TRAVELS WITH MATTIE

I finally found a mountain lion track! Confirmed: That's a big kitty.  Saw that guy on a beautiful hike from East Camino Cielo down to Paradise Road two days ago. Mattie and I have been having a great week - finally feeling (close to) all better after 2 weeks of sickness, it's gorgeous outside, and the turkeys are hanging out. Good days at Sunset Cabin. 

It's a beautiful, sunny, windy day up at the cabin. Mattie has to go to the vet today, which she's pretty TO'd about, but then she gets to go have dinner at the Brewhouse with friends (they have a menu for dogs. Absurd.). Off to campus for a meeting, then to climb, then work, then the vet, then dinner, then back for more work and maybe a movie or just sleep. Or MAYBE we'll continue to make friends with the neighborhood fox like we did last night. He's just so handsome and amazing.

The day was already amazing when I last wrote. Then even more incredible things kept happening. 1. Mattie and I went on another little nature walk at dusk. The turkeys were out in force. Mattie made a new puppy friend named Nickel who lives in another cabin. THEN we found an awesome boulder on a secret side trail. It's all pebbly and gnarly and blue. That is the REAL COLOR. I could hardly believe my mind. And I bet there are more out there... Holy cow.  2. We came home and I had my favorite soup in the world - tomato rice. Mattie and I were sitting all cozy in our respective sleeping bags, drinking tea and writing about nanoparticles. Then visitors came. Unannounced visitors!!! On Paradise Road! This is groundbreaking stuff.  Our neighbors from down the lane, the sweet Doug and Anne, knocked on our cabin door and brought us warm peach pie. Warm. Peach. Pie.  Get real. Warm homemade peach pie, delivered straight to the cabin porch.  A lot of good...

 A month between blogs? Bogus. The holidays were low-key, but I did get to spend some great time with my insane and insanely adorable nieces. Sid Vicious in her Christmas outfit.  The Gremlin Anni, using my headband as a belt. Then I was a little sick, and a little overwhelmed, and I spend most of the rest of my break in SLO finishing the report about Santa Rosa Island (hooray!), spacing out with Mom, Dad, and Dylan, missing a trip to Utah, getting my truck fixed, and coming back to a stormy Santa Barbara to teach. Then we had a few beautiful days up on Figueroa Mountain with SNOW, did some climbing, and just this week had the most wonderful visit from my Sierra loves, Christopher and Kevin. The first night they made dinner from veggies they picked up from Green Oaks Creek farm - remember when I stayed there this summer? Same Christopher, the guy I went on Portland Road Trip 2012 with - went and drank some beers and listened to music at Cold Spring Tavern, then sa...