Posted by tee in kids + pets, photos
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Through no small feat, I was able to put everything down and leave the house just before noon yesterday. We drove the long, winding, golden coastal range roads that led down to Morro Bay, where all six of us rented kayaks and pushed out into the bay. It was a beautiful day for it, we coasted along the shores of a sand bar where pelicans and other birds were congregated, then paddled over to the other side of the bay where we came ashore for some lunch before heading back to go see the Elephant Seals farther up the coast near Cambria.

Paddling back, we passed a frustrated otter, lying on his back and focusing very intently on breaking open a shell with a rock he’d dug up. So focused, in fact, that he barely noticed us passing just a few feet away.

The seals were fun to watch, and the sunset was gorgeous, of course, as it almost always is on the California coast. Later we went out for Sarah’s and Karen’s birthday dinner at country-western barbeque, where Sarah got up from the table and danced as only Sarah can, then later, she and Shane’s sister, Erin, climbed on and tackled the bucking bull amidst Sarah’s squeals of equal parts fright and delight. Back at home, cake and ice cream and some presents, the hot tub for a little while, and then… fast asleep.

Posted by tee in de la vida, wandering
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I write this from 20 miles out of Alamosa, laptop in my lap in the passenger seat as we pass farmland and mountain range under clear blue skies. Hooray for mobile technologies. We’ll be gone until the first week of December, then back for 10 days before we head out again for another four weeks.

Posted by tee in wandering
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One lonely Leonid streaked across our sky last night, and I didn’t even see it. But the night was so great for so many other reasons that it barely mattered. We met Sherri, George and Caleb at their house then all went to grab some dinner at the East West Grill, left there and stopped for some chocolate to go with the graham crackers and marshmallows they brought, then drove out to the land about 10pm to set up camp and watch for shooting stars.

We’d never been out there at night, and while it was definitely cold - last night’s low was 10 degrees - that valley is still so magical in the dark. And it really is dark; the nearest artificial light source being a few stray porch lights in the town of Blanca a few miles away. But last night the moon was out and full and cast a gorgeous, eerie shadow on the mountain and the surrounding landscape.

Ultimately, the moon was a little too bright to see the Leonids, especially with its reflection off the clouds, and the show this year wasn’t expected to be a good one to begin with. But we all admitted later that the meteor shower was just an excuse to go hang out at the land together anyway, to relax and build a fire, toast marshmallows, enjoy some conversation and some wild, fresh air.

So for several hours into the night, that’s what we did.

We brought blankets and pillows and lots of layers to bundle in, set up our spot in the middle of the dirt road in front of our property, dug a depression in the dirt for the bonfire, and then all sat down and got settled around it with our cooking sticks. That fire kept us all well-toasted and comfortable all night long despite the crisp, cold breeze. It wasn’t until a little after midnight that we started shivering as the fire died down.

After listening to some coyotes partying off in the distance, and stoking as much as we could from the fire before everything went dark, we packed up and headed home. I don’t think I’ve slept so hard in months.

Posted by tee in de la vida, favorites, sense of place
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This afternoon while we were standing at the bottom of the ramp of the moving truck near the garage, wondering out loud where we’d put the huge antique piano when we got to Alamosa now that we’d just spent an hour getting it into the truck, two coyotes came out of nowhere and raced by the front of the truck and into the junipers on the other side. They were like ghosts - barely a blur of muddled gray and brown and ivory, but the tails and the teeth, there was no mistaking them.

They were either playing, chasing something or the one behind was chasing the other out of his territory, as lone coyotes will often do. In any case, they zoomed by within about six or seven feet of us, standing there, and didn’t appear the least bit interested in giving themselves a wide berth. I squealed in delight and jumped straight into the air, clapping my hands.

Later, just as it was getting dark, we saw one again - maybe one from the pair we’d seen earlier - watching us intently from about 60 feet away where our property ends. He was gorgeous, all fluffy and soft for winter. He hung out for about 20 seconds after noticing that I noticed him, then trotted back out toward the road. I waved Shane over, and we hung back, but followed, and every few steps he turned again to watch us, and in no apparent hurry, wandered off into the trees again.

Couldn’t really have asked for more than that on a last night in Santa Fe.

Posted by tee in de la vida
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