Dispersing

The remaining wood chips pile
looking West from my driveway

Rain finally here. It started last evening and rained pretty much off and on. In my front yard rain gauge 5.8" has collected. Now it is mid afternoon on Saturday, November 18, and the rain has significantly subsided to misting off and on. Shasta, as am I, are impacted by the biometric pressure. As I can hear my my late brother saying we are "wonky". So today we are both pretty slow moving. Shasta is sleeping most of the day.

I trust that I have not
buried too deeply the milkweed plants
with wood chips and mulch.

At this time of November, instead of planning when I might complete "refreshing" the wood chips, in the past Dwight and I were readying ourselves for our month long excursion to the Mono Lake area. We usually stayed in the downstairs apartment at the Walker River Lodge in Bridgeport.

The view out the kitchen window
looking East. It often snowed
after we arrived. By the time
we departed the roads
were all not only clear but dry.

On our way home we would take Highway 182. We would stop when we saw what looked like a healthy stand of Pinyon pine trees. Having brought our own saw we would share the activity of sawing our holiday tree. Dwight would then tie it to the top of our Prius using the rack on top of the car.

Shasta was very good at "supervising" the process. She never seemed interested in running around. I think there were often stickers in the sandy soil although I never found any imbedded in her paws.

This is one of my favorite pictures taken on our walk out of Bridgeport on Twin Lakes Road. Rose was such a incredible being. You can find her story by checking the archives on this blog. I vaguely remember the title as The Incredible Lightness of Being. She was extremely connected to Dwight.

So for me this particular time in November each year is "bitter sweet" as remember the fabulous excursions with Dwight and whatever dog or dogs we happened to have. Presently I do not feel motivated to drive myself and Shasta to the Eastern Sierras. 

As I face this particular difficult time without Dwight may I release the emotions with a frequent belly 

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

Welcome Opportunity Plus Great News

Walker River running East of the Walker River Lodge

We have returned from our annual Thanksgiving/Anniversary celebration in the Eastern Sierras.  After 20+ years of this tradition we have decided, finding the Walker River Lodge no longer a hospitable place to stay, this year will be the last.  This decision opens another doorway through which to travel.  Shifting from our usual mode of business to a state of BE-ing and enjoyment right here at MuRefuge seems to be a welcome opportunity.  As we began our road trip Rose looked at me in her quizzical way, clearly asking "Why do we have to get in the car to go someplace to relax?"

In the Eastern Sierras the weather was glorious . . . cold at night of course but warm and sunny during the daytime.  Rose did NOT like the car ride to and from.  However, she reveled in returning to all of the good smelling hiking places, running with abandonment, 

tuckered out each evening!

Unlike last year when snow was in abundance, we saw only skiffs of it while we were crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The aspen trees as well as all the other deciduous bushes and trees were without their leaves.  

The colors in the Winter sunshine low to the horizon were nothing short of awesome, causing our souls to celebrate in the great fortune of BE-ing present in such beauty.

The Matterhorn from Doc 'n Al's

Robinson Creek near Doc 'n Al's

Mono Lake's Tufas viewed from the West side

Rose and Cathie looking East towards Mono Lake with Lundy Canyon in the background

Spectacular Lundy Canyon rocks

Dwight with Rose and more spectacular Lundy Canyon rocks

Mono Lake in the background
Rose, Cathie and Dwight in the foreground
from the Visitor's Center

Even though we returned almost a week early, we enjoyed our traditional pinyon pine tree cutting on our way back to MuRefuge through Nevada on Highways 182/338/208, connecting with Highway 395.  This drive affords barren beauty which both Dwight and I find spectacular. The National Forest Service charges a whopping $5 to cut a tree on their land AND, in many areas where we have cut our trees, the NFS is felling pinyon pine trees to provide more habitat for the sage grouse.  We love bringing home a pinyon pine tree to decorate for our Christmas tree which fills the house with that wonderful pinyon pine fragrance.

  

Tufas in and out of the water
Mono Lake

And upon return we received the news below from the Mono Lake Committee. 

Dear Dwight and Cathie, 

We did it!

Congratulations! After a six-month grassroots public effort, the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve has been officially removed from California’s 70-park closure list.

For Mono Lake friends and supporters this is certainly a moment to be thankful for, and cause for celebration.

Upon hearing the news yesterday our Board of Directors Chair, Sally Gaines, said, “This is the best Christmas present we could ever wish for.” I couldn’t agree more!

Thank you Mono Lake Committee members and Mono Lake fans near and far for writing letters all summer, opposing closure and offering possible solutions. Over 4,000 letters and petition signatures were hand-delivered by the Committee to decision makers in Sacramento. This huge show of public support, combined with dedicated work from our Committee team, lead directly to this success.

 

You can check out their web site for additional information about Mono Lake and the Mono Lake Committee's mission at  http://www.monolake.org/.  This is great news for all of us who so love the small part of the Planet that offers so much to all her inhabitants.

We finished decorating our tree for the holidays just in time for Rose's Auntie T's visit. 

Please share your own "welcome opportunity" below in "post a comment".