OK, just one photo

The morning we left to return home, we swung through town to see the amazing, ephemeral, ever-changing sunrise. I had to jump out of the car to snap just a couple more. No, really, I'll only be a minute. Well, the 40-degrees-but-colder-due-to-wind (sans jacket) really did keep it to just a minute or two. (Nothing the butt-warmers in the new car can't handle in a moment's time.)

This'll be brief.

Mendo was gorgeous and mostly relaxing, as expected. Photo(s) will follow...at some point. I took nearly the whole of break truly off from school. Damn it if those stacks of grading did not shrink themselves while I was gone. Back to school. I had forgotten that Tuesday can sometimes be worse than Monday. I was happy to see the students on Monday, and they were mostly excited to be back, strangely enough. But today...meh. Tomorrow I become an associate of a Benedictine order. A friend asked on Sunday if I was excited. Not really. More scared, actually. Self-discipline is what I crave, and a rule of life is a very good thing...but I'm semi-notorious for not meeting my own expectations. The reassuring thing is that it is not a sin to fail to live by one's own rule, and no one will be judging me from on high or at eye level if I do not achieve all of my goals every day/week/month. It's a process, as is all of life, really, and I'm definitely taking baby steps this year in the things I would like to change, being realistic about the fact that all will not be perfect every day. I just wish it didn't feel like starting over every year. Some continuity would be refreshing.

I'm heading out...

...to Mendocino for Christmas! Yay! Looking forward to cooler temps, possible inclement weather, an excuse to use the woodstove and hot tub (and jetted bathtub), fabulous photo treks, time scheduled for doing puzzles and playing board games, time to read and write, eating too many homemade snacks, and a pressure-free Christmas. I wish at least some of those things to each of you, too! Pix when I return.

Someone on the net is talking about doing a Project 52 -- posting on your blog at least once a week. I think maybe I can handle that commitment. (A 365 just seems out of the question right now.) I actually miss writing and reading blogs. It's good that I miss it.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Jiggity jig

We are home again. The trip back was lengthy, lovely, rainy, dynamically cloudy. The hills were unbelievably green and covered in wild mustard and other random wildflower clusters. We listened to CDs of various books from Chronicles of Narnia the whole way up and back; it was nice to get back in touch with those books. We've only just begun The Last Battle, which will provide some interesting listening over the next week or so.

I did a good job of avoiding grading and cleaning today, though I'm already unpacked, which is a major step forward for me. :-)

Family is already out from Bible Belt for my dad's retirement party, which is in a week. It's going to be an interesting, exhausting, fun, take-it-a-day-at-a-time kind of week.

We could have...

...had breakfast at the b&b in town, but we looked them up online and they had taken the buffalo hash off the menu, and so we thought why bother to get pretty and go into town when our breakfast here rocks? And so we had breakfast of eggs and spinach and tomatoes with maple bacon and strawberries and crumpets (yes, we bought crumpets at the market) with butter and jam (crumpets are even better than english muffins at sopping butter) and kick-ass coffee with Baileys (on really good sale at the market).

...gone to the botanical gardens, but the sun was shining so brilliantly here, and we hadn't gotten to see these views in such intense sunlight yet, and there were walks and hikes we hadn't yet done right here near the cottage, and so we thought why bother to get pretty and pack lunches in backpacks and get into the car when we can just stay here, walk around, see similar views without paying for them, and have lunch in the comfort of our cottage? And so that's what we did.

...visited the art center, but most of the objections we used to avoid the botanical gardens applied, and plus we were nearing the completion of our puzzle, and after our hikes I wanted to nap (and so did our OldManDog), and I wanted to be sure I was around here for the sunset to see if I could get some lovely photos. And so we thought we'll just visit the art center tomorrow on our way out, because of course we'll be stopping in town to do some shopping before we hit the highway. And I got my nap, and I read my book, and we finished the puzzle, and I got to hike at sunset and pick up a few decent shots.

See? It all worked out.

Cottage-bound

And why not? We were set. We had all the food and provisions we needed. We had in-room hot stone massages -- heaven. We had music, we had rain, and we had the most exquisite views out our windows. Why leave? The only time anyone set foot outside the cottage today was to take OldManDog for potty walks. (I'll admit that today it wasn't me.)

POM worked on her pottery. I worked on some writing (essays and correspondence) that I've needed to do -- I'm moving to the realization that I've been in input mode for a very long time, and it's finally come to the point to switch to output mode occasionally. I've been in a reading circle with a friend for the past several weeks -- we're not calling it a writing circle because, as yet, we have not written together; but we've provided feedback and reader response to a couple of pieces for each other, and it's been quite useful, effective, motivating, and uplifting.

Tomorrow: breakfast at our b&b from last spring break (buffalo hash sounds weird but is magically good; bacon a quarter-inch thick and perfectly smoked; wickedly good coffee; porch-sitting with the puppy dog), and then the botanical gardens and the art center, rain or shine. I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday. [Sigh.]

Wisteria seed pods -- oh to be here in May!

POM burnishing her pot some more.

Nigh unto comatose following his big hike and our hot-stone massages and killer dinner of pasta, garlic bread, spinach salad, and wine

A relaxed day

We took a mellow approach to the day. Slept in, ate breakfast at the cottage, took short walks with OldManDog; decided to try to get some work (grading, planning) out of the way; went up to Ft. Bragg for provisions, had a leisurely dinner of pizza and vino; watched some DVDs and ogled the real estate catalogs. Nothing major, and that's just what the doctor ordered for the day.

Had sun only parts of the day. The cottage saw rain, but it was while we were grocery and pizza shopping. Supposed to receive more rain tomorrow. Also supposed to receive a massage tomorrow -- thank you, lord. If all goes as planned (and these are loose plans indeed), the Mendocino Art Center, some heckuvit shopping, and picnic at the botanical gardens are in our future.

Here are some of the colors of Mendo in March:

Mendo

We do have wi-fi (yay), but I haven't tried downloading photos yet. The cottage is delightful, with an incredible view. Great set-up here. More later.

Hope everyone had a good Monday.

Una mas...

...fotografia de archive.

Not...

...up to snuff. Still. Feels like cold/flu hybrid. When will this go away?

No photo from today. Took the camera with me, but overcast morning prevented me from shooting; nothing inspired me.

Since I have spring break on the mind, I'll include a shot from last spring break in Mendo. We're going back again this year.

I'm off to write a test on rhetorical and literary terms. Then bed.