Sometimes, life washes over the top of me and I don’t object. It is a mixture of difficult and delight, the former a necessary duty, the latter the recharging antidote. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we are blessed with beauty abundant if a person will go out into it or stop to look.
It is a good thing, for so many around me have been suffering the ravages of mental illness – not Lafawnda, who is doing great! – and the fallout is a terrible and expensive thing indeed. The Lady F and I have realized there is only so much we can do to save the world and we have definitely been doing our share. Then we take off into the beauty that surrounds us so our souls and our psyches can recover. All the pictures I am going to put in this post are from within 15 miles of our house (except for the Napa Valley, which is 60 miles away) and all were taken within the last two weeks.
The Lady F and I have joined the Regional Parks Foundation Trails Challenge 2013 program in which we will hike 5 parks or 26.2 miles minimum this year. The parks are part of the largest urban park system in America. We’ve already hiked 3 and are hoping to hike as many more this summer as we can fit into our schedule. Our kids are catching the fever, too!
Only about 30 of the 65 East Bay parks are part of the challenge this year, but we have hiked some that are not on the list, too. We also hike further than the minimum even though we don’t get “credit,” 
These images were from our hike of the Coyote Hills Park. We hiked a bit more than 3.5 miles through marshland, hills and bayside. We saw a fox up close, egrets and a muskrat along the way along with a wide variety of plants:
In between, we went to Napa to help Lady F’s mother, 87 but doing really well. While there, the three of us took off to enjoy some of the valley. Oh, and then do some cleanup of yard and windows although one of the workers seemed decidedly hostile! LOL
Wednesday, while driving home, I turned the corner two blocks from our house and ran right into a gorgeous sunset! I pulled off the side of the street and took this photo. The photo is unretouched and all these photos in the post are from a Canon Powershot ELPH that I carry in my pocket at all times.
This past weekend, we took the kids to Tilden Park sitting in the hills right above Berkeley, part of the Trails Challenge. The first view is over the Bay and we were all looking at San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. The rest were inland on our 7.1 mile hike!
Life can be very challenging and is often busy. But when we head back into these beautiful park lands, it is like leaving civilization behind. Ah, sweet nurturance!
I'm mad jealous of your hikes, the company, scenery and weather warm enough for short sleeves. I've told my boss (me) that I will not clean the windows until the snowy sleet stops, the sky appears and the sun comes out to play.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, there is nothing like a hike to clear the mind, calm the soul and work up an appetite.
You sure know how to make me homesick! The Bay area is indeed very beautiful. I especially love all of the different kinds of water fowl.
ReplyDeleteI envy you. On the odd occasion that I am able to get away from my routine, I get bogged down by people concerns and that drains me. I must seriously get some nature in to my life instead of concentrating on the nurturing that I seem to have inadvertently got myself into.
ReplyDeleteRummy you must nurture yourself first and foremost
DeleteThere goes that California Bloodlines song again....
ReplyDelete@Grannymar
ReplyDeleteYes, we need to remind ourselves in Northern California what a gift this area is and get out into it as often as possible.
@Delirious
ReplyDeleteYou and shackman are sharing the homesickness for NorCal right now.
@Rummuser
ReplyDeleteWe are having the same difficulty as you, but my wife and I have decided to simply insist upon some time for ourselves because otherwise it just grinds us down to nubs.
@Rummuser
ReplyDeletePS In times of social change and upheaval, if you are the ones intact, you get to be a helper for all those struggling. I wouldn't want to trade places with the strugglers, but it makes no sense to just be drained until you are also struggling.
@shackman
ReplyDeleteYes, we have to get you here for a visit when possible. We miss you just like you miss the area.
I LOVE hikes. That's why I call myself bikehikebabe. On my hikes nothing much grows so it's easier hiking except for climbing up rocks & not so beautiful unless you look at the blue sky with white fluffy clouds (You get those too,) & the distant mesas & mountains. We've never seen a fox. In wilderness they're too shy. The coyotes come out to eat your dog.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS for such a BEAUTIFUL post. The lady with the tongue looks like Lady F. Who are the pretty young girls?
bikehikebabe
@bhb
ReplyDeleteThank you for the very nice words! I'd love to go on a hike with you, by the way, even if I couldn't keep up.
The lady with the tongue is indeed the Lady F and the pretty young girls are my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter. Can you believe that my granddaughter has grown up that much?
Your photos are great, Fossil. Especially the one of the hostile worker, ha ha. 87 and doing well, this makes me smile. Bless her heart, may she continue to have many happy days.
ReplyDeleteAaand happy trails to you and Lady F. Carry on.
blessings ~ maxi
@Maxi
ReplyDeleteI've had talks with that worker but it's just hard to find good help these days! Especially when that help is your supervisor ...