nuggets :: sonoma coasting

nuggets :: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

The mornings have been so many things lately - warm, frozen, foggy, clear, wet, productive, restful, stressed, hurried, leisurely, pensive and chaotic.  Yes, all of these things and (thank goodness) not all at the same time.  As I awake from my nightly slumber and shuffle across the cold, Douglas Fir floors to quickly turn off the alarm clock and adjust the thermostat, I am reminded that it is mornings I like best.  It didn't always used to be this way and I can easily look back and see the gradual shift in my pre-dawn routines and how this shift has changed my day, my life.

I now slowly greet the day by climbing back into bed for 10 minutes, all the while starting a mental list of what this morning holds for me, for us.  I gently nudge my sweet, warm, sleepy-faced boy for the first round of let's get up and head to the living room to take in the sunrise and turn on my computer.  Round two of okay, Grady, let's really get going now is uttered from a mom on a mission with only 35 minutes to accomplish same.  The coffee gets made, the breakfast is served and lunch is in the works.  Round three of alright, let's go, you're going to be late.  Email is checked, a few daily blogs are read and the dishwasher gets emptied.  Then the mad dash to the bus stop for the 7:39 am pick-up from the nicest bus driver in all the land.

This daily rhythm is finely tuned now and it is a grounding way to start the day, the week.  

nuggets.

Last Friday I found myself on the coast once again.  I was heading up to Sea Ranch Lodge for work, but could not help myself from stopping along the way and taking in the sprawling ocean views, admiring the color of the water and the sky above me.

My only traffic jams turned out to be several cows just hanging out in the middle of Highway One.  I stopped several times on my way north to snap photos of laqsidazical bovine herds just resting atop the cliff sides and warm, blackened asphalt.  On my way south, my focus turned to the horizon and I was able to bear witness to the blazing sun just as it was about to turn in for the night.

The day was productive and the project I'm working on is coming along beautifully.  I stole a few minutes at the end of the day to walk the property, visit the barn and just savor this rare and peaceful beginning to the month of March.

The light has been amazing the last months and when the sun is setting between 5 and 6 pm, the warm glow bouncing off the fields and surrounding buildings is perfect for shadow photography.  I feel so very tall and anonymous in these photos.

As I hurried down the coast towards the first game of the boys' CYO basketball tournament, I was filled with so many emotions.  This inaugural basketball season was long, but a really good experience overall for Grady, as well as for Steve (the team scorekeeper) and myself.  I've learned a lot about motherhood since Grady started school and I have gleaned lots of sage advice from this woman pictured above.  She is a selfless volunteer and a shining example of walking-the-walk.  It is going to be such a treat to watch our boys grow into young men together through school, sports and life.

Supply hunting & Sword Battle

The boys celebrated the end of their basketball season by doing a little fort-building and battle play.  They created their own little world using found wooden boards that had been decaying in the back cow pasture.  They spent 6+ hours creating, playing, building, lunching and asking me to photograph their progress every hour or so.  It filled me up to see my boy so happy with his friend and helped me to make a mental note of why playing with others is so important to my little man's development.  Otherwise, he would have just wanted to stay in his room and read all day and this was a much better day indeed.  The only down side to all this fort-building was that the perfectly constructed treehouse in the neighboring field is still going unused.  Steve and G spent a big part of last summer building it and I hope the interest to use it returns this coming summer.

I've been missing my sister in a big way lately.  She lives all the way across the country in New York and I haven't seen her in over two and a half years.  I miss her sweet little girls and her newest baby, Jade (who I have yet to meet!).  Oh, how I wish she lived closer.  I wish we could raise our kids together and make family dinners and be there for each other in ways that only sisters can.  She has a dry wit and is of the funniest people I know, as well as having flawless skin (yes, she got the Irish skin from my mother's side of the family)!  She gets me like no one else does and I miss her like crazy.  I love you Traci Ann and hope you are finding your happiness in this world.  Life is short, live it up, take care of yourself and I hope to see you and your girls soon.

We're off to the San Francisco ballet this afternoon and I'm so excited!  I've never seen a ballet, not even the Nutcracker.  How is that possible?

Enjoy this precious day.