the penninsula

 

My dear friend invited me to visit her in her new community where in the last two years she has been welcomed in by so many friendly neighbors dropping off flower bouquets, eggs from their chickens, homemade jams, and veggies from their gardens. Every Halloween for many years a group of people on her street gather at a man's house with all of their children and they trick or treat all along the street, stopping at all of the houses where the old people who rarely leave home live.  When they are finished they end up at another gentleman's house who feeds the entire group a several course meal that he has spent all day cooking, while the children run around, playing in their costumes.    

corner view~close by

Baseball season is upon us.  Gary is coaching Shawn's team this year.  Their practice field is close by, and it hugs the coast so the boys get some nice views of the sea.  As they drive home from practice, the sun is beginning to set in the west.

I took Shawn to the batting cages today, the eleventh day of their two week spring break. Opening day is this Saturday!  Shawn's team plays their first game that day, and he is hoping he'll get lucky and be able to throw the first pitch.

menlo park

This is a vibrant lively community that I weaved in and out of during my recent trip to California.  We went down the mountain every day to pick up my friend's daughter at her school which is in this town.

We did our shopping in this town.
I went out to dinner with another friend in this town.  A big piece of fish with sauteed broccoli on pureed turnips.  Yum.
I went to a real, actual bookstore (remember bookstores?) in this town.
If I grew up in this town I would have lived in the gym in the last photo.  

woodside

When I went to visit my friend in California she took me to small, sleepy Woodside. We saw huge pastures with horses grazing peacefully.  The air smelled of redwoods and eucalyptus.  I know this is a very wealthy area.  But it didn't seem that way on every street I saw.  To me, it was an understated small town with unexpected charm and sophistication in some of the shops, restaurants, hardware and grocery stores. And it's a hop, skip and a jump to a major university and everything you could ever need, including a Trader Joes!

allied arts guild

Every garden has it's own life and it takes you somewhere.

It's one thing to visit and walk in a garden.  You are the guest, and you get to enjoy the fruits of someone's labor.  It's another thing entirely to work in your own garden -- to plant something in the ground and watch it grow.  To harvest food you have grown and feed people. To flavor dishes with herbs you have cultivated since they were baby plants.  To wander around meandering paths you have created, and see the first bloom of a new flower.  To me, there is no greater joy than being in my garden.

I have been to Giverny and I have walked the paths there and breathed that life into me.  Monet's inspiration.  What a place!

This garden, located in Menlo Park, California, an artist colony with shops, studios and a cafe, would be good company for Giverny.  There we saw spring flowers in bud form, some already blooming.  I bought two tiny pieces of pottery.  We visited jewelers and heard the buzzing of saws from the town woodworker.

It was one of the highlights from my trip.  And it was just the beginning of spring there!  

corner view~travel

When we take a trip from home we are temporarily suspended into an alternate reality with different sights, sounds, smells, and experiences.  We interact with new people, and go to places that are different from our normal routine.  We come up with new ideas, and reflect on our life.  

For me, there is almost always a renewal when I travel.

I just returned from a trip to California to see a close friend.  I went by myself. It has been many years since I have made a trip like this.  I loved being with my friend and her husband and young daughter.  I loved seeing her home, helping her plant Mexican sage, roses and lavender, taking walks in her neighborhood, going out for lunch, the nut butters and goat milk caramel sauce from their farmer's market, learning to solar cook (more on that soon!!), being on the Stanford campus (I went to a talk), our movie nights, and reading stories to my friends' daughter.  And I loved coming home to my family and my beautiful clean home, that my family took such good care of. Thanks guys, love you!