TIS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS -

A meandering day through the wine country in mid sixty degree weather is just the thing on the day before Christmas.  Everyone, everywhere was in the same meandering mode and it was truly relaxing and peaceful to go through the V  Market in Yountville, and Dean & Deluca and the Culinary Institute in St. Helena.

Tim, Darlene and I had a lovely day enjoying areas very unfamiliar to us and taking in the sights and sounds that are prevalent to the area and the season.  We each loved the old monastery buildings and how they are used today.  It must have been awesome to have seen these building gems in the day.


We are back to the Napa home, the huge Swiss Mountain Dog, the tiny crazy kitten, and settling in for the night.  The fireplace is cozy and inviting as the sun is going down.  We are thinking about dinner and readying ourselves for the long winters nap.  Who knows, perhaps Santa will find us here in this strange land and snow will drift our way leaving a soft white blanket in the early morning hours.


Whatever Christmas Day brings, it will be perfect in every way.  Quinq (the tiny cat) and Cosmo (the huge Swiss Mountain dog) will continue to bring joy as they play together and we, as family have each other to share the love of the season.

May each of you have a heart filled

with love and peace and joy.

May you share this special season

with those you hold dear.

May you always find yourself

exactly where you want to be.

BLESSINGS OF THE SEASON!

- MAGICAL CHRISTMAS -

What is it about Christmas lights that just causes one to smile?  It is such a simple thing that makes me feel happy and cozy inside.  I love driving around where there are streets filled with lights of all sorts of colors and shapes.

Everything from all white hanging down strands, multi colored globes and large round balls of lights, can be found as I traverse the streets this time of year.  Most people are cheerful and smiling and offer happy greetings to each other in honor of the season. 

There are those who are hurrying around doing last minute shopping and ordering and sending packages to others far away.  Most people are polite and courteous and going with the flow.  While others, well let's just say, are a bit stressed out, frustrated and perhaps a bit cranky.  Bless them all.

And then there are the smells.  It is difficult for me to restrain myself most of the year anyway, and then now there are all the traditional makings of pastries, breads, pies, candies and all sorts of other amazing seasonal offerings.  I suspect I gain a few extra pounds each time I see and smell any of these special goodies.  Totally unfair.  

I am much safer walking or driving the streets, talking with people and enjoying the visual beauty of the very creative people who put on a most wonderful display of what the season is for them. I am very grateful for their talents as I meander around.  For me, there truly is magic in the air and I filled with a tremendous sense of well being.

May each of you enjoy whatever this season is for you and may you experience whatever makes your heart sing.  I offer love, smiles, joy and peace to each of you this now!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

- NAPA CHRISTMAS -

Tim, Darlene and I are getting everything ready for our trip to Napa for Christmas.  Lots of food preparations and packing going on and snacking on everything, to make certain it is edible.  So far we are loving all that we are taking with us for our adventure to the wine country.

I spent a wonderful week with Millie making cookie dough balls and freezing them, making snow people out of styrofoam balls, getting her trees up, decorating the inside of her home, drinking port, eating chocolates from Belgium (and other places), picking up Wing Nuts ( a great trail mix sold at the Fountain's Farmer's Market), buying and eating a pizza from the wood cooked oven at the Market, purchasing lots of grocery items for goodies to make, and enjoying ourselves with all that was going on.

Millie's brothers are coming so I helped her to get the bedroom ready for use and to ready other things for her upcoming festivities.  I am certain all they do will be loads of fun and especially with her grandchildren, ages 11 and almost 9.  I go back to her home on New Year's day and we will do our best to clean and rearrange her home, getting it ready for whatever else may be coming.  We will also need to make sure all the left overs are either eaten or frozen for a later time.

Millie and I walked her neighborhood one evening looking at the outside decorations and enjoying the full moon that occurred on that night.  It was quite magical and a bit less cold than some of the other previous nights.  Of course, this called for more port and chocolate once we returned to the warmth of her home.  There are priorities.

I have done well with being in the midst of so many people since I was among so few for the past six months.  It almost feels as though I have been here all along and never left.  Though inside I am a bit different and more at peace and very grateful for the family and friends that I am able to hug and tell them I love them.  

I took a few hours and went to Auburn to see my favorite chiropractor, visit a friend at my bank and get my hair cut.  I think people failed to recognize me until I got the hair cut, which was cute.  I saw many special people at the salon and again, felt as though I had never left.  Some things just seem to be the same, though I heard of several changes that had occurred while I have been away.

The air has been crazy dry and Thursday was very windy.  It feels as though my skin will crack and fall away from my body.  This is quite a shock compared to being at the coast for two months and living in a very moist and humid environment where my skin felt so good.  This is something I absolutely need to consider as I continue my travels this next year.  

I did have one unexpected moment when I came out of Millie's home one late afternoon.  I was startled to see my front right tire completely flat.  A call to Good Sam and the nearby Les Schwab store resulted with the discovery of the valve being slightly stuck open.  It was repaired quickly and all is well.  Almost all of the people I spoke with were helpful and caring and guided me to the best decision with the options I had available to me.  Thank you Good Sam and Les Schwab.  It was an early Christmas present.  Yea!!!

Time is winding down until we leave on Saturday morning and we seem fairly organized with all we need to do.  Laundry is caught up and food is prepared and we are all excited to be in a festive location for Christmas. This is completely new for each of us.  

For now, I have had one too many cups of espresso and I am feeling its effects.  I probably need to do a bit of walking or something so I can get it through my system and be able to sleep tonight.  Otherwise, I will be awake and have more than sugar plums dancing through my head.

To All Those Celebrating,

Happy Birthday!

"Take a course in good water and air;

and in the eternal youth of Nature

you may renew your own.

Go quietly, alone;

no harm will befall you."

 - John Muir

Enjoy your renewal!

- SACRAMENTO -

So, I had a most wonderful drive from Trinidad to Sacramento.  I left the amazing peacefulness of the redwood forest on Tuesday morning, hoping to be on my way by 9 a.m.   Well, things failed to go quite as I had anticipated.  Imagine that!

I was still at the forest at 9 a.m., getting my propane tank filled and saying good by's to those special people I had shared my time with there.  So it was a bit after 10 a.m. before I finally pulled out and headed to the small town of Mckinleyville to have the tires checked and to get gas.


While at the gas station a woman pulled in and on the side of her rather large white diesel truck was a sign all about horse back rides and a phone number.  I asked her about it and from there we shared twenty minutes of her telling me all about her business and showing me pictures of her horses and the area and one unique picture of a horse standing with its hind end backed into a blackened, burnt out redwood tree. 

Near the bottom of the horses legs was a purplish blue iridescent see through coloration.  It was a picture of a ghost at the lower part of the horse.  There was no mistaking of what was captured on film.  Truly amazing and caused chills to go up my spine.  Personally seeing a picture such as this was a first for me.  

I am certain the clerks in the gas station were hoping we would leave because with the length of my motor home and her more than large truck, we took up all the space of an entire island.  She was a most delightful woman and when I return to the area I will for certain seek out the horse riding fun.

I was surprised to see so much snow on the ground and on the tree branches since it has been several days from the snow day.  What I was most glad of was that by the time I actually got on Hwy 101 all the areas that had black ice were thawed so driving was safe.  There was still a lot of snow on the ground in Willits and even some in Lucerne.  

I went through several areas where the snow was still on the tree branches causing them to bow down and shed their snow on my motor home as I passed through.  You know, the whole arch thing.  There was lots of snow on the ground and it felt so much of being in a winter wonderland.  The sun was streaming through the trees and everything was glistening and white and green and the branches of deciduous bushes and trees were white as well.  Stunningly beautiful and awe inspiring.

I got all emotional as my CD was playing "Colors of the Wind."  It was so magical and I felt so grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy this incredible experience.  Many times I speak of being blessed and this was one of those most wonderful times of feeling extremely blessed.  Thank you, Universe!

What I anticipated was going to be an eight or nine hour drive was much shorter.  I left McKinleyville after 11 a.m. and arrived at my dear friend, Millie's, around 6 p.m.  I stopped two times to check my directions and then also was at a complete stand still on I-5 just before the Sacramento Airport, due to a huge auto accident for at least fifteen minutes.  Stop and go traffic was the norm for about another ten minutes.  I suspect the travel angels were helping me out a bit.  Very grateful.

Millie had dinner ready and we ate before hooking up the motor home to electricity and bringing a few necessary items in for the night.  Since then we have made Christmas stockings for her grandchildren to take to school to give to homeless children, made two kinds of  double batch cookie dough balls, shopped at several stores for needed supplies, had breakfast out, took her little ones to school and back and all the other normal everyday things.

We are now making styrofoam ball snowmen, three more kinds of cookie dough balls, a raspberry mouse, panocha and whatever else comes to mind.  We will be having lunch one day with a friend, going to Mimi's for breakfast on another day and probably do another trip or two to the grocery store.  

So, all in all, we are busy.  We still have the inside of the house to decorate for Christmas and get everything ready for when her brothers arrive on the 19th.  I will be leaving on the 18th to spend the holidays with my son and daughter-in-law.  We will be going to Napa for seven days and we will do lots of sight seeing, as none of us have spent much time there.  I am excited since it will be all decorated for the season.


I am going to Auburn next Thursday to hopefully see my chiropractor and get my hair cut.  I am beyond bushy at this point.  Very scary.  I will have to wait to see friends until I return after the first of the year and then I will be off to Morro Bay for a time.  

Right now I am enjoying the sunshine and relatively warm days. even though the nights are in the low thirties.  It is nice to hear song birds again.  It seemed strange to only hear the calls of ravens while in the redwood forest.  Even when walking into the town of Trinidad I only heard the ravens.  I so enjoy the sounds of the different song birds.  It is good to be here and spending time with Millie and her family.  I a looking forward to being with my son and daughter-in-law.  Everything is so great!!!

To All Of Those Celebrating,

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Diane!

Happy Birthday, Amanda!

Happy Birthday, Cinnamon!

Happy Birthday, Grace!

"The privilege of a lifetime

is being who you are."

 - Joseph Campbell

Enjoy your lifetime!

- RAIN AND POSSIBLE WHITE STUFF -

We are not quite certain about the predictions for the weather here, though we are all best prepared for what may come our way.  Based on all the reports I've seen, most all of the areas where I have family and friends are dealing with cold temperatures and rain/snow.  Even Clovis, California. 


I am still in Trinidad and now the predicted departure is next Tuesday or Wednesday.  I am uncertain why I keep putting this out there because, as we all know by now, when I plan something, it changes.  I have gotten quite used to this and just keep breathing and going with the flow knowing I am exactly where I need to be. 

I am looking forward to all the food preparation and fun Millie and I have before the holidays, which, of course, includes taste testing and eating.  And Tim and Darlene have tickets for the three of us to see the Nut Cracker at the Sacramento Ballet.  I really want to be in the Sacramento area so I can enjoy all of these events.

So, until I get there, I am here, staying warm and dry and doing inventory in the small store at the RV park.  There are lots of things to be done here and I could stay for several more months to help catch things up to being level and balanced.  I'll do the best I can before I actually leave.

My little Christmas cactus is almost finished blooming (a total of three blooms) and I promise to transplant it into a larger pot early next year.  I would love to watch it bloom again.  It is a deep fuschia color which is difficult to capture with a camera.  This is one of my many favorite plants.

The cat has been in for two days due to the cold and rain.  She had finally started going up to the store again.  They actually had to boot her out the other night, although they may make a space for her to stay during the really cold nights.  She has a thick coat though I feel it is less than adequate on the cold night temperatures.

The local commercial fishermen have all of their crab pots ready for launch once the season opens for them.  Non commercial fishermen are doing their best to catch most of them before the larger boats, etc., have a go at it all.  It appears each person has their own nets with personal color choices, that, up close, are quite colorful to see.

I have not walked for the past several days because of the cold temperatures so I am unsure how the flowers are doing around town.  I hope to check them out before my departure.  They may be a bit worse for wear.  It was so nice to see them continuing to bloom into early December.

My last venture to the fudge shop presented a new flavor of the month.  Peppermint.  It is absolutely delicious and lovely to look at so I will be certain to buy more before I go.  Not everywhere has truly good fudge that is locally and hand made.  This one is a gem.

Mushrooms seem to be everywhere these past few weeks.  As soon as one shows up and breaks down, another one or more grow into view.  There are some very unusual looking ones here and are amazing to see in person.  I am certain they are completely inedible however they are very striking.

Please keep Sharon in your prayers!

Rest In Peace, Nelson Mandela!

To All Those Celebrating,

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Happy Birthday, Marci!

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Happy Birthday, Diane!

Happy Birthday, David!

Happy Birthday, Aquinas!

"Let freedom reign!  

The sun never set 

on so glorious a human achievement."

- Nelson Mandela

Enjoy your freedom!

SLO COAST JOURNAL - DECEMBER ARTICLE -

The December article in the Slo Coast Journal publication is now available to view

http://www.slocoastjournal.com/docs/roeadventure.html