O, oo, oooh, listen to the music.

I love California.  It's in my bones.  It's in my sensory memory.  At times, I can smell the pine or the crisp mountain air.  My skin can feel the prickle of the sun warming it.  

What is it about this place?  Maybe some people have bad memories attached to their home, so they try to forget it.  And if they were to try and recall special moments in their childhood they probably couldn't.  But I can, even down to the smells.  It's comforting.

The woods in California are attached to a very bright spot in my memory.  I love the mossy, speckled boulders, the huge redwoods with their fuzzy bark or the expansive cascading oaks.  And the rives that race down the mountain and knock against the rocks...it's overwhelming and it fills me to my core.

Nature is a force to be reckoned with even if you're just standing still in a clearing of trees.

And, nature is therapeutic.  I've started to appreciate it more and more.  When you live in a metro area, nature can be scary.  HAH.  It is!  You know why?

Nature doesn't make noise, it's not distracting or busy, keeping you from yourself.  It makes music.  But, you can only hear it if you're quiet.  Not just with your voice but in your mind and heart.  Beautiful.

         By nature, no pun intended, I am not a person who enjoys solitude or anything close to it.  So learning to be still long enough to let the peacefulness of the trees, grass, rives and ravines speak to me was a hard lesson to learn.  I've learned to set the city in me at rest so I can hear the songs nature has for me.  

                                    
                                     They are beautiful and can woo even the restless of souls.

Emotions

Ok, so I'm back home, for the time being. Have you ever noticed that when you're absent from a place for very long coming back almost knocks you off kilter? I feel a little wobbly in my emotions and it's disconcerting. My relief at being back home is almost palpable and I cringe at the thought of going back to where we're staying for the next couple of years, but I also know that if we were to move back 'home' that I wouldn't feel complete!! Do I sound like a woman or what? So, I feel like there are two rivers raging side by side in my bosom and it's giving me 'e-motion' sickness. Everyone needs a break now and then from their ruts and we sure are getting a good one. This break is going to be about ten days long. I am determined to make the most of it. There are a billion photos to be snapped, a million memories to be made and SHOPPING to do. All of which I will take back with me to make my time sail by until our next visit. On our way into Sacramento, I stared out the plane window and got tears in my eyes knowing that I was going to be home. There is something comforting about being with your mom, sisters and little brother -- being crammed into a small, two bedroom condo with my family never felt so good. My little boy is having so much fun with his Uncle Sky and D is making Sky's WEEK by veggin' out in front of the playstation, controller in hand playing Call of Duty 5. I love watching how their eyes turn glassy and they make silly, snorting noise while trying to get away from the Germans or the Russians or which ever country is the enemy at the moment. Weirdos.
Now, it seems odd driving with more than two cars around. Seriously. It's like I live in the middle of NO-where out there. I'm not used to hearing car traffic outside my window at night anymore. Having more than three restaurants to choose from for dinner is like heaven. And having dinner with old friends seems like a distant memory. Never let it be said that Cali isn't my home -- I love it here!

Back from my HOME back to the cows and chickens!

What an unbelievably fun and invigorating trip! I managed to be with and stay with some of the most important people to me. I had such a great time going from home to home from experience to experience. And now that I'm back here it feels almost like a dream that I was there. During my stay, my tummy grew and Cy learned more English! It seemed like overnight he was saying new words and speaking more than ever! It was great. On the last weekend of our stay, I went to Monterrey and Carmel with Sarah, Kissa, Ryan and Clayton. It was great! It felt so awesome to be at the beach. The sand in Carmel was like silk and the air was so refreshing. We spent the day toodling around and then later that evening grabbed something to eat and headed over to the Forrest Theatre to see a play!While we were walking around Carmel we stopped into a gallery that had sculptures and I just fell in love!! They were so beautiful and I wished that I had to money to drop $6000 on those pieces of art. The artists name is Richard MacDonald http://www.richardmacdonald.com/ . Take a look at his site. The first sculpture you will see if of a very famous Russian Ballerina named Rudolph Nureyev. It was said that this man was the perfect model of the human body and this after hundreds of men with all types of athletic backgrounds were examined. As you'll most likely read on the site, Richard only uses live models after which to make his sculptures. One of his sculptures included three wild cheetahs that came with their trainer into his studio for 2 weeks!! I sat with the art consultant for about 20 minutes just talking about the different pieces. It was so nice!Spending time with my friends felt incredibly awesome and a little selfish!! I kept looking around for Cylas and feeling like I was being a bad mommy for not taking him with us. A part of me just couldn't let go and COMPLETELY enjoy myself. But, the part that did let go had a blast!! When we finally made our way to the Forrest Theatre and sat down in anticipation for the play to start we were intensely disappointed to discover that NONE (all but one) of the actors could sing, dance or act!! It was sooo horrible...like cherry Robitesson! We couldn't keep from laughing and eventually had to leave. What a great memory though...
Here is a picture of us making sad faces because we didn't get to see a good play.