change is good
Oh me oh my - is it always so hard to let go of a trip? Last week my husband, Eric, and I took a rare vacation (sans offspring) to celebrate a (major) anniversary.
We were originally headed to Big Sur - one of our favorite spots on the planet. We had been with the kids a few years back, fell in love, and promised ourselves we would return. A few days before we were scheduled to leave, I heard horrible news. In the middle of the endless news cycle of election year mayhem, to which I am hopelessly addicted, there was a quick mention of a devastating wild fire near Big Sur. At first I thought I must have misheard the location, but there it was again the next morning. And the fire was getting bigger! Oh California. We had so meticulously planned our grand and glorious celebration - I cried when I realized what was happening. When I called the inn to see how close the fire was - how bad the smoke, how crowded the only road into Big Sur - the innkeeper honestly said "Oh sweetheart, don't come".
After wiping the tears off my cheeks, I thought it might be possible to salvage our trip if we headed north of San Francisco instead of south, and asked some of my California friends for ideas. They had one suggestion:
Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the most romantic corners of the Earth. That is, if mysterious fog, hills that roll down to a beautiful bay, a roaring fire, and raw oysters washed down with beer is your idea of romance. YES. We spent several glorious days hiking, tide-pooling, kayaking and tasting every delicacy the land and sea had to offer. What remains, now that we are home again, is an intense longing to return to my newfound homeland, about 1000 pictures, and heaps of inspiration:
intersecting lines formed by the clapboard of an abandoned dairy barn
interplay of scale in a woodpile
wooden fence zig zags along a curved path - cable perhaps?
a pop of sunshiney yellow against the gray rocks and grasses
selection of red soda at Inverness Deli - who knew there were so many?. brings back memories of shopping at Salvation Army in high school.
Looking back - I realize that as soon as I got off the plane, my eyes were open. It is as if I had been asleep for months. The trick now is how to stay awake, keep it with me and move forward.