wednesday night, Johnathan flew in and joined us in the west after finishing up school and work for the week. It was good to have everyone together.

Thursday was an everything day, meaning that we tried to do just about everything and pretty well succeeded. Here are the lights, both high and low:

Early Morning: I was PMS-ing so badly and feeling the beginnings of really bad hayfever or something, that I almost just stayed home for the day. Everyone and everything was annoying to me. Fortunately, Eric, with his usual patience of Job, rolled his eyes, told me to snap out of it, and I went along. I was glad in the end.

Morning: A delightful visit to the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory, headquartered right in Fairfield. It is pretty hard to be grumpy in a jelly bean factory, so my mood lifted considerably. Favorites were seeing the actual factory floor, wearing factory hats and seeing the jelly bean mosaics that grace the walls of the facility. Add to that an awesome candy store and it was a great morning.

Midday: We headed toward San Francisco to explore the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate National Recreational Area, including the Marin Headlands and maybe Stinson Beach. We pulled off the highway in Berkeley (the dodgy end, apparently) to look for lunch around 12:30, proceeded to lose sight of the fast food restaurant and in process of turning around, flattened the tire of the rental car. Poor Eric, he felt so badly, but he ended up being the hero of the day because he never lost his cool. So, right there in the 'hood, with many diverse (make your own air quotes here) and interesting people walking by and making comments, and me being just a teeny tiny bit nervous about my children standing around on the sidewalk, Eric and the boys changed the tire, we called the car-rental company, then found a friendly neighborhood Target in which I knew there would be a decent bathroom, and finally took the rental car down to the Oakland airport to exchange it for a new vehicle. In the end, other than the time it took, it was pretty hassle-free, and plus it took us right past an In-and-Out Burger, another California place, and we got to have legendary burgers for lunch. They were pretty good, actually. We got done with all that around 3:30. Not quite how we planned on spending the afternoon, but the next part makes up for it.

Late afternoon: Around 4 or so, we made it to the city and drove down Steiner Street (all the Painted Lady Victorian houses) and down some very steep SF hills to the bridge. We missed Lombard Street (the famous "steepest street") but everyone seems to have survived that omission. We got to the SF side parking and bridge observation area around 4 pm and the weather was spectacular-clear skies, brisk temps, windy, just what I'd imagined. The boys wanted to walk across to the observation area on the Marin side, which sparked the idea for all of us to walk across and back. Even though I am really uncomfortable with heights, I figured I would regret it if I just drove across in 5 minutes rather than really experiencing the bridge-feeling the wind on my face, seeing the size and scale of the cables, seeing the bay from that vantage point, imagining rogue gusts of wind carrying my children over the side, etc. So, off we went. Eric doesn't love heights either, so we were holding hands more tightly than we have in a very long time. If I weren't so terrified, it might have been romantic.

Evening: After crossing the bridge in the car and heading north, we explored the beautiful Marin Headlands on the other side. The views from the top were amazing-bay and city on one side and wide open ocean on the other. While driving through the park, we saw a coyote by the side of the road, followed by a crane in the middle of the road a little further along. We also saw a lighthouse, more redwoods in Muir Woods and an amazing moonrise over the hills. I know why people love living in California. There is something lovely to look at almost everywhere one turns.

I woke up feeling really rotten on Friday, so Eric was the fun dad and took the kids to the local arcade for games, laser tag, go-karts, etc, while Alex and I ran a few errands and got things ready for Easter dinner. It was good to have another flop day even though we missed our planned full day in San Francisco. Everyone seemed okay with the decision. The cable cars will be there another time. We had seen so much already, that it was nice to focus on just spending time with my brother and his family. After all, that was part of why we came out.

Saturday, Eric and my brother took the boys up to Lake Tahoe. Phil, Johnathan and Sam snowboarded at Squaw Valley while Eric and Evan drove all around the lake and explored that beautiful area. I dyed eggs with Sara and Luc while Alex took care of a miserably sick Olivia.

Sunday was a lovely warm Easter, with all that makes that day special-church, traditions, good food and family. It was nice to be there to celebrate. We combined traditions and had a really good time. Livvy was still sick, but she is cute and affectionate and funny as all get out, even when she is sick. We capped off the evening with a delicious carrot cake to honor the bunny's efforts and started the process of packing up for the trip home.

I kept thinking on Sunday how blessed I am in my family. My brothers have married women that I count as my sisters and friends-I just love being with all three of my sisters-in-law. Alex and I had so much fun together-even though we descended on her home life for a solid week, there was only fun and cooperation and pleasant times.

Add to that sweet satisfaction the most excellent news we received on Sunday afternoon that my youngest brother is engaged. I am so pleased for him. He is almost 29 and has waited patiently for marriage to come to him, living a really good life in the meantime, and his happiness is truly my happiness. This is he and I this past Christmas.

As we drove to the airport on Monday, we were rewarded with the quintessential view of San Francisco-the fog had rolled in and completely enveloped the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. There was no photo op, but it was ethereally beautiful and was the perfect final image for me to remember our trip by. What a blessing it has been to have the means and the time to explore and relax on our own terms, to spend time as a family and feel like this vacation accomplished what a vacation is supposed to accomplish-I feel like we got closer as a family and strengthened our ties to each other with positive shared memories. We didn't see everything, but who ever could? What we did see was wonderful and exciting and worthwhile. I'm a little tired due to getting home this morning around 2:30 am, but I slept most of the morning after seminary and am feeling pretty normal. Things are unpacked, the kids got an extra day off school due to the late arrival, the laundry is almost done, and we've sort of eased back into real life pretty well.

Now I can spend hours looking at all my pictures-what fun that will be!

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California, Tuesday and Wednesday

Today is Saturday, but I'm home with the girls while the boys all go up to Lake Tahoe for a little snowboarding. I'm not feeling all that well today, but it seems to be mostly from allergies. California is a bit farther along in spring than Baltimore, so I'm having sudden-onset hayfever. I have most of my pictures caught up so now to the blogging. We left off with Monday night at Fenton's.

Tuesday, we got Luc to school, then Alex and I went for a run with her friend. How I wish I'd had a jogging stroller when my kids were little. It was so cool to be able to just take the kids and go.

After school, we got packed up in record time and left for the big trees and the coast around 12:30. Here's the slideshow:

We made it to Big Basin Redwood State Park in the late afternoon and spent a magical couple of hours exploring among the Giant Redwoods. Heather had said that being among them is a spiritual experience, and so it was. Big Basin has some of the largest trees in the state and it is difficult to describe what it is like to walk down a simple forest path and suddenly feel so very small.

After the trees, we made our way down to Monterey and settled into our hotel. The kids were tired and hungry, but everyone really pitched in to help take care of them, and again, I was so proud of my kids for being so good-natured and loving with little children. We got through dinner at a very busy Chili's, then headed for bed.

Wednesday took us to the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a great facility, but it made me realize how lucky we are in Baltimore, because our Aquarium is every bit as good (if not better). I loved the jellyfish exhibits and the big main tanks were amazing in their variety. There was a school of fish up near the top of one that were swimming around in a perfect sphere in perfect unison. Sharks were prowling, and rays were flying gracefully over all. It is in a really beautiful setting, right at the water's edge in Monterey Bay. That was my favorite part-I loved being able to go out on the terraces in the back and look at the sea.

The weather in the morning was quite chilly, but the sun came out and it warmed up nicely for our scenic drive around the peninsula. I have had many chances on this trip to make my lifelong dream of driving the Pacific Coast Highway come true . We've seen so many beautiful vistas with gorgeous rocky surf and clear water.

The 17-mile drive around the Pebble Beach community was beautiful on both sides of the road. On the right were amazing ocean views and on the left were the incredible homes of the rich and famous. The size, scale and beauty of these places was really fun to see. Some houses were perched up on the bluffs and looked just like castles. Others were near the shore and looked like Spanish villas.

After the drive, we headed directly home with sun on our cheeks, the ocean in our eyes and lots of fun memories.

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California: Monday

After getting to Phil and Alex's in time for dinner on Sunday night, we had a nice visit, got settled into our base of operations for the week and got some sleep. Monday was a flop day, meaning we had no firm plans and everyone got to flop. We slept late, did laundry, got some groceries, made plans for the rest of the week, and rounded out the day with a lovely family night visit to the Oakland Temple. It is in such a beautiful location-overlooking the entire cities of Oakland and San Francisco. We got there too late to get a decent shot of the view, but here is the temple and fountain in the fading light, just as it was being iluminated for the night. The last photo is my cute two-year old niece. The final flourish was eating ice cream at Fenton's Creamery, a famous local establishment in Oakland. Yum.

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California, Friday to Sunday

It is now Tuesday night, but I finally got a card reader to work so I could get my photos off my camera and start blogging this trip. This will be a very long post, so feel free to take the National Geographic approach and go here for the pictures and captions.

It has been a whirlwind of fun times and we are not even halfway through yet. We flew into San Francisco at 11:30 pacific time after getting our family out the door at 4:45 eastern time, got our fabulous rental minivan and headed west to stop in at my brother's house. After a nice visit with them, we headed out at around 4 pm-bearing north on I-5 to Yreka.
View Larger MapWe stopped for dinner at the Black Bear Diner at the foot of Mt. Shasta, which we could not see due to heavy cloud cover. The Black Bear is a California diner chain where the food is good, comforting, and rooted firmly in the meat and potatoes tradition. After our late dinner on the road, Holly welcomed us to her lovely new home around 9:00 pm. We got our very tired children settled into bed, then chatted with Matt and Holly, held the darling baby Linnea, and waited for Heather and her family to arrive from Oregon. Holly and Heather are sisters and also friends that I've made through my online book group. I met Holly when she lived here in Beltsville, but I had never met her sister Heather other than in virtual reality. I was so excited to meet her and her family in person. They were driving 4 hours to meet us! I was so pleased and honored and excited. Heather hadn't yet gotten there when Eric and I started to hit the wall after our day of cross-time-zone travel, so I had to put my anticipation on hold for another night and fell into an exhausted but happy sleep in Holly's house. It just felt right to be there, in spite of the drive, in spite of the fact that Holly and Heather and I haven't known each other very long, etc...it just felt right.

The next morning, I met Heather's husband and her two children before I met her. What fun that was-her husband is warm and friendly and seemed genuinely glad to meet a houseful of strangers. I was standing at the sink doing dishes when she walked out of her room and I caught her eye. We smiled at each other, and after giving her about a minute to survey the situation, I couldn't resist and went and gave her a hug. It is a satisfying byproduct of this wired life I'm leading to have this new kind of friendship. I once had a pen pal in Trinidad/Tobago. I never met him, but he certainly made that little island nation more real to me than it ever had been as just a picture on a map. In a similar way, Heather has felt like a kindred spirit for more than a year now as we went from reading each other's posts on an online book forum as strangers with 2 degrees of separation between us, to reading each other's blogs, to feeling like friends. It was a similar journey with Holly, and so making this connection meant a lot to me.

After a wonderful breakfast of French toast, eggs and sausage grilled outdoors by Matt, we gathered ourselves up to get out the door. The weather was dicey, but we decided to be intrepid and head for a wildlife preserve at a place called Tulelake. We had information that the spring bird migrations were in full swing and 70,000 swans were taking their leave on the lake. Golden eagles also make their home in the area. Nearby are lava caves for exploring, so my kids were looking forward to our planned day. They had been wonderful-helpful and good-natured with the younger children, and getting along pretty well for the most part, in spite of all the travel we'd put them through in the last day or so. The skies were cloudy, there had been snow on and off all morning in Yreka, and the forecast wasn't great, but bundle up we did and off we went.

On the way, we stopped at a small war memorial park to have lunch, give the little ones a rest from the car seats, and get some fresh air. When we stopped at around 1:15 pm, it looked like a perfect moment for a picnic. The skies were partly sunny, the temperature was crisp, and the setting was lovely-ponderosa pine all around, lower peaks playing hide and seek among the fast-moving clouds, and friends all gathered. Within 45 minutes, all that had changed. The temperature dropped, the snow started then gathered strength, the wind picked up, and the visibility dropped-a full-on mountain snow squall. By 2 pm, we were back in our cars, some of us with our sandwiches still in hand, shaking the weird, pellet-like snow out of our hoods and cuffs and socks, and heading back to Yreka. It just wasn't worth the risk to take on a storm in the mountains. We didn't want to end up as a Lifetime Original Movie about getting lost in the mountains of Northern California, so we headed back home. The slideshow re-tells the story. It was pretty pathetic, but the group never lost heart, and the mood stayed pretty positive. When we got home, everyone was happy enough to settle down for naps, reading books, playing computer games and generally relaxing. Holly, Heather and I got time to visit, my kids got time out from their usual pell-mell schedules, and life was good. The evening rounded out with take-and-bake pizza, scrabble, and more good conversation.

Sunday morning, the sun came out and so did The Mountain, that of course being Mt. Shasta. Click on this to find out why it was especially meaningful that we finally got to see the mountain. Like the other volcanoes in the Cascade Range, this one is just spectacular. It is a big one-over 14,000 feet-similar in size to Mt. Ranier. There is a view from Holly's home that is just inspiring. The picture at the top is the mountain peak showing aboove the clouds and was taken from the front porch. Later that morning, Heather and I and our families went to church while Holly and hers stayed home because of sickness (yes, sweet Holly was hosting this house party in the middle of her family going through a miserable virus.) After church, we came home to a beautiful lunch spread that Holly and Matt put together for us when they could have been resting after a couple of tough nights with sick kids. It was a beautiful sight to come home to and a wonderful ending for our weekend together. After lunch we had everyone gather for some photos to record the occasion, then goodbyes that were bittersweet. How grateful I am for blogs and other ways to stay close to friends who are far away. Many thanks to Holly and Heather for these sweet memories, and many thanks to my family for supporting me in these activities that mean so much.

We headed down I-5 to Fairfield, about a 4 hour ride, and were rewarded with clear skies and views of the mountain all the way past Redding. There were other wonderful sights along the way, and the drive was deemed well worth it by my whole family. The true north of Northern California is a place apart-quiet, peaceful and defined by nature rather than man.

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Looking for A-1

I can't leave the computer for fear of being distracted from my quest to check in for our flight tomorrow at precisely the stroke of 7 am. I realize it is not likely that I'll get A-1 because of Southwest's new "business select" that automatically gives you a high number for 300 bucks more, and then there's all the people who might be already checked in if our flight is a continuation from Manchester or Pittsburgh or someplace, but yet, here I sit, watching the seconds tick by to avoid the possibility that my family might not be able to sit together. Gone are the days when the traveling circus of babies, strollers and carseats got us the coveted pre-board status. Now we're on our own. So I wait...less than two minutes to go. It's like a game now-the slot machine of modern air travel. What will I get? Okay, it's within a minute so I'm going to try on the chance that their clock is different from mine...And it works! I got in at 6:59:36 for numbers A-24 through A-29. Okay, I can go about my day now. Thanks for waiting with me.

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Stuck in the Middle

I'm stuck between two dear friends who are on opposite sides of an issue. The conditions of the situation have caused me to give some serious thought to my tendencies-how I express myself, what causes me to argue with other people, how much control I have over my emotions, and in what circumstances do I feel that I must contend the correctness of my opinion at the expense of the unity of a friendship, an organization or the feelings of other people.
I know that this moment will pass, and my friends will eventually move on, but they will probably never be quite the same. I hope that I will be able to learn from the situation and take much more care about expressing myself. In many situations where I have the chance to speak publicly, such as during classes at church or in posting to my online book group, or even here on my blog, I seem to too easily start crusading and preaching. I take things so seriously sometimes. I hate that about myself and often wish that someone would just put their hand over my mouth. Seeing the damage that has been done here by well-meaning people doing more talking than listening convinces me more than ever of the value of seeking first to understand before seeking to be understood.

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Countdown to California

This coming Friday, we leave for California for 10 days. I am very excited about the trip-we will see a lot of the northern half of this gi-nourmous state, traveling from San Francisco up to Yreka (I just love saying that) to see my pal Holly and hopefully my other pal Heather, then down to Fairfield to stay with my brother and his wife and two darling children, then down to Monterey to see lots of fish and the ocean and maybe some whales, then back to Fairfield, then over on the ferry to San Fran to see cable cars and sea lions and sourdough bread and chocolate and the Golden Gate Bridge and then back to Fairfield then north of San Fran to see Muir Woods and some beaches and maybe even a lighthouse. Whew. I am trying this coming week to take the vacation before the vacation so I won't need the vacation after the vacation. I've virtually cleared my schedule so I can start tomorrow to get the laundry done, make sure we have the suitcases out of the storage unit, make my ultimate things to do list, and get everyone ready to be out the door at approximately 5 am Friday morning.

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Welcome to the Mtv Generation

Mtv debuted just a couple of weeks before my 15th birthday. I still remember the old ads with the astronaut planting the Mtv flag on the moon. Today I heard a song that I bet I haven't heard in 20 years. It was one of my favorites in high school, along with a lot of other German techno/pop/punk stuff, and since most of the songs from that part of my life are permanently paired with their music video in my brain, as I was driving in the car, I was picturing this gem. Watch it if you dare. Peter Schilling was a serious babe and a lot of his other music is really good. But as for this bit of vintage 80's, which continues the story begun by David Bowie in Ground Control to Major Tom, it could be a very close second to our favorite worst video ever made. What is up with the carhops? This used to make me cry as I imagined Major Tom floating away, thinking of his wife...Ahh, the good old days of teen angst.

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Sometimes life is just so daily.

Can't think of anything specific to write about. Here is a list of things I've noticed, been thinking about or am doing:

• I am happy for the spring-like weather.
• We got a new trampoline after living a year and a half without one.
  
• I like having a trampoline. It is a good way to get my kids outside.
• The scarf count is up to 25 for our church service project.
  
• I am so grateful to Jann for picking up my kids for activities last night so Eric and I could go on a date to see Natalie McMaster. It was a completely awesome concert-I'm so glad we went!
  
• I went to Filene's Basement for the first time over the weekend. I was not able to walk away empty-handed.
  
• For the first time since she was about 3, Sara and I have matching shoes, thanks to Filene's Basement.
  
• I found my swimsuit for this summer. It is actually a running camisole and skort, with a running t-shirt as a rash guard. It feels great on, and I love it. I found a super sale, so I got two different camisoles to go with my skort. My beloved surfer girl set finally started to disintegrate after 5 years.
  
• Most of the details are set for our trip to California next week. I am very excited.
  
• Facebook is not working for me right now. I have 4 friend requests that I'm very excited to reply to and I can't log in. Whenever someone tries to play a game with me or send me something, all I get is an error message. The suggestion of the customer service geniuses was that I delete my page and start again from scratch. Hmph.
• In spite of the stigma of being over 40 and using facebook (we old fogies get mocked mercilessly in the media), I have found it really useful for finding lost friends. So, apparently, I'm not the only old fogy using it.
  
• I hope people come to knit today because I forgot to send out a reminder.
• I have to catch up on the administration of my seminary class. Submitting rolls, keeping track of records and in general being nitpicky about details are my hardest things. I need a secretary.
  
• Tomorrow, after I go visiting teaching at 10, will be the first day in 29 days that I don't have 3-5 obligations on my calendar.
  
• I need a new keyboard and mouse. My space bar is broken.

Okay, enough boring stuff. Off to the library for toy sacks in case of scarf makers' children coming over.

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More Light

As a photographer, I'm always in search of more light. For example, I have some extra money earned from my recent knitting conference, and my sole end is to find the right lens for my camera with a larger aperture than any of the lenses I currently own. A larger aperture means my lens can let in more light and give me more options for making photographs indoors, in low light or at certain shutter speeds. I've known for a while that I'm at the limits of the light with my current equipment and have wanted a new lens for a really long time to take me to the next level in my photographic work. I have experienced frustration trying to make photographs look the way I imagine them and being unable because I don't have the ability to capture enough light.

In other aspects of my life, I am also in constant search of more light. In the unique culture and language of my faith, we equate light with truth, very literally. We believe that truth comes from God in the form of light for the soul, for the mind and the understanding. We are literally saved from darkness by truth. So, in a constant attempt to increase my understanding, my joy and my ability to live life to the fullest, I look for light in the form of pure truth. My dear pal S. turned me on to two simple questions to ask myself that will help me in that quest. Here they are:

Are you happy?

What are you willing to do to be so?

I won't be answering them here, because the answers will be so very personal, but I'm hoping that my future posts will reflect more peace, more tolerance toward others, more flexibility when life throws me curve-balls and, in general, more evidence that I'm making progress through life. I am not unhappy, and I don't want this to feel morose in any way, but these questions really made me think. The act of becoming is a big part of what I believe life is all about, but it has to be balanced with the act of simply being. I really believe I'm acceptable where I'm at, but somehow, paradoxically, knowing that impels me to want to become more. Yeah, I know--back in the deep end here, but here's the seminal idea for me: Sometimes, (well actually most times), I feel pretty stuck, not too much different from the day before, and I know that some of that is because progress comes slowly, but a lot of the days, I think I actually am staying pretty much in the same place. Same frustrations, same habits... not a lot of quantifiable forward movement. If I can answer these questions each day, I have a feeling they can help me get unstuck. Maybe I'll find out these aren't the questions I really need, but just picking up and looking a little will lead me to the ever-elusive light. If my aperture is open wide enough, I can make an image clear enough to give me clues to the answers. Or maybe just to the next question. That would still be progress though, and I'll take it.

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