this is my friend's description of the cabin in the woods where i'm housesitting.
"My place is comfy for one or two people. There is a double bed and a futon. A sunny deck off the kitchen, and front porch/deck w/picnic table, a TV w/dvd/vhs capabilities, NO cable TV, NO dsl, NO cell phone reception. I doubt you'd need the woodstove but it is there w/wood. I live in a truly remarkable place about 2 hrs from SF, north of Jenner. It is quiet, the air is forest sweet, sometime besides hearing the ocean roar I can smell the sea, the tap water is deliciously satisfying, the deer eat all my flowers on my porch, and the back deck has a great if now fading flower garden. Sometimes if the wind is right I can hear the seals at the mouth of Russian River at Goat Rock Beach."
isn't that wonderful?
i slept long and hard last night, waking up only briefly due to pain. i rarely have to deal with my pain any more. i think being happy and following my heart has healed me to a great degree! but worry and stress cause me a few sleepless nights and i was worried over my roommate situation last night.
but i woke determined to shake off my blues and found a lovely hike - the sonoma coast vista trail. i hiked about 3 miles on and off trail, down to the cliffs above the sea. during the last portion, i crawled so as not to go tumbling off the edge down 300 feet below to the rocks of the shoreline. i watched a long time as sea birds glided just above the water, seals poked their little noses up for a breath of fresh air only to dive down again, and the waves made swirling patterns of beauty and chaos below me.
a motor boat sped by way out below the horizon while a sailboat seemed to remain perfectly still in the light breeze.
i could see all the way to goat rock where seals come to bear their pups, but not at this time of year. now they are out at sea.
i lazily wandered down bohemian highway and got directions to occidental arts and ecology center. (OAEC)
then i found the best lentil soup and fresh baked raspberry turnovers at the charming howard's cafe. mmmmmmmmmm similar to the fried pies my uncle used to buy in bucksnort tennessee. i love fruit pies!!!! the crust was so tender. the filling so delicious.
i've been on OAEC's mailing list ever since i read about them on the intentional communities website. they offer all kinds of cool classes and programs and even a summer chatauqua theater series.
i saw the site today - a beautiful small amphitheater in the woods right below the north garden where i joined volunteers weeding onions. (wednesday is volunteer gardening day.) about 7 of us weeded an entire row of all kinds of onions and filled up several wheelbarrows full of sweet red onions and savory white ones. i enjoyed the camaraderie of my peers. we laughed and told stories while we pulled. it made the work go faster.
the onions make a very satisfying "thwamp" sound when you pull them up. some were bigger than my fist. the bigger, the noisier, the more satisfying. then there were little cute ones with maroon skin and many long white tendril roots.
nature is so beautiful. so complex and simple at the same time!
i'm in the sonoma county library right now.
i'm doing some of my favorite things today:
1. find new places to hike
2. tour intentional communities
3. work out in nature
4. visit libraries in each small or large town you pass by
5. eat fresh baked goods
i'm very happy today.
i'm proud that i can pull myself out of a bad mood. i've developed many skills to do this and it feels good to have tools in my toolbelt. i used to feel swept away by the blues, by depression, when it hit. like i was out of control and overwhelmed by emotions.
now i feel like i can make friends with it, ask it what it has to teach me, meditate on that which i'm grateful for, hike even if i don't feel like it, and before i know it, i'm no longer blue.
yay!
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