Bodega Bay

The weekend at the Dunes Cottage on Salmon creek provided a grand finish to my birthday month. This was the second annual Mom's birthday celebration that replaces in our family here on the coast and in the Nevada desert Thanksgiving and Christmas worries. I have a way to gift my kids and grandkids as we eat and play together for a couple of days. I shopped for gifts for each of them over the last two months. It was so much better than in December.

After breakfast they opened the Christmas paper wrapped presents. I had so much fun because everyone was surprised. And the gifts were something they wanted and liked.

We spent Saturday morning playing in the cold, very cold waves on the beach. Skyler and Shae teased the waves and within minutes of arriving were soaked. We took turns holding their hands and running from the waves that got the rest of us wet up to the knees. After lunch I sat in a chaise lounge on the patio and let the kids sit with me play with me and each other. We read a little and then it was time to go to the tide pools. The tide pools were a disappointment. Last year there were hundreds of starfish clinging to the rocks and the sea anemones were everywhere. We only saw one starfish and very few sea anemones. I hope this is not because of the climate changes. Saturday weather was sunny and warm but not hot, just perfect.

Sunday morning we took a short walk on the foggy beach. Short because it was impossible to keep the kids out of the water they were ready for a repeat of Saturday morning but they were dressed in long pants for the trip home.

Part two...I guess this is my rant.
I have spent many years playing Scrooge through THE HOLIDAYS. I boycotted Xmas for many years and then started taking back the parts of the holiday that I liked. Buying gifts was occasionally forced upon me but my heart was never in it as I walked through the stores full of, what I saw as overpriced junk wrapped in red and greed see I misspelled green. I buy as little as possible from Thanksgiving to New Year's day as a protest to stores that replace Halloween merchandise with Christmas decorations before Halloween.

The first year of my boycott I took Paulette to Disneyland on Christmas day and David visited some friends in Southern California. We happened to see a little of the DoDa parade in Pasadena that year. The next March i bought Paulette a new bike as an annual gift. For several years David got new tires. That's what he needed and wanted.
A couple of years ago i spend Christmas day at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with the Hulapai Indians who served Indian Stew. Each year has been different.

As I see it It would be much better for each family to have a big celebration in the birth month of the elder of the family. Presents, big meal, a family get together. Airfares might be cheaper, surley the airports would be less crowded. Gifts would be more thoughtful as there would be none of the abouve mentioned junk. I believe in the long run the merchants would do better if they did not have to work so hard to make up profits at the end of the year.

Sooooo in October when you are beginning to stress over THE HOLIDAYS; perhaps it is time to decide how you want to celebrate. Keep what is meaningful and joyful. Move what can be moved to another time of year. Drop the stressful and unnecessary.

movies

I've seen two movies this month that I really liked. I did not mind paying six dollars to see either of them.

The Namesake How names are given, how they affect a life. It also shows another culture within ours. I really like that kind of movie.
The Painted Veil A lovely story in a different time and place.

WIND

The spring winds have been blowing and today feels more like fall than spring. I have kept up with my walking exercise even in the wind. Yes I'm bragging and it hasn't been easy. Yesterday and today the clouds were so white and fluffy and I thought of how Mother used to talk about the clouds being whiter and fluffier in Colorado. The good news is the air is being swept of some of the smog andwhatever else our autos put in it in this valley.

The weekend. After work tomorrow I'm off to Reno to a Dance Sensation. 48 hours of dancing, dance workshops and dance shows. West coast swing, lindy, charleston, blues dancing, salsa and hip hop. Snow is forecast for the mountains so I might get to use my chains this year after all. I have to go finish packing. Can't forget my Aleve.

Tuesday morning

I left for work at a slightly different time this morning. I was stopped at a stop light near the high school. About 25 teenagers slouched, reluctantly, across the street in front of me. I was struck by the diversity of skin colors. It seemed most races were represented in this small group. I also had time to notice the diverse body shapes: tall, short, thin, fat, lots of in between. However, their clothes were so similar as to mimic uniforms. Dark pants and dark sweatshirts many of them hooded. I silently wished them a safe day and drove on.

Cha Cha follow-up

I realized I did not write about how much fun I had with my students when I taught the ChaCha. I wasn't sure I knew how to teach dance so I asked my private teacher to give me a lesson plan. IT WORKED!

The class was divided, half enthusiastic and half reluctant in the beginning. I found that peer pressure is alive and well in adults as well as children. The enthusiasts pulled the reluctants into the lesson. Since it was a party day(We always have a party before vacation) we spent 45 minutes in our space and then were joined at the food tables by the other morning class. After the eating the two classes combined for another lesson. Soon there were 30 people trying out the Cha Cha. We laughed and danced. To finish the morning I put on latin music and we all danced the merangue in a long line dance.

When we returned to class yesterday someone asked when we would have another Cha Cha lesson.

April 7

Back form the coast. We hiked the Pomo canyon trail named after Dr. David Joseph. I don't know who he is but the trail is great. We started at Shell Beach in the fog. It was a little cold but halfway up the first hill we were shedding the first layer. We walked into sunshine with the fog behind us. We met two cowgirls on horseback who were on the trail to head off cattle they were moving up the hill. They had been hidden in the shrubs along the trail. We never saw the cattle.

There are redwood trees older than I can imagine. There are three places along the trail where the trees form what I feel are sacred places. There is the sound of water, sun filtering through the thick canopies high up toward the sky and the light is soft. One has no water sound and is so quiet you can hear your heart beat and your breath going in and out.

We met a group of about 40 kids hiking towards Shell beach. One of the adults said they had hiked 10 miles already--they were a little less than three miles from the beach when we met them.

We ate lunch at a picnic table near the campground, refilled water bottles and took advantage of the toilets. Then hiked back to the beach. About a mile from the end of the hike the fog rolled back in toward us and the wind picked up. Really glad to be at the end of the six mile hike.

We showered changed, went to dinner at a local restaurant, bought a pint of Ben and Jerrys (Dublin Mudslide) and returned to the house for a quiet evening in front of a gas fireplace with the wind outside and the sound of the waves of the ocean about a quarter of a mile away.

A great birthday.

Thursday

Tomorrow, April 6th, I will turn 66. I wonder what a 666 year will bring. Perhaps I should have planned a trip to Route 66. Instead I'm going to hike Pomo Canyon just North of Bodega Bay with two friends. Then we will sleep at the beach house of a friend and drive back on Saturday through Sonoma and Napa. I know this trail does not have any rocks to climb..no surprises in that area.

Today I am trying to do a weeks worth of sorting and cleaning. I'm not going to finish. However, I did get up early for a day off and walk to Borders for coffee. Then I walked back and did not even think about the order of things or try to make a list. Ipicked up the first stack of stuff and got rid of most of it in one way or another. I then attacked my office and it is so nice and clear and dust free I can sit and think. On the other side of that the hallway is barely passable because of the stuff that is going somewhere else--soon.