Moonshine Junkyard

it's never all that windy here, so it was very exciting on thursday to go out christmas tree hunting on the windiest day of the year! the whole household went together: darin, me, joey and emily, in search of the perfect, slightly-charlie-brownish-but-still-nice-and-bushy-comfy sweet tree. we headed to Sacred Paths organic farm , operated by our friend stephanie sorenson, a place of good vibes, rustic outdoor fire pits, medicine wheels, herbs in abundance and all sorts of wild growing things, and love. ahhhhh, fresh cedar and fir trees, radiant oaks, wind blowing all the leaves and pinecones around, cool and lively, a madcap swirly day. all the power was out from the east side of placerville on up the hill, including all the tree farms and apple hill businesses. luckily, you only need man power to cut down a christmas tree. we got a real cutie. happy! there are all kinds of goodies at sacred paths, from drie...

i recently finished reading Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund and loved being lost in that seafaring world. snuggled by the fire with my cats on these cold november nights, i've also been cabin boy, lighthouse keeper, reluctant whaler, ferryboat passenger and captain's wife. i love the waterways of the early days of America. in the first half of the 19th century traveling overland for long distances was not considered; you traveled by steamboat! soooo romantic. boats and ships provided every possible link to the world outside america, whether industry, communication, transportation or trade. captains were like god on the sea, the rivers, the lakes, the land.  traveling by water makes sense to me; you are still connected to the earth, the ebb and flow, directed by the connecting powers of land, sky, and human hand. i wish the world would slow down. i wish we still had to plan out days worth of travel by river to visit long distance friends...

around these parts, we were especially grateful to spend this one last thanksgiving with old Cream Puff. we knew his time was near. but he was cozy by the fire and we each took turns snuggling him. he loves having lots of people around, so i'm sure he thought we were throwing him one last party. also, i was so grateful to be surrounded by my family. they are so fun, sweet, wise, talkative, and rad. everyone shared the cooking, we had two tofurkeys and tons of root veggies and stayed up late watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles. it was a perfect celebration of home, family, food and love.  cream puff died this morning, peacefully at home. we will miss him dreadfully but mostly, we are so thankful for his long and extraordinarily full life and our wonderful times with him.

bright morning, we headed up the california coast to the most enchanted of wild lands: Big Sur . dreamplace of henry miller's rhapsodies and jack kerouac's oceanic trampings. a stretch of coastal lands that deeply haunts our hearts in every season.  we usually travel north to south; this time we came up from the south so we stopped first to watch the elephant seals of Piedras Blancas have a few arguments, chortle in glee, and then snuggle back in together.  at Plaskett Creek we found the most cushiony green beautiful camping spot in all the world.  headed across the bluffs to watch the sunset, and sighed with joy to know that this is the sound we'd be sleeping to all night. meanwhile, behind us, the full moon rose over the Santa Lucia Mountains. back at our camp we put on all our layers and made dinner in the dark and built a fire, the coziest feeling. next morning we wanted to go out to coffee. little did we know that, comi...