Dwight

"Dwight", the recently planted Meyers Lemon Tree.
Dwight so wanted a tree of our own
that would produce delicious, juicy lemons.
Tanis' gardener procured this healthy, already heavy with a
dozen or more green lemons, tree for me to plant.
I planted it in the front yard. Dwight could see it from
his big blue chair in which he sat during his
waking hours.

This Sunday past we had a gathering in Delano Park across the street from my house. We came together for a Celebration of Life, Dwight's life, that ended on July 17, 2022, at 0655. His lungs failed from the effects of living with parents who smoked as well as his first wife. The entire time I knew Dwight his lungs had been an issue but it was not until March of this year the pulmonary function tests identify both COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and emphysema. Within 6 weeks his ability to take his regular everyday 2 mile walk with Shasta deteriorated into first a mile then a half mile. The first two weeks of May he was hospitalized for blood clots in his two lower lobes of his lungs and pneumonia in an upper lobe.

Luckily being a retired registered nurse I had the knowledge and skill to care for Dwight here at 35 Page Street. I did so right up to his taking his last breathe. In the early morning hours I called Katie and Michael in San Francisco. They arrived around 2 a.m. and stayed until Dwight's body was taken to Parent-Sorensen Crematory in Petaluma. Leigh had done a stellar job of researching the very best one. I thank her for that from the bottom of my heart. Everyone I came in contact with were ever so kind, gentle and concerned about me.

I believe caring for Dwight and enduring his death has been/is the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. I am so fortunate to have dear friends who are supporting me as well as Katie and Leigh who are both grieving the loss of their dad. So as a way to honor their dad and support their process they planned and executed a wonderful Celebration of Life. Some 20+ friends and family were in attendance sharing their stories of Dwight. My opening is below:

Flowers my cousin Shelley 
brought from her garden.

"35 years ago this coming Thanksgiving I met Dwight. HIs friend, Judy (thank you! Judy) invited Dwight to my friend Helen’s home for Thanksgiving dinner which was timed for after I got off work at 3:30.

Dwight and I seemed to instantly connect. Dwight had recently left his wife which was a red flag. He was just beginning to adjust to a single life while I had been living singularly for over 17 years. 

Dwight was committed to providing a home for his youngest daughter Leigh who came to live with him. He often spoke of “not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

We found a way forward and once we took Leigh to college in Oregon we began living together . . . splitting our time between my place in Sebastopol and a flat we rented in the San Francisco Mission District. Eventually as many of you know we bought a place South of Sebastopol on Hessel Avenue. We lived there for almost 25 years before relocating to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dwight LOVED living in this city with the same world class entertainment as San Francisco.

Alas, my body did not like the some 7000’ elevation. So once again we packed up all our belongings returning once again to Sonoma County. We bought our home in Cotati. I am so happy we had pretty much settled in before Dwight was hospitalized in early May for two weeks.

Soon after returning home midMay his lungs began showing signs of failing. Growing up with parents who smoked as well as his first wife he was diagnosed with COPD and emphysema this past March. 

I felt so fortunate to have the knowledge and skills to care for him at home. His last two months were a gift of time . . . there was just him, me and Shasta. We had the opportunity to connect in a way previously impeded by our busyness of making 35 Page Street our home. AND now this house feels fo empty without Dwight. The pervasive fog wrapping in and around me is throughly protective right now.

Thank you! each and everyone of you who have come to celebrate Dwight’s life."

Dwight's ashes sit atop the
cupboard of sorts that holds
the television. When my ashes
are ready to join his, they will
be scattered around a large 
Cottonwood tree on Test Station
Road which runs along the West side 
of Mono Lake.
Dwight gave both Katie and Leigh
clear directions using google maps.

People knowing Dwight in his various parts of his life who shared their experience(s) of Dwight was so wonderful and heartwarming. The common thread was how he was so present and listened not fearful of discussing any topic the speaker brought up with him. Like me, Dwight was a One on the Enneagram and our "virtue" is serenity which Dwight exemplified throughout his life BEing a "perfect" One.

I am hopeful once this protective fog lifts, I can begin the grieving process with an often emotional releasing belly 

Mono Lake

Sad, sad, sad; overwhelmed with sadness as we drove along Highway 50 East of Placerville where the Caldor fire, the 15th largest in the state of California, raged this summer past. Seeing all of the old, old, old trees burned was just heart wrenchingly devastating.  The travel through the area is slow as crews are cleaning up and logging trees, so ample opportunity to BE with the ravaging of the landscape. 

In spite of the delays on Highway 50 we arrived in Bridgeport, the home of the stately county courthouse where we were married.

Much of the town is now shuttered. The effects of the sequestering during the pandemic? Or houses and businesses have just been forever vacated? Or just shut down for the Winter? Luckily the library is open and we were free to check out books which we did. It is so much easier to find the best reads here than within the Sonoma County library system where, of course, the demand is far greater.

The view of Mono Lake 
hiking the trail from South Lee Vining
to the Visitors' Center.

Another view of Mono Lake
hiking along Lee Vining Creek
towards the Visitors' Center.

Lee Vining Creek
which has so much less water
than usual because of the
severe drought.
We noticed many of the older
and larger sagebrush, 
are dying from the severe drought.

Mono Lake Committee mission statement: "The Mono Lake Committee is a non-profit citizens' group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin ecosystem, educating the public about Mono Lake and the impacts on the environment of excessive water use, and promoting cooperative solutions that protect Mono Lake and meet real water needs without transferring environmental problems to other areas."  

We delight in donating to this endeavor, which is close to our hearts, that does such stellar work safe guarding this treasure, Mono Lake .                                                                                                        

Hiking from Doc & Al's Resort

to amidst the aspen trees

and up into the Ponderosa pines
looking Southward towards the
Sawtooth Mountains.
On Shasta's way back to Stella, our Prius,
she found a deer bone which was
pretty fresh and cracked, probably
gifted to her by a Mountain Lion.
As she pick up the bone, she thought "a very tasty treat."

 

Returning to Stella with Shasta carrying her treasure.

The rock pile in Lundy Canyon where we have 
culled gorgeous rocks for our gardens.

Shasta checking out all of the good smells
while we search for just the "perfect" rocks to place in our Cotati garden.

The view towards the Sierras
from the rock pile.

The beaver dam and beaver on the Walker River,
which meanders along side of the 
Walker River Lodge
where we stayed in Bridgeport for the last time.

A beaver swimming 
in the river just below their dam.

The sign on the West side of 
LeeVining Creek.
We love hiking along the road
parallel to Mono Lake.

Shasta enjoying running along the road away from Lee Vining Creek.
She had such a great time with her freedom from a leash.
She is usually a good dog to come when called. 
If she does not respond, a treat will bring her running.

The North view of Mono Lake
taken from the end of the 
boardwalk from the County Park

Shasta, with visible tufa in the background, 
on the boardwalk in the
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve 

               

County Park
where over the many years we have
spent time in Cathie's most favorite place (Mono Lake)
on Mother Earth.

Our week long respite from our arduous year past of relocating from Santa Fe and back to Sonoma County, California, was topped off with a familiar event. On our way home we ventured out into the National Forest to the North of Bridgeport. 

Here in this stunning beauty depicted above, we cut a Pinyon pine for our annual holiday tree; markedly smaller than any previous. We also, as is our tradition, cut a small one for Shasta's Auntie T which she already picked up and transported to her home in Point Reyes Station.

As we settle back into our Cotati home preparing for the holiday season please join us in a hardy

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Transplanting . . . Again

“We who have lost our sense and our senses --

our touch, our smell, our vision of who we are, we who frantically force and press all things, without rest for body or spirit, hurting our earth and injuring ourselves: we call a halt.

We want to rest. We need to rest and allow the earth to rest. We need to reflect and to rediscover the mystery that lives in us, that is the ground of every unique expression of life, the source of the fascination that calls all things to communion.

We declare a Sabbath, a space of quiet: for simply being and letting be, for recovering the great, forgotten truths for learning how to live again.”

                     U.N. ENVIRONMENTAL SABBATH PROGRAM

This past year has been difficult, disrupting, problematic, disturbing and has drastically altered our lives. We were settling into our lives in "the best neighborhood", as one of the long time Santa Fe residents stated who was living in the house in which she grew up. We were enjoying getting to know and developing connections to all of the neighbors living on San Felipe Circle. Then BOOM Cathie had two visits to the ER. She had never been a patient in one before. Then followed an admonition from her acupuncturist that she would be so much better off healthwise at sea level. Shasta was so bummed to leave behind morning play time with Hobbes, her treasured Great Pyrenees friend and morning playmate at Lopez Park. Whenever either dog would pass by Lopez Park both would sit and say, "Shasta/Hobbes will soon come play with me."

Shasta and Hobbes playing in Lopez Park

Hobbes in a creek near Moah, Utah

So the packing and organizing for a move back to Sonoma County where our longtime friends live began. In March we drove back to California, staying in what would turn out to be an emotionally disastrous short term rental while we began our search for a house. Fortune would have it that both Shasta and Cathie felt so, so, so much better at sea level immediately upon arrival. Luckily we found our home on Page Street in Cotati and initiated a move into the 1950's bungalow. Now some seven months later with all the many necessary projects completed we all are so ready for a Sabbath filled with resting, hiking and generally enjoying all the beauty of the region.

So we are returning to what use to be our annual trek to the Mono Lake Basin. We will be staying at the longtime familiar Walker River Lodge that has a two bedroom apartment right on the Walker River. Whew! a Sabbath . . . finally!

While on our week long Sabbath we will have and enjoy a frequent

Whirlwind

LEAVING

1832 San Felipe Circle, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The day after "our" POD was delivered and picking up our 12 foot Penske truck, we packed up. Of course, we had the stellar help of Affordable Movers who filled both the POD and truck to the brim! When the house was empty on Wednesday, March 03, we drove to Albuquerque. Dwight in the truck and Cathie with Shasta in the Prius. Whew! Were we ever glad to sleep! The next day on to Las Vegas, Nevada where the smog was worse than any time we have been in Los Angeles.

Over the mountains and into Bishop, California, for another night of sleep. The entire next day was leisurely: our favorite hike along the Western edge of Mono Lake

Our view East looking across Mono Lake

Off leash Shasta's having great fun leaping in the snow
after being cooped up in the car  for three days.

and a picnic in the Lee Vining city park overlooking Mono Lake. Then we drove North on Highway 395 to Minden, Nevada, for our last night of sleeping "on the road". Sunday we checked into our short term, very small rental on the Northern edge of Sebastopol, California.

While on the road our Stamm home in Santa Fe sold and our realtor/friend did a stellar job of "making this happen" sooner than later. As I write this post the new owners have moved in are getting settled. 

ARRIVING

  

35 Page Street, Cotati, California
picture taken by Michael Stoyka.

Our search for a Sonoma County home began in earnest the day after our arrival. We are ever so fortunate to have another outstanding realtor. We spent four days driving around Petaluma as this is where we imagined ourselves buying a house. In the area we desired to live no houses were for sale. And then this house pictured above appeared in Cotati. 

Our realtor, Dwight and I jumped on looking at it immediately. We have long time English friends who live in Cotati not far from this house so they are excited to have us nearby. Tanis came to see the house the day before offers were due. She said, "It is so you," and we discovered she had never been to Cotati before. We had a lovely lunch at the Redwood Cafe to celebrate finding our "perfect" house.

So now we are waiting to move in. As we orchestrate the move in we are enjoying a frequent

Thanksgiving Past

To celebrate our anniversary and Thanksgiving we spent some time in the Eastern Sierras. This year's sojourn was further South than we have previously spent much time, in the Owens Valley. Dwight's wish was to explore the early native peoples' (Nuumu and Newe, now commonly referred to as Paiute and Shoshone respectively) petroglyphs.  

We both are of the opinion that at this time of the year the light during the day illuminates the natural world to glorious hues. The late Galen Rowell has made famous the "light" in this area  and his work is featured at the Mountain Light Gallery located in an old bank building on Main Street in Bishop. The night sky is often clear, thus bright with brilliant stars since there is minimal light pollution during the dark hours in this area. Galen Rowell's son, Tony, is following in his father's footsteps bringing us gorgeous time lapsed photography of the brilliance of this night sky.

We made our home base in a small house moved from Manzanar, the now historical site where Japanese were interred during WW II further South on Highway 395. We were on the far North edge of Bishop and across the road from public lands. We were told we could walk from here to Lake Tahoe on these lands.    

Cathie and Shasta out for a early morning walk along
Dixon Road just South of the house.

On one of our morning hikes we came across the most
spectacular and largest stand of native
California Wild Rose I have ever seen.
The hips provide foo during the Winter for
birds and 4 leggeds.

The landscape we walked through on our daily midmorning hikes.

The Owens Valley Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center
on West Line Street was designed by the late Michael Black
of Sebastopol. The exhibits in the interior were extremely
well done and shared much history of these
indigenous people of the Owens Valley.

A stunning Paiute beaded treasure we bought at the center
to adorn our Yule Tree year after year.

One day we spent enjoying the Bishop Petroglyph Drive on Fish Slough Road which was unpaved, dusty. Three sites are spaced a few miles apart: the Fish Slough Petroglyph Site was difficult to locate but once we did we were pleasantly surprised to see our first ever Ringtail that quickly scurried beneath a huge rock where its den was obviously located.  

Do you notice the similarity of shape of the above "rock art" and this above petroglyph?

The second site: Chicago Canyon Petroglyph
 was a magnificent display of the ancient natives' art work.

Another day our excursion included the Inyo County Millpond Park for our morning walk. What an impressive park with a huge pond for Summer swimming, baseball playing field and a myriad of other facilities for families to have a grand Summer day. Our focus was traveling along Old Highway 395  to the little town of Rovana in the heart of Round Valley where thousands of Mule Deer migrate for the Winter, escaping the harsh weather in the Sierras where they live the rest of the year. Since, with the climate change and all, the weather is pretty mild the deer were scarce. There were a few including a magnificent buck. These Mule Deer do indeed look different than the deer around MuRefuge. We did however see an abundance of the Mule Deer's food for the Winter in Owens Valley, Rabbitbrush, which is stunning in the wintery light.

After the area received a light dusting of snow and more in the higher elevations, we drove out West Line Street to the Buttermilks. Shasta was so happy to romp around in the snow and she did so until she began biting at her paws that were covered with icy snow, at which time we corralled her into Stella (our trusty Prius). See the upcoming post, "Winter Solstice," for an amazing picture taken here.

This gorgeous view of Mono Lake is taken from one of our
favorite walks in the Mono Lake Basin. As we arrived we
were greeted by a Golden Eagle in flight.

The beginning and the ending of our drive along Highway 395 from Walker River Canyon to Bishop we punctuated with a stop in Bridgeport to enjoy the magical, mystical ancient energy of the wide meadow surrounding our previously favorite place to stay in the Eastern Sierras. Picnics were enjoyed both times in very brisk weather but the sun was out and we had on our down jackets. Shasta's natural coat she carries with her every where kept her plenty warm.

As you read of our Thanksgiving past and recent anniversary celebration, as well as enjoy the pictures, may you