harvest dinner under a hallowed sky

The yard was full of tomato plants about to ripen, 

and mint, mint, everything smelling of mint,

and one fine old tree that I loved to sit under

on those cool perfect starry California October nights

unmatched anywhere in the world.

- Jack Kerouac

diaphanous daydreams

 

For the last week the fog has propelled in from the Pacific and hovered along the coast. It wafts up our street enshrouding us in a dreamlike state. It enlivens my morning run with a supernatural quality and it encourages me to sit with a book by candlelight, savoring a pot of honey vanilla tea on the windowsill throughout the afternoon. When darkness comes and we walk Rave, the hazy effect is at its finest. We are completely alone and we focus on the incantation of the waves, the occasional bellowing foghorn, and the sea lions' windblown barks from a buoy where they gather in the distance. In the night along the shore I forget the city lights behind us. I want to carry our bed to the sand, close my eyes in the mist, and see where the waves have carried us by morning.

a little sparkle

 

After two back to back camping trips it was fun to glam it up a little last weekend. On an especially foggy Friday night we headed here and for a brief moment in time we felt a little bit like movie stars ourselves.

run wild starlight

 

 This week I camped with friends in cedar creekside cabins north along the California coast. A meandering path in the woods ushered us to the rocky shore where the pulsating wind enlivened me with each breath. Brooke and Kristen snapped gorgeous polaroids and I brought my Diana Dreamer along to play with.

At night the knowing moon and run wild starlight shone through the oaks and we gathered around the warm campfire for hours. As we slept the rain fell diligently and when I let in the light at sunrise, rainfall was coming down on the hillside treetops in a soothing rhythmic motion. It felt like the perfect accompaniment to morning coffee and my journal, so I added a woolen scarf, hat, and handwarmers to the composition and settled in.

Soon the sunshine returned with freshened air perfumed with eucalyptus and wild anise and we resumed our beachcombing.

Now I am on my way out the door again for another brief camping trip, this one with Bud, Rave and Gypsy, our bus. There's a crispness in the early morning and evening fall air that is best enjoyed outdoors and I want to make the very most of it.