BBBRRRRR!

This morning I crossed the threshhold into insanity. In case, there was any lingering doubt, this morning erased that. I got up at 6:30 to ride with the Sierra Foothills club. We met above snow level and rode beginning -- and ending -- in 34 degrees. Because the storm ended24 hours ago, we avoided Colfax. Icy roads and all.

But it was cold enough this morning, I foolishly showed up with half-finger gloves, but luckily Larry lent me full finger gloves. My old frostbite reanimated in fingers and toes, as expected. But I didn't realize that my cheeks felt like they would just peel off. Beginning our ride with a downhill at a safe 25-30 miles an hour, the wind chill broughgt the temps down close to zero. And in the shade.

With each turn, though, the environs revealed more sunshine, crisp clean air and sedate farmsteads. These, scattered along the hillsides, is what the Foothillsare all about. What a glorous way to begin the day, even if it involved a little pain!

The ride wasn't terribly long, but we climbed, descended, spun, cornered and did all the fun stuff one can look forward to on a bikeride. Thanks, SFCYCLISTS !

Yo-Sem-It-E

We did it! Took the time, made the big drive. And had loads of fun! We found a great little B and B near Mariposa, drove each morning along the torrent that is the Merced River, and entered the tourist-filled park. Besides the people, the park was, uh, respendent. (I'll look at that spelling later...)

And Lana proved herself a formidable photographer!

The valley floor was lush, and the greens were very saturated. The sky was crystal blue. Like a picture book. We even saw some nice deer, although too close to the road for comfort.

On our one full day we hiked to not one, but TWO waterfalls. And they were gushing, not just flowing. Lana slept well -- ah, "rested her eyes" -- in the car on the way back to Mariposa!

After puff-pancake breakfast and fruit platters the next morning, we went back into the park. One last look around and dipping our feet in the river.... and WHOOSH! Lana slipped and fell in the icy water and let out a scream that rebounded off the trees in the pine forest around us. We hustled her to the car and held up a towel as a changing room. We soon had a story we could laugh about.

INTERMISSION....

Just returned from Yosemite, where the water was still running strong. Very nice, except for all the people and litterbugs and animal feeders.

That adventure follows very soon, but in the meantime, here are some swimming pics since the summer havs been relieved with water-playing-around-time.

Summer Goes On....

The goats moan and complain, the cats prance and wail, the horses voice their annoyance with the heat... and the sleeping ends at 5:30 am. We're in the middle of a long string of summer mornings. Everyone is up, except Lana! She gets to rest up (not as though she needs a beauty sleep) until nine, ten, even eleven in the morning. Just in time for my lunch!

She's a demon with a camera, a card shark, a swimclass graduate, and a crack-up with her sense of humor. She memorizes movies, books, and, to my dismay, some of my weakest bedtime stories. Fortunately she also can recite some of my good ones!

The game of the week last week was "Pirates" and, AARUGGHH matey, she's mighty good at that game.

more soon....

Solstice

Summer marches forward, and we are doing cool things!
After a spiffy haircut, Lana is ready for a California summer...

Which means... Having an i-phone camera competition with cousin Justin, walking the gangplank bridge to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, having a birthdayat Grandmom's.....

AND working the Marin Art Festival with all the white tents....

SOON: Right after the Solstice, temps shot up to the TRIPLE digits (eg, 100 degrees, actually 108 that first day.) And she walked the farm, played pirates and read comics and journaled in the hammock. And driving back down to see Susan's author talk at Book Passage.

LANA IS HERE!!

The big first week of Lana in California goes well. We're non-ostop "hangin' out" which means we garden, watch movies, make snacks, play soccer, read, get sleepy and jump about. All in no particular sequence. Giving her an advantage because of her age.

I've put off my writing group for the week, but for next week, we'll each bring a story. In the meantime, we're feeding the goats, making art, doing all from the above paragraph, and working on a SECRET project for Amy.

Ice cream, spinach pizza, yummy new cheeses, artichokes in the garden, planting new seeds, cinnamon and toast, Special-K with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, nectarines, strawberry lemonade, and her first pistacio are the ongoing world-o-food that we are here in California. Persimmons next on the list....

Next week we go to work on the Marin Art Festival, and see her cousins, (Nicolas and Justin) and Grandma.

cRAZZY wEAtHer

Okay, so this is a crazy-weather Spring going into Summer. Really, truly "crazzy" as Lana would write. Perhaps theis is the pretty side of climate change; perhaps I'm more attuned to the skies thatn I was last year. Tumultuous clouds, brooding horizons, even humidity from all the precipitation. The other day in the feed store, a metal-shelled warehouse, the shell suddenly rattled with a bolt of thunder. A brief silence followed as people stopped talking, and rain like a thousand hammers pounded the roof. Very unusual.

The horses get wet and cold, and the next day flies cover their faces. The goats complain, complain. They don't have shelter and they don't know where to stand and they are confounded about shedding out their winter coats. And the chickens are just plain talky.

Fun news - cousin DARCY came to town on tour, and I saw her last night... in her last performance ever with that band (Straightjacket Striptease.) And I got to meet her fiance to boot.

AND MORE fun news - I go pick up Lana on Wednesday, and she'll come back to California ALL SUMMER LONG! We've got swimming lessons lined up, beading with Amy, talking to Jackson-the-Goat and visiting with Grandmom and cousins. Plenty to do, including volunteering at the lilbrary in the huge kids' section... So you all can BET this will be a site on which to follow Lana.