The wind in my hair

[hrj]

After the houseguest went off to her wedding yesterday, I drove down to the Youngest Brother's house in Ben Lomond, to be joined by cryptocosm and we headed up the road for a hike along Fall Creek. We ended up doing about an 8 mile circuit, going by the old lime kilns, further up the valley to the old barrel mill, and on up to a mile post near the end of the trail. It was a great hike -- shady just about all the way, so it didn't get too hot. Lots of ups and downs but the terrain wasn't so demanding of attention that you couldn't enjoy the scenery. Some foxgloves and other scenery:





Then it was back to Ben Lomond with just enough time for showers all around before joining maestratheresa's dinner party in Santa Cruz (thanks to the miracle of cell phones, allowing us to discover the last minute restaurant change) and then off to Joshua Kane's "Gothic at Midnight" show. Great show -- the man is very very good.

I headed back home Sunday morning and -- as usual when I have the time -- took highway 9 up through the redwoods. Lots of clumps of bicyclists and long parades of motorcyclists on the road. Definitely a day for leisurely and alert driving! It made me wish I were on my bicycle myself ... except of course that the hills would be a lot more noticeable then! When hwy 9 headed east for Saratoga, I turned onto Skyline and the landscape became golden grasslands dotted with black oak. And as I'm driving along with the window down and the wind in my hair, breathing deeply of the trees and the chapparal, I think: "I am a gas-guzzling American in love with my car. But boy does it have it's occasoinal high points!") Then I hit the fog belt -- the black oaks turned into cypresses and the chapparal got thicker and greener and drifts of mist streamed across the road. Soon enough, I hit 92 and it was time to return to civilization.

I took the laptop over to the Apple store to consult on the "press here" problem. I duplicated the problem exactly once for the Genius Bar tech, then it decided to start working perfectly, just to be annoying. But he diagnosed it as a loose connection (undoubtedly left from the previous servicing) and took it for repairs. They may be able to fix it there or they may have to send it in. I told them, in that case, to have it shipped back to the store and I'd pick it up there, saving the hassle of home deliveries.

I met some new neighbors -- just moved in two doors down. (Three lots, but two doors -- one of the lots is given over to a garden.) We had an improptu neighborhood conference with about half a dozen of us there, discussing the current zoning application for the building on the corner that wants to turn 11 apartments into live-work spaces. We're trying to see if we can ensure that the zoning doesn't allow business that would have customers coming and going, since the conversion would include eliminating the current handful of off-street parking spaces associated with the building, and there are only half a dozen curb spaces associated with it. I don't mind the notion of live-work spaces (particularly if it encourages a human presence during "working hours", which helps discourage crime). But the potential for parking nightmares looms.

Comments

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I am now assured that I am way overdue for a long walk in the woods. Thanks for the photos.