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...

Hi friends! It's been a while! Mattie and I have been busy writing about the Channel Islands, finding new little nature walks near the cabin, visiting with friends (including an amazing last-minute trip down to SB from Danielle & Lindsey), and editing (nano nano). And in the past two days, fun at Lizard's Mouth. Lizard's Mouth is a large rock and sandstone playground (not to be confused with The Playgrounds - another sandstone wonderland nearby) that has been one of my favorite spacing out venues for some time. The Lizard's Mouth rock formations are incredible, the weather is incredible, the view is incredible, the climbing is incredible. And the past two days there have been some of the best. I headed up West Camino Cielo on Sunday to 70 degree weather with no wind. Chameleon rocks morphed from gold to orange to lavender as the sun went down, and I did a few bouldering problems between space-out sessions from rock perches. Transient gold, Lizard's M...

When it rains at night there are a thousand toads on the road home, and we stop the leaking truck to move them aside. The raindrops are fat and heavy and fall from twisted oak boughs to wash the cabin skylights. Mattie Dog curls up on a sleeping bag called The Cat's Meow 20 Degree. I wrap myself in the new-smelling Pomer Hoit (it is too hot here and belongs in the mountains) and sink into the sage couch next to hot tea and a snoring puppy to think about islands and granite. The coyotes and the turkeys are quiet. We all listen closely as winter arrives on Paradise Road.

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 cour...