Oh boy, this week...
Here are things that are new: I rocked my ankle last Monday and have been out of commission for 7 whole stupid days, but am finally feeling better and am hoping to get back outside by the end of the week. Climbing and running progress is keeping me motivated and I can't wait to get back to it.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent two days in Santa Monica with the family (we missed some of you guys!), then drove up to SLO to spend a very welcome weekend with Danielle, Cole, Mary, Lindsey, Jon, Mattie, Kai, Collins, and a couple new friends from San Francisco. Cole made raging bonfires both nights and we listened to the ocean heaving at Morro Strand. I saw the most insane shooting star of my life from their front porch and made two wishes on it, because it could handle it. I spent more time with my family and watched Moonrise Kingdom again...and then again.
I drove back to Santa Barbara last night and arrived at the cozy cabin under bright moonlight. Of course, upon returning, Mattie and I headed to the back room to check on our beautiful black widow friend, and were sad to find her corner empty. I checked again this morning, but it looks like she has moved on for good - we hope to a safe high web where she continues to annihilate ants for the rest of her days.
Living in quasi-isolation, it is amazing how you first acknowledge and then understand the routines of creatures. We wake up to the turkeys gobbling. We check on the black widow sitting high in her corner. We watch the quail dart and disappear through the poison oak. We move the tarantulas. We listen for the fox. We check for the deer who follow an exact route through every day and can always be found in the open dirt area at Paradise Campground between 7:30 and 8:00 am. I could (and do) spend countless hours pondering the schedules and activities of animals around here. And when one animal friend stops showing up (moving, of course - never dying), another makes its way to the cabin. This morning a gigantic awesome fuzzy wolfie (spider) greeted me at eye level while I brushed my teeth. We both kind of panicked, then had a good laugh about it together. Oh, the cabin.
I am working on the most awesome project in the world, and learning everything there is to know about Santa Rosa Island. I am researching, reading, discovering, and generally getting super pumped up about everything Channel Islands. It is going well for now, and has brought new life to writing. It is the most refreshing work I've done in a very long time.
When I'm not sitting and thinking and writing about Santa Rosa Island, I still find myself subconsciously dreaming about wild things like the Eastern Sierra and Hope Valley and campsites like this:
A month and a half before the next road trip.
Winter/Spring 2013: Tahoe/Reno >> Utah >> Wyoming >> Colorado >> Utah >> Sierras >> Joshua Tree >> San Diego. I KNOW.
Here are things that are new: I rocked my ankle last Monday and have been out of commission for 7 whole stupid days, but am finally feeling better and am hoping to get back outside by the end of the week. Climbing and running progress is keeping me motivated and I can't wait to get back to it.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent two days in Santa Monica with the family (we missed some of you guys!), then drove up to SLO to spend a very welcome weekend with Danielle, Cole, Mary, Lindsey, Jon, Mattie, Kai, Collins, and a couple new friends from San Francisco. Cole made raging bonfires both nights and we listened to the ocean heaving at Morro Strand. I saw the most insane shooting star of my life from their front porch and made two wishes on it, because it could handle it. I spent more time with my family and watched Moonrise Kingdom again...and then again.
I drove back to Santa Barbara last night and arrived at the cozy cabin under bright moonlight. Of course, upon returning, Mattie and I headed to the back room to check on our beautiful black widow friend, and were sad to find her corner empty. I checked again this morning, but it looks like she has moved on for good - we hope to a safe high web where she continues to annihilate ants for the rest of her days.
Living in quasi-isolation, it is amazing how you first acknowledge and then understand the routines of creatures. We wake up to the turkeys gobbling. We check on the black widow sitting high in her corner. We watch the quail dart and disappear through the poison oak. We move the tarantulas. We listen for the fox. We check for the deer who follow an exact route through every day and can always be found in the open dirt area at Paradise Campground between 7:30 and 8:00 am. I could (and do) spend countless hours pondering the schedules and activities of animals around here. And when one animal friend stops showing up (moving, of course - never dying), another makes its way to the cabin. This morning a gigantic awesome fuzzy wolfie (spider) greeted me at eye level while I brushed my teeth. We both kind of panicked, then had a good laugh about it together. Oh, the cabin.
I am working on the most awesome project in the world, and learning everything there is to know about Santa Rosa Island. I am researching, reading, discovering, and generally getting super pumped up about everything Channel Islands. It is going well for now, and has brought new life to writing. It is the most refreshing work I've done in a very long time.
When I'm not sitting and thinking and writing about Santa Rosa Island, I still find myself subconsciously dreaming about wild things like the Eastern Sierra and Hope Valley and campsites like this:
A month and a half before the next road trip.
Winter/Spring 2013: Tahoe/Reno >> Utah >> Wyoming >> Colorado >> Utah >> Sierras >> Joshua Tree >> San Diego. I KNOW.
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