Out at Howard's

My dear old friend Howard gave me a poem today. We both cried when Ann read it aloud. These are the last lines:
Too much in love with earth am I
To ever want to walk the sky
Too much in love with warmth and light
To seek an everlasting night

What a gorgeous day. Ann and I walked over to Zimmershed Creek. Tidy Tips and Blue Dick. Sycamore and popcorn flowers. Yet another perfect spring day.

More spring

Even just outside our front door is alive with color and beauty.

Today I got to walk with Susan Tchudi at Turkey Tail Farm in the foothill country above the Oroville Reservoir. They are starting a CSA and have many start up projects going that were energetic and promising. It's great to see a family working together across generations and I can't help but being envious. For me looking into how other people live, how they construct their lives and how much energy they have compared to me is fascinating. Both Susan and Steve are retired professors and I am humbled that Steve has taken up helping me make a book out of the Veggie Voyagers story. I'm really eager to see what he can make out of the materials I've provided to him.

The wild iris and lupin were showing off so I share them here. Hopefully neither Susan nor I will have gotten poison oak which is particularly shiny and attractive right now.

I loved this day, being off work and visiting the Tchudis then coming back and working outside with Michael on brush and wood pile clean up. My idea of a great time.

I wanted to include photos of last Sunday's Immigration March downtown. We had about 60 people. The message is very clear to me that it is not fair to divide families nor is it fair to scapegoat hard working, good people. Immigrants need justice and we need to pay attention to this need and provide fair and respectful reform. It is ridiculous that the Health Bill doesn't even cover legal immigrants for five years. It is illogical and inhumane to intentionally create inequality in the laws of this country.

El pueblo unida jamas sera vencido. The people united will never be defeated!

Spring Equinox

Ah the great spiral dance of spring! I woke before the equinox sunrise to prepare the house for Michael's return today from his week skiing in the north. Then I headed off to yoga, farmer's market and the Pathways to Peace March. I had interviewed Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness and Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org) on the Peace and Justice Program (www.KZFR.org) the day before and was eager to hear her at the Rally to Commemorate the 7th Anniversary of the Iraq War. Besides being a devoted peacemaker she is also an endearing human being, shown here with dear Ann Creamer, peacemaker. Both of them are Irish American and they hit it right off.

Along the way I was a crossing guard for the march and got this photo of the fabulous Jimmy Brobeck on his does-anything bike. More carrying capacity is going to be a key thing to getting more people to ride and here is one man's solution(s.)

On Wednesday, Weezie and I did a St. Patrick's Day walk at the Tree Farm and felt the connection with the druidic oaks that still create a bridge between our time and the mystic time of St. Patrick.

One of the best parts of the week was connecting with Butte County meadow foam. This little plant has stopped development in our local vernal pools and where I work is right next to the only places on the planet where it thrives. I was really joyfilled to go for a bit of a walk to shake off late afternoon restlessness and find this beautiful little plant along my path.

Between amazing humans and beautiful other living life forms spring is really an amazing time to lean into the message of LIFE from a place of pure appreciativeness.

Now mid March

Last weekend I was swept up in the preparations for and the actual celebration of the bar mitzvah of Gabe Franden Feldman, my friends' son. It deepened my understanding of Jewish faith lineage and was an honor to share in.

Michael and I had a little time out at Pine Creek. We needed to replace a window in the cabin there. I came away smelling of red ants and mouse but no regrets as it is so beautiful out there.

Michael went with his friend Art to ski up in Oregon for a week so my life is pretty quiet. I had separate and richly green walks with two special woman friends. With Kathy up to Castle Rock in Butte Creek Canyon and with Laurie along Big Chico Creek in Upper Bidwell Park. Even the grass intrigues me with it's intense green push to the sky. I haven't started the spring garden yet... everything is pretty theoretical at this point but I see dirt in my future.

shooting spree

Four days of travel for work in Solano, Marin and Sonoma counties. I was extremely lucky that one of the clinics I visited made it possible to spend the last night in beautiful Inverness on Tomales Bay. Poor Michael has been working madly on our kitchen remodel during our time apart.

The golden rollin hills of California are so beautiful when they are green. I fall in love with the valley oaks and the gentle round swells all over again each spring I see them.
I'm really grateful to have an excuse to travel and see the beauty.

The evening I left I went walking with Karen to take photos. I do ok but her amazing camera, with the hue saturation cranked up and a big fantastic lens makes every shot look like a masterpiece.

Of course I'm envious but it's still very fun to be out with another fanatic and learn news things about stuff like "white balance" that will help me do better--no more blue photos. With a very unstable job and a kitchen to complete I don't think a new camera is really on the agenda but I'll just keep having fun with mine in the meantime.