My San Francisco Treat

Last month, before our hectic summer schedules begans, we took a road trip up to the Bay Area. I am not a city girl at all, but I think San Francisco is truly my favorite big city.
Up near John Muir Redwoods... I hadn't known such rugged outdoor perfection was just across the Golden Gate bridge.

I started off the trip with a few days in Palo Alto, bonding with my little cousins.

Cool pictures Andrew took while we played at the very hands-on Exploratorium Museum. Gotta get some science/education in on vacation, right?
I have many more wonderful pictures from this trip that intend to post one of these days. I have less than a month until I'm Hawaii-bound. Travel always begets more travel.

100th Post

Magical, mythical, marvelous...

I went sailing with three rugged pirates yesterday (one being my dad). They picked me up in a dinghy on a nearby beach and we headed down the coast. Ten hours later, due to light winds, we docked in Ventura.

Dolphins swam along side the boat and seals waved to us with their flippers. Sailing is so peaceful, with no engine rumbling or diesel smells. Just the sound and smell of the sea.

We drove back late. A skunk was waiting for me as I turned into the stairs to my house. I got sprayed right in the face!
Gross.

There are no skunks in Hawaii.

Hi Friends

My computer is back from the shop.
Someday soon I will straighten out the internet situation.

Right now I am on a five minute internet break at a coffee shop to update y'all.

June was great! I missed the internets but it was probably a healthy break from screen time.

I am working long hours with preschoolers, which I enjoy most days. Very entertaining. And exhausting or energizing, depending on the day/moment.

I have taken up yoga and go practice at a studio a few days a week after work. I am hooked.

We are going to Hawaii for nearly a month in late August. The islands are calling. I am far less homesick in Cali than I was in Oregon but now that I have a plane ticket I am feeling those pangs.

I eat mounds of squash out of the garden every day. Want some?

Love,

Emily

The Cherry On Top

I was very very pleased to find this sort of happiness at the farmer's market. Just what I had been hoping for... I also stocked up on apricots & got a 10 lb bag of organic oranges for $5.

I harvested my first homegrown leeks.We made fava beans on the grill with great edamame-like results.

I have been learning about shading and the value scale in my drawing class. I spend every free minute playing around with the handful of Prismacolor colored pencils I've acquired. We have an "art show" the weekend after our class ends. ;-)May Gray is upon us. I am loving the coastal fog that has rolled in: It sure beats smoke! And the purple jacaranda trees remind me of Upcountry Maui.

Clayfulness

I love this picture hanging in the pottery studio. The preschooler who made it really captured someone at the wheel. Check out Andrew getting down and dirty in a comparable image:

There are masterful artists who work and fire in the studio. Watching them unload the kiln is an enthralling art show. Most potters are generous with their knowledge. I am trying different decorative techniques out. Below is a bowl designed with pencil when leather hard, dipped in colored slip, coated with wax resist, then recarved and filled in with iron oxide. Next step: salt kiln. I'll post an "after" if it makes it. Here are two bowls I made after glazing:Same bowls after:I read an NPR article on the phasing out of the boombox, A Eulogy for The Boombox, the same day I noticed these folks still partying like it's 1988.

Meet the Neighbors

This little skunklet was hanging out in a neighbor's caged in garden plot. Note: This is why my garden plots aren't barricaded/suburbia-ed off. The poor little guy was shaking in his booties as the neighborhood kids tried to rescue capture him. He must have been too young to spray (shucks) but don't worry, I broke out my bossy teacher voice and had them release him.
We rode our tandem bike right next to this dangerous looking sunbather. Andrew had me turn and check him out only after we passed him by. Rumor is he is a gopher snake who goes for little animals that eat our veggies so I'm supposed to like him. Snakes bring out a primal fear in me. Maybe because I didn't grow up with them--Hawaii is a snake-free zone. Snake lore is intriguing, I just don't want to see them.
Yes, there are a few trees in this desert. It's hard to imagine but this whole area was once an oak forest. I was laying under this tree and I found its beauty striking. I was doing sit-ups (!?) Yes, I'm officially committed to getting in shape again. I am going to reduce the layer of pudge that accidentally accumulated when I wasn't paying attention. Plus, due to working with germy little people, I really need to boost my immunity and avoid this whole pig flu scandal.
The last neighbor I am featuring is Fairview Gardens. I love walking through this organic farm admiring the fair view and picking up small-scale growing inspiration. Plus, they have cute chickens. I took this pic from the library window. Yes, I'm the person wandering the stacks with my zoom lens out. ;-)

If You Don't Like My Fire...

...then don't come around.
--Ben Harper

The awesome--and terrifying--power of nature.

When Jesusita Fire (named after the hiking trail near where it started) in Santa Barbara started it was considered manageable, and sort of old hat. We've had three fires since I moved here, and two in the last year. The one that was raging nearby when I moved here had been going on for 3 months.

Unfortunately, the Sundowner winds and hot-hot-hot temperatures led it to an out-of-control, raging mess.

At the start:
My friends and neighbors gathered as if there was a lunar eclipse and watched the flames lunge in our direction.

We prepared to evacuated, since the warnings were just one exit away. Fortunately, we've been safely situated. We stayed inside all weekend (so NOT my style) to avoid falling ash and lung damage. I did pressing things like clean our spice rack and detail the vacuum cleaner. We made it out to the theater at one point to see the latest X-Men movie (great distraction) and gathered with friends to watch "Milk" (I heart San Francisco--and Sean Penn).

I've been a ball of nerves but the coastal fog has rolled in and it's cooling off out there and things are looking a lot better. My heart goes out to all those who lost their homes and I am in awe of and full of gratitude for the firefighters who came to the rescue from near and far.