Moonshine Junkyard

My little Lucy turned four years old! It is a shock to my system, sometimes, to look at her and see this big growing girl with long legs and unruly hair and a constant sparkle in her eye. She was my newborn baby just yesterday! Every mother says this, I know. But I seriously feel like I remember every day of her life so clearly. I remember the way she was practically born smiling, her ready smile and curious wakeful eyes even in her earliest weeks. I remember her big round baby face at ten months old, snuggling me in bed, always near, always cuddly, sturdy and soft in my arms. I remember her learning to walk in Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone, madcap and gleeful.  Tootie has always loved cartoonish characters. Even as a young baby she would thrill to the sight of Elmo's face across the thrift store, pointing with excitement. I never even introduced these things to her, she just naturally adored them. She has never been drawn to the "princess" type of cart...

We had big plans for peace and quiet as we traveled south, but kind of forgot it was a three day weekend for fourth of July. There was a huge fireworks display planned in Bodega Bay on Saturday night that we hadn't even been aware of, so now I understood why it was so hard to book a room even a month in advance!  Our drive down to Bodega Bay was gorgeous of course,with those unforgettable views that I fell in love with so long ago and that now bring me back to circles of time just like so many things these days. The mundane act of driving becomes magical. Music plays that has become the soundtrack to my memories: Grandaddy, Elliott Smith, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams.  Little forest nooks around every tight curve, tucked into eucalyptus and pine, rusty shacks and crumbling rooftops, airstream trailers and VW busses create dreams of other lifetimes. I see the drop of the cliff and the tops of the redwoods and the magnificent canvas of ocean that would catch us all and it's ...