Hiking Through Broccoli Hills

One of the best things about Marin is its vast, rough wilderness. It beckons the Ralph Waldo Emerson in all of us. Melissa and I decided to answer the call this weekend. Yesterday morning, we fled the city for the wilds of Marin.

Meandering through canopies of redwoods and verdant pastures of grazing cows, we arrived at our destination, Point Reyes National Seashore. This national park boasts over 80 miles of coast, open grasslands, bushy hillsides, fragrant forests and pristine beaches. It’s biologically diverse and 45% of of the bird species in North America have been sighted here.

With miles of trails to choose from, we finally decided on the Tomales Point Trail, located on the northern most end of the seashore. The first thing that arrested me when I stepped out of the car was the silence. The sound of nothing echoed throughout the place; so different from the cacaphony of sounds in the city. Even the suburbs maintain some level of activity–passing trains in the distance, 5-year-olds screaming at a backyard birthday party, Linkin Park blasting from a teenager’s dark-windowed Chevy GMC. But Point Reyes … as unpopulated and Thoreau-esque as they come.

I seriously sang “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” as we hiked for what seemed like four hours. We traversed grassland and peered over precipitous cliffs to see superb views of the Pacific Ocean, Tomales and Bodega Bay. We even saw some tule elk laying low among the rolling hills. One of my favorite parts of the hike was saying hi to everyone we passed … Hi. Hello! Hey. How’s it goin’? Or sometimes just a nod of the head if we were too tired.

Melissa’s favorite part of Point Reyes was seeing all the birds! As we entered the park, turkey vultures swooped down from the sky and later, we almost ran over a female wild turkey! Spotted some quail, too, as we came to the end of the trail. You don’t see quail every day!

The last stop of our satisfyingly tiring day was the Cow Girl Creamery in the little–and I mean little–town of Point Reyes Station. Melissa protested vociferously at first. How was she supposed to enter a place with the words cow and creamery in its title? [A little background: she can’t stomach the thought of being in the same room with milk, yogurt or certain animal cheeses.] She was brave, though, and in the end was quite thrilled to find a very cool-looking yellow Cow Girl Creamery t-shirt. I bought a killer brownie from the Indian Peach Catering Co. It was killer.

So, was a good day. A restful weekend all in all.

Midsummer Night

Tonight was amazingly warm, evoking a sense of nostalgia as summer nights are inclined to do.

Ahh, the sweetness of Fri-i-i-i-iday! Melissa and I took a long, leisurely stroll through Whole Foods downtown, savoring the smells of the bakery and dodging the 6:00 rushing-home-to-make-dinner-crowd in the deli before walking to the registers with an eclectic dinner in our basket. Whole Foods makes a pretty good brown rice sushi. Had some of that before we darted over to a movie theater on Van Ness to see The Hours.

Melissa’s description of our dinner tonight when I asked her: Uh, green. [Referring to her salad.] You: formerly communicated with electrical impulses. [Referring to the eel that gave its life to be in my sushi.]

A bumper sticker I saw on the back of a truck today: Eschew Obfuscation. Chuckle, chuckle.

Listening to: The Minus 5 Down With Wilco. Melissa just got it in the mail. Not bad. Sounds Beatle-esque at times.

Not a trick question, just a survey. What number do you think of when you say ‘a few?’

I’m back in Ess Eff, breathing in that slightly salty ocean air that I’ve come to love. As usual, a nice thought-gathering, mind-clearing drive from L.A. Hanging fog and ominous clouds on the Grapevine opened up to a vast, overcast sky and semi-present sun on the farmland stretch of the 5 freeway. You knew the sun was there because of the pale yellow light that it cast–it kind of felt like I was driving through dusk for three hours. Very nice.

Some Things Never Change

Spent the night chillin’ with some of the funniest girls I know: Weili and her need to ‘maxell’ the moments in our life–in high school it was with her camcorder but now she’s armed with a digital camera; Dana and her poking sense of humor–Michelle, would you like a cracker with your lox spread?? (Okay, so I like lox.) Kerry and her crazy spontaneity–it was well past midnight when she out of nowhere started making spanikopita. Love my girls. Seemingly can’t get enough of them. Tonight was a nice way to round out my lazy yet reposeful spring break. My brain sings near sleep. Time to rest up for the long journey back to Sodom by the Bay tomorrow. Buona sera.

Today is officially the first day of spring. Enjoy your twelve hours and 8 minutes of sunlight today, everyone!

Chillin’

Hangin’ in L.A. with my ten-year-old cousin (the coolest kid I know).  He showed me the social studies notes in his school notebook and told me that he has started to write small to be like me!  Microscopic and meticulous print in two columns on his blue-lined paper. Love it.  He just finished his homework and we’re just chillin’ now.  He’s showing me cool tricks with his yoyo and I’m introducing him to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.  He’s diggin’ it.  Yeeahh.

For all of you who appreciate the food subgenre of film, go and rent Mostly Martha. It’s about a German chef who is as excellent about her work as she is obsessive. She runs the kitchen like a tyrant, routinely dishing out insults to the customers who don’t appreciate her creations. A few life changes jolt her from her position of control and fixation and she slowly wakes up from her workaholic trance. A good lesson to all of us–or at least the type As among us–I suppose. Visually, the film is rife with nuance–from the raising of an eyebrow to the swift spin of a fork as it enravels spaghetti in one deft motion. The lighting is superb. Not bad for director Sandra Nettleback’s first effort. Also, great music except for some of the jazz numbers–plenty of old Italian standards sung by Louis Prima and Dean Martin.

Mostly Martha is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. I think I may go out and buy it. So yeah, I recommend seeing it.

Spring Break Has Sprung

Location: Walnut, CA
Agenda: None whatsoever

Rolled out of bed today a little before noon without too many intentions to get anything done. Nice feeling. Had a good, interesting chat online and then wandered into the kitchen to find my mom whippin’ up a late version of breakfast. Love how she’s taken up cooking again! I downed some smooth joe and gobbled up a red pepper and portabello mushroom omelette while watching clips of the Food Channel.

Visited my dentist later in the afternoon. Discovered seven new casualties … err, cavities. Yikes. Two hours later, I picked up a weary danaY and we went to EV Free in Fullerton and sat in on a lecture re: integrating faith with school curriculum. Lots of excellent points presented, one of them being how our government was founded on Christian principles. The realistic view of human nature (per the Bible) led directly to the establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the governed and the governor. We all have the same rights because we are equal. We are all equal because we were created equal by God. If you remove that basis, you remove all rationale for civil liberties.

Rented a food film entitled Mostly Martha. I think it’s French or Italian. Reviews later.

Thunder!