Was that ... a . . . a . . . hobbit????
We took a leisurely morning. I had ~ as part of the trip-snacks ~ gotten a box of chocolate donuts by Hostess. Personally I hate them, no really ~ hate them. But my children lovethemlovethemlove them. When I buy them, they immediately send votes in to have me chosen "MOTHER OF THE YEAR". I laugh and say, "See, this is me loving YOU!" They believe me. Well somehow there were a few left from the drive. Honestly I don't know how, cuz the kids always gobble them like they actually taste like something other than cardboard covered in plastic ~ go figure. Any way, for breakfast we had left over bread, and they, mostly nicely, shared the last of the donuts. We had good coffee and hot chocolate, and lots of laughs. This is telling tales out of school -- but I cannot resist: At one point Erica said in an almost whispery conspiratorial voice, "Mom?? Can I jump on the bed?" After I told her she could, her dad and I reminded her that she is 24 and really doesn't need our permission. She and Dan jumped on one bed, and then from bed to bed. Good times!! Then we headed out to find the Bridge, some sights and more adventure.
The bridge was pretty easy. We were actually trying to get somewhere where we could see the bridge, but ended up on the road that goes across it. (I think it was my bad directions that made us miss the side road.) On the far side we found a look out point and stopped. By this time it was windy and raining {and yes, I checked...those are more synonyms of normal in the SanFran thesaurus}. We stood in the rain and looked at the bridge and at Alcatraz and got wet and took pictures and laughed and got more wet ~ and laughed.
On we drove. Ed thought we could get to the Muir Forest ... and, bless my adventurous husband, he was RIGHT!!! Just up the road {... ok, a ways up the road .... but whatever : adventure! } we found the Muir National Forest. For $5 dollars you could take a hike....heck, Starbucks can be almost $5!!! So we grabbed a camera and our rain coats, cuz it was misting, and followed our noses.
OH MY GOODNESS! I really do not know how to tell you what it was like. I could say things like , 'amazing' and 'beautiful' and 'awesome'. I would be saying something true...but it would be like coloring a picture of the ocean with crayons and saying "this is what the ocean is like". OK, yeah, true:"like" ~ but "like" isn't enough to convey real. John Mayer has a song: 'No More 3 X 5's" -- you know what I mean? It wasn't a pine forest like we see when we go to Big Bear or Arrowhead, here at home. So many trees, such 'terribilis. 'I believed there: believed they might wake: oh, to see the dance. We walked on and on. We stopped and just -- OK, I want to say 'feasted our eyes' but unfortunately that is trite and now, while it was literally true, it would sort of cheapen it. There was beauty to be felt. There was nowhere we looked that wasn't lovely and awesome and potent. And corny as it sounds down here in So. Cal. ~ one might really expect a company of elves to come singing out of the glen on the hill. . . one might really think they saw just the corner, the edge of a hobbit cloak as they ducked out of sight to tuck themselves in the shadows under the leaves.
So as we walked, somewhere in the twists and turns of the hike, the mist became drizzle, and finally as we head back (tired but reluctant to go back to life in the next-to-fast lane) somewhere the drizzle became rain: serious, "I mean business" rain. My Gortex jacket had, unbeknownst to me, lost its waterproofness (yeah I know that's probably not really a word, but just go with me, OK?). By the time we reached the car I was wet ~ through the coat, though the sweater and shirt, to my skin wet! Wet and happy and bubbly and delighted and more saturate with the forest than the rain.
The bridge was pretty easy. We were actually trying to get somewhere where we could see the bridge, but ended up on the road that goes across it. (I think it was my bad directions that made us miss the side road.) On the far side we found a look out point and stopped. By this time it was windy and raining {and yes, I checked...those are more synonyms of normal in the SanFran thesaurus}. We stood in the rain and looked at the bridge and at Alcatraz and got wet and took pictures and laughed and got more wet ~ and laughed.
On we drove. Ed thought we could get to the Muir Forest ... and, bless my adventurous husband, he was RIGHT!!! Just up the road {... ok, a ways up the road .... but whatever : adventure! } we found the Muir National Forest. For $5 dollars you could take a hike....heck, Starbucks can be almost $5!!! So we grabbed a camera and our rain coats, cuz it was misting, and followed our noses.
OH MY GOODNESS! I really do not know how to tell you what it was like. I could say things like , 'amazing' and 'beautiful' and 'awesome'. I would be saying something true...but it would be like coloring a picture of the ocean with crayons and saying "this is what the ocean is like". OK, yeah, true:"like" ~ but "like" isn't enough to convey real. John Mayer has a song: 'No More 3 X 5's" -- you know what I mean? It wasn't a pine forest like we see when we go to Big Bear or Arrowhead, here at home. So many trees, such 'terribilis. 'I believed there: believed they might wake: oh, to see the dance. We walked on and on. We stopped and just -- OK, I want to say 'feasted our eyes' but unfortunately that is trite and now, while it was literally true, it would sort of cheapen it. There was beauty to be felt. There was nowhere we looked that wasn't lovely and awesome and potent. And corny as it sounds down here in So. Cal. ~ one might really expect a company of elves to come singing out of the glen on the hill. . . one might really think they saw just the corner, the edge of a hobbit cloak as they ducked out of sight to tuck themselves in the shadows under the leaves.
So as we walked, somewhere in the twists and turns of the hike, the mist became drizzle, and finally as we head back (tired but reluctant to go back to life in the next-to-fast lane) somewhere the drizzle became rain: serious, "I mean business" rain. My Gortex jacket had, unbeknownst to me, lost its waterproofness (yeah I know that's probably not really a word, but just go with me, OK?). By the time we reached the car I was wet ~ through the coat, though the sweater and shirt, to my skin wet! Wet and happy and bubbly and delighted and more saturate with the forest than the rain.
I love that line: more saturated with forest than with rain. I love that the essence of places is sometimes more real than the stones and dirt underfoot... and that the essence comes not only from the loveliness of the place but also the memories of books and loves and dreams of places we've never been.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog makes me feel like we are having tea and you are telling me a story! :)
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