Little Lessons Everywhere

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I've never been one to take sedentary breaks.

I've been spending 'tween-assignments time gardening on the farm with my folks, visiting friends and cycling with my sisters (we've created a team and are training for the MS 150 in September to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.)

Yesterday, as I was helping mom do some cleaning, I ran across a little booklet my aunt had sent her. It was hidden between some Martha Stewart cooking magazines:

98 Things A Woman Should Do in Her Lifetime by Rebekah Shardy.

I really loved 89 and 90...

89: Eschew a job for a career.

90: Eschew a career for a life.

The traveling gig has allowed me to do just that. I have always known this is my calling. However, my life shifted when I left permanent employment and hit the road. "Traveling" has allowed me to live a fuller life and to enjoy more people and places than I had imagined.

I hope each of you today take a moment to think about life. Is this life the one you want? If it is, BRAVO. If it isn't, what small steps can you take to make it what you envisioned it to be?

It's never too late!

Looking Toward the New Assignment

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Well, folks, I was so busy packing and spending time with loved ones in Northern Cal that I wasn't able to write and tell you where I am headed next....this is a vast departure from the redwoods and the Pacific Ocean, but mind you, it has a charm all its own...

and I will fully explore it as I have explored the other places I have been!

I am headed to Kansas.

Soon to explore a place I have never been in the Heartland

What I have found initially about this area is that it is a town named for two Indian tribes and the setting for an exciting battle between the "free-staters" (abolitionists) and pro-slavery folks during the Civil War. I am excited to learn more about the history of this area!!

In the meantime, I am unpacking this:



Almost Halfway Through a Very Long Drive

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Well, the northern California terrain is morphing into

NEVADA

and UTAH

tomorrow, Wyoming....

Packing and Pondering

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Okay, I'm doing more than packing and pondering. I'm crying in between.

Have you ever known

that the change

you're preparing for

is a good one,

yet you're still broken up

about it?

That's how I feel tonight. I know I said this last time I moved assignments, but I've loved this place.  I've met great people. I've experienced so many new things! I am aching as I prepare to leave, especially when I round the corner of my street to face west and I find myself looking straight at the Pacific Ocean.

Tonight, I've been contacted by Monty, who is doing well after Joan's passing. I received a message from and talked with Hank (from my first blog entry!)

I came home Saturday afternoon to find this hanging on my door:

It was from Tom's daughter. Tom had gone home a couple weeks ago, but his daughter had stopped by and left me a beautiful picture book of northern California to remember my time here.

Boy, will I.

 

As I was packing this evening, I found a wonderful page I had torn from the Live Your Best Life section of the Oprah magazine in July 2008. (I'm a sucker for quotes and beautiful photographs.)

 

I know, the print is too small. If you look closer, it says:

I suddenly realize why I have picked up this message. The timing is perfect.

It says to me:

Your world in northern California the past 18 months has been glorious, yes. But there are other places for you to explore and enjoy. Embrace the experience you are leaving, say goodbye, and get ready to fully acclimate to where you are headed.

 

Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Don't pine for what you are leaving.

Be present to a new experience.

Whimsical Insight from Steven Tyler

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I was writing one evening while listening to American Idol, and I just want to share a paraphrase of this great quote from Steven Tyler...

"We're all just

bozos on the bus

until we find a way

to express ourselves."

So true!!

Have you found your way?

The Town Priest's Faux Pas

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I was walking back from lunch yesterday when I passed the town priest rushing out of the building. I called out hello to him. He said a brisk, "Hello," but he didn't make eye contact. He quickly hopped into his convertible and sped away.

Hmmmmm. That was odd.

Later the nurse, a bright, young fellow, who is a "go-to" guy, popped his head into the rehab department.

"Guess what."

I turned my head to look at him.

"The priest gave Whitey a piece of host (Catholic communion wafer), and he choked on it."

It was obvious that he was on a feeding tube....it was hooked up right at the bedside! That meant he could not swallow.

Lesson of the Day

Check in with the priest

before he brings communion

to your tube feeders!

My Favorite Northern California Hikes

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I love the outdoors. I try to hike in the areas surrounding each of my assignments. My past two assignments in different parts of northern California have provided excellent places to enjoy nature. Because some of you may share that same love of paths trod and untrodden, here are a list of my favorite hikes in northern Cal.

Marin County
Point Reyes National Seashore has two GREAT trails I would recommend:

WOODWARD VALLEY LOOP

(approx. 21 km / 13 mi.)

This trail includes beautiful forest

 I love this part of the hike!

and spectacular coastal hiking.

beautiful, huh?

This is a hike with about 5 different microclimates and terrains. Just lovely! This is one hike where you want to make sure your camelbaks are full!

COAST TRAIL FROM  PALOMARIN TRAILHEAD TO ALAMERE FALLS

from the beach looking up to the Trail

This is one beautiful hike within Point Reyes National Seashore, south of the Woodward Valley Loop. You spend a lot of time on the cliffs above the Ocean, and at the end, you can climb down the cliffs to the beach. I have to admit, by the time my friend, Rob, and I did this hike, the holds had worn down and it was very sandy and steep. Rob, who's 6'2", made it to the beach, and I didn't. I couldn't muster the courage to potentially fall and injure myself.

I have a great memory of standing in a grove of trees and breathing in eucalyptus. Hhhhmmmmmmm. Yes. Nice memory.

 Napa County

STEBBINS COLD CANYON TRAIL

View of Lake Berryessa

I did this hike with my friend, Lew, on a misty day, and it was gorgeous from the highest point. This hike requires some reaching up and climbing over large round rocks. Best to carry a trekking pole!  There are some steep sections. There are not a lot of places to stop and have a picnic, except for one..right at the top with a view of the Lake around which passing cars look as tiny as ants!

Map of Stebbins Cold Canyon Hike

 Sonoma County

JACK LONDON STATE PARK

This park is built on the former private land of author and adventurer Jack London (who write Call of the Wild).  You can visit many different things on the grounds of this property, including Wolf House remains (a huge house he built in 1913 that burned down just before they moved into it), the House of Happy Walls (built by his wife Charmiane London), trails, barns, a manure pit, and an unusual pig central feeding house designed by London.

remains of Wolf House

SUGARLOAF RIDGE STATE PARK

Sugarloaf Ridge

Such a lovely walk for an easy outdoor day. The trails are covered with blackberry bushes. One of my favorite memories of Sonoma County was spending a Sunday afternoon with one of my best friends from high school who lives in the Bay Area - we met up with a picnic and spent the afternoon picking berries and talking about old times.

Isn't it great how friends can transport us to another place and time!?

Sugarloaf Map

Mendocino County

JUGHANDLE STATE NATURAL RESERVE

I absolutely love this park. It's not really a long hike, but the perfect place to take a Sunday picnic. Right up to the water.



It has five wave-cut terraces that you walk down onto the beach. There's a pygmy forest there with knee-high trees that are decades old. Pretty cool and unusual!

Get out there.....explore!!