Ginkgo

No snow-angels to be had here in Sacramento, but the falling leaves are beautiful. Today we discovered this lovely ginkgo tree (the largest I've ever seen!) in Capitol Park. Sunshine incarnate.

Tears. and Brightsides

I'm really supposed to be being otherwise-productive right now... Naptimes are only so long.. But I want to write this post to keep track for myself. And share a bit.

Moving is stressful. This move is stressful for us. Sealion and I exploded at each other yesterday morning (yuck. )-: ), and I left with Anjali on my back for a walk to get some fresh air. When we returned, Sealion and I resolved our issues (mostly acknowledging our stress and once again agreeing we shouldn't take offense at anything the other says before breakfast and coffee!), and I had a weeping big cry on his shoulder. He cried some, too. [And for the rest of the day, Anjali's "favorite phrase to repeat over and over and over" was "Mommy ky-ing (crying)." And then sometimes, "Papi ky."] We know the reasons we are moving to Sacramento, and feel good about our long-term goals. And even though we're not trying to re-create our Berkeley experience... it's not Berkeley... And we love Berkeley... and there is noisy construction work next door to this house in Sac... and a choir of small dogs who bark... and air conditioners that kick on and wake us in the middle of the night right outside our window... and... and... and! Boooohooooo!!!!!

After I wiped my eyes, we got in a sweet little bikeride on the awesomely bike-able, laid-back streets of Sac before Sealion had to leave for work. And visited the community garden our friend Clark has wanted us to join, right next to the industrial space he and a collective of others want to rent for a crafty-boy space ~ absolutely dreamy for Sealion.

appropriately named, eh?

The garden looked like most community gardens I've seen ~ a flat lot of delineated plots, some showing more upkeep and attention to artistic detail than others. Two folks were steadily working their plots when we rode up. The place was overflowing with the late-summer "Sac-o-tomato" tomatoes, gourds and beans, and tall- tall sunflowers bending their heads down in a sighing recognition of autumn.

A pile of mulch, bales of straw, a play area for kids, as well as a "Children's Garden" brimming with beans and gourds, and a welcoming shady area with hammock and swing and table and chairs.

Talking to the gardeners, we learned that this community garden is only a year old, with a toolshed in the making, and fruit trees just planted around the perimeter. And, optimistically, no one on the "waiting list" mentioned on the sign. We also learned that there are already chickens in the artists' colony lot next door, so it wouldn't be a stretch at all to build a coop and have a few there at the garden. (Sac is actually the only city in the whole state that doesn't allow backyard chickens ~ an effort to try to shed their "agricultural" image back in the day when it wasn't cool. It was put up for a vote to rescind, and then put off till next year, I hear. But since the community garden is in an industrially zoned area, it doesn't have to follow that law! :-) (Amazingly, our landlord in Berkeley found a family to rent the house who actually asked if they could keep the coop and the girls! So we are going to bring the two quietest ones here to Sac and put them up in Brian and Arlene's backyard in the coop that Brian has just finished. Shhh! Don't tell!) We like keeping chickens.

Well, this is quite a rambling post; none too tidy.

But my point was: feeling the dirt on my toes and the hot Sacramento sun on my back, seeing Anjali immediately content herself amidst the beans and the toy dumptrucks, envisioning a meal on the shaded table with the pleasantly chatty clucking of a new group of laying hens in the background...maybe some refreshing homegrown herbal tea...I could see myself spending time there. Finding a little bit of home. A very short bikeride away from our new place. And at least a step or two closer to our dreams.

I think it's gonna be ok.

A Week in Maui, or: My Love Affair with Flowers

The natural beauty abundant in Maui quickly romanced me. I learned that I am a warm-water-beach slut; give me a warm ocean to float in, and I'm ready to call the place home. ; ) When I wasn't gazing contentedly for hours at the aqua and indigo waters from our "Lana'i",

or scheming for an opportunity to immerse myself in their accepting embrace, I was flirting with the fragrant tropical flowers that literally tumbled at my feet from every shrub and tree.

Following the islands' tradition of decorating oneself with these luscious natural trinkets made me feel more feminine and delicious than Marilyn Monroe with a case full of diamonds. It did! Plumeria blossoms littered the lawn outside and begged to be put behind my ear.

A rainbow of hibiscus lined the sidewalks I traveled daily ~ so ubiquitous they practically advertised to be picked.

I'm sure the sun and surf fueled it, but with one of these delicate beauties behind my ear ~ not to mention a whole lei of real flowers around my neck(!), I smiled bigger.

Me and my mama ~ all lei'd up.

And took more self portraits than I have in years.

I felt like a lovely attractive flower myself.

See my collection of flower photos (and other vacation pics) here.

butterfly bush, nasturtium, bachelor's button, cosmos,

mystery daisy-esque flower

feverfew, yarrow, butterfly bush, nasturtium, and pea blossom, 

with the Pooh Bear lamp that one of my parents' friends made for me when I was born. 

photos taken while nursing