REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Haiku My Heart: Lake Dawn

Lake Dawn, a refuge,

sweet summer memories

for the months to come.

My eldest son, wife and my grandsons live in one of the most idyllic places in the world as far as I am concerned. Each year when I visit their home on Lake Dawn, right outside the Hurricane Ridge Gate of Olympic National Park, in Port Angeles, WA, I love to sit and simply be. This year I had a new experience as the dock is built and the canoe is tethered to the dock. We trudged through the mud and weeds to to the dock, thus my gigantic pair of rubber shoes (my sons). I'm not as steady on my feet as I once was, so I watched my DIL and grandsons as they paddled around the lake. 

Be sure and visit Rebecca's Mi Corazon website to see everyone's haikus today. 

Postcards from Paradise: Ojai, California

I was born in Los Angeles and have had the opportunity to visit almost every nook and cranny of it in my 74 years. All of California seems like paradise to me, but my favorite three places to visit, however, are Mammoth in the Eastern Sierra, Santa Barbara, and Ojai in Ventura County. If you click this link, you'll see an interesting article about this small town's quaintness -- and that there are a few celebrities who have ranch properties there. 

For the first time in three years I spent the weekend in Ojai, where I have friends, celebrating the 75th birthday of one of them. Though I did not take scenic photos this weekend, the weather was spectacular, mid-80s, and the 100-mile-drive was smooth and gorgeous. The mountains, the city and the coast are crystal clear right now. There is a lot of agriculture in this and surrounding towns and most the homes are just regular family homes. Here are two photos of Ojai. If you unfamiliar with it, I suggest you put it on your list of places to see. 

This photo is of the valley itself and is in the local restaurant guide. The hiking throughout this area is wonderful. 

 

This photo taken by Leo Braun is the Ojai Museum and Visitors Center. It is near a famous old outdoor bookstore called Barts which is where I went first when I got into town.

The birthday party was billed as a "hen party and potluck" but our hostess, Sallie, decorated her dining room as though we were at the finest of restaurants. Today I went to church with Sallie at St. Andrews Episcopal Church where they have built a new labyrinth you can see if you click the link. Afterwards we went to lunch at Suzanne's and then to the annual sale at a small town department store, Rains. I bought out their supply of Ojai's famous Garlic Gold for holiday gifts. To die for!

There were some years when I was studying the work of Krishnamurti and Theosophy when I often visited Ojai to stay in the retreat centers. At one point, when two of my friends moved there in 2002, I looked at property there and then chickened out about leaving L.A. family and friends.

An interesting thing has happened to me the past few years, however, and that's that I have stopped enjoying the drives to some of these places further from home. It's an aging thing, I think, although the freeways were wide open this weekend. I have no excuses not to visit these days either. I don't even have to pay to stay because friends always invite me. 

By the way, if you are a hiker, Ojai is your kind of place--and there is something cultural or cutting-edge going on there all the time. Check out the visitors link. Not only is it a spiritual center, a place with very special energy, it is just so doggoned beautiful. It reminds me of the Sunland-Tujunga area where I grew up as a child. 

Now--if there was some way to "Beam me up, Scotty," I'd be hanging out in my special places a lot more than I have been the past few years. I've just got to get back my road confidence when I'm driving alone. 

To see many other people's Postcards from Paradise entries today, check out Rebecca's Recuerda mi Corazon.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua Tree National Park at Sunset

Because I am an archivist at Chadwick School part-time, I catalog many photos each year for historical purposes. I do not feel comfortable ever putting photos here that feature the faces of our students; you can go the website to see the kids. But, whenever our Director of Outdoor Education, Alan Hill, transmits outdoor trip photos, I am always amazed at some of the environmental shots he takes. 

Joshua Tree National Park in California is a wondrous place. When I was a kid, my mom loved to drive on local road trips and so I was first introduced to this area by her. She loved what she called The Lord's Candles, or what I believe are yucca trees that are called Joshua trees. JTNP is a destination for rock climbers and I have been there to see my eldest son and youngest son climb and my two eldest kids climbed there before they were five. It is one of the places Chadwick sudents are taught to climb. 

Here is one of Alan's photos of Joshua trees at sunset. 

Day's End at Lake Dawn

For the first day in a month, it rained at Lake Dawn where my son and family lives near Port Angeles, WA. We had a largely indoor day. This photo was taken yesterday at the end of the new dock my son built this year.

This is Lake Dawn this evening, post rain, and after a trip to have Mexican food for my birthday.

Unlike Redondo Beach, the forest smells so incredibly earthy after rain--mixture of dirt, trees, flowers, life, decay, death, and for some reason, it reminds me of the creation story. It would be hard to ever take a vacation if I lived here--except to Southern California in winter when there is perpetual rain.

Gratitude for a Wonderful Week

Mollie and I thoroughly enjoyed our last day together in Idyllwild now that I'm out of classes and she is not going to Mountain High Pet Grooming for doggie day care. We slept in, had coffee and breakfast on a deck overlooking Strawberry Creek right where I'm staying, and then we had a few hours of shopping in real stores. The two thrifts by the Arts Academy were closed today. The town is incredibly dog friendly and most stores allow dogs in. There's a water bowl in front of every store. 

I read in Jodi Picoult's latest book "House Rules" this afternoon and then was invited to spend time in local artist Karla Leopold's art studio. She will have a website up in a few weeks and I'll refer you to her work; you'll be blown away, I promise. Then Mollie, Karla and I had dinner on the patio at The Greek Place. 

Here are the happy couple in front of a photo op mural in Idyllwild. Hmm. I didn't realize I was that pleasantly plump, but I do admit to being a happy plump.  

Goodbye Washington, For Now

I am writing this post from Tully's Coffee at Gate A9 in SEATAC Airport. My flight to L.A. leaves in 45 minutes. I always leave Washington with such mixed emotions, but I am so ready to hug and kiss my daughter who is picking me up at LAX, and then Cookie. Tomorrow I'll be by to kiss Henry and Fritz and their parents.

Speaking of kissing, when my sis Betty and I kissed goodbye this morning when the shuttle came, we both had tears in our eyes. How I wish we lived closer together, but what a champ she is at 85 years old. 

More later on Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, WA, where my sis and I spent a few hours yesterday. Lordy, lordy. What an incredible experience that was! 

Time for a quick pee and off to my gate. L.A., here I come.

De-Briefing an Art Workshop I Will Never Forget

This weekend I couldn't stop thinking about sacred ordinary and how it is a lifestyle many embrace. My weekend art buddies and their creations were classic examples of sacred ordinary. My art workshop is over this Sunday morning and I'm hanging in the commons where there is Internet until the witching hour when the stores in Port Townsend open. I have a favorite jewelry supply place I like to visit. In a few hours I'll head back to Tumwater to tell my sister about my adventures, which are a mystery to her. Why would anybody want to play in paint all weekend? 

Tracy Moore took this photo of me struggling at my workspace, but enjoying it all immensely. My hand-bound journal I made is 20 pages long and though I worked on nine pages, I never totally completed one. But, I learned dozens of techniques I had not learned before and can hardly wait to get home to continue creating. I longed for some of my own supplies which I do have in abundance at home. 

These are two of the pages that Teesha Moore, one of our teachers, worked on herself all weekend. She and her husband Tracy periodically gave brief technique presentations and then we would go back and practice. They provided all our supplies and we were able to experiment with all kinds of pencils, pens, oil pastels, air brushing, and photo altering supplies. 

Here is a close up of another work-shopper I took close up. She's got a style that is more akin to my own. On a workshop like this, the important thing, however, is to learn the techniques and style of the teacher and when you get home, you can adapt it to your own. 

And then there was the field trip into Port Townsend to the Akamai Art and Glass Supply where most of us bought a lot of supplies to take home. I live in a big city where you can buy almost anything, but this store was absolutely unique--and I got several referrals to places in L.A. to get "stuff"--should more be needed. My suitcase is going home considerably heavier than it was when I came to Port Townsend last Thursday. Yes, it was a sacred ordinary weekend and I'm praying for a safe journey to Tumwater in the rain. I wonder what movie my sis has picked out for us tonight?

Dirty Hands Signs of a Great Art Workshop

If dirty hands are a sign of a good art workshop, then my table mate, Kat, from Victoria,B.C., is having an incredibly creative time. I can't begin to recommend Teesha and Tracy Moore's Summer Play Art Journaling Workshop, with lots more workshops and artfests scheduled at Port Townsend, WA's Ft. Worden. 

Port Angeles All-American Hometown 4th of July Parade

Firetrucks, flatbed trucks, tractors, lumber trucks, tractors and all kinds of vehicles were filled with local groups doing their thing. 

Every child received a flag and every group who marched in the parade threw candy, so each kid came home with a bag just like Halloween. This is my grandson Zach with his flag. 

This is Laura, Arlo, Joe and Zach. The kids were besides themselves with excitement.

I got a big kick out of all the seniors participating in the parade--retirement communities and their buses, and the senior center bus itself. But check out the following picture: the Senior Center belly dancer students. 

And, what would a hometown parade be without the presence of the local public libraries, one of my passions, as you know? These are the employees of the North Olympic Library System doing synchronized drill routines with their library carts. 

There were dozens of photos, but these are some highlights. The frosting on the cake, however, was that when bedtime came, Zach asked if he could sleep with me. My heart melted. My eldest grandkids Whitney and Anthony (22, 21) slept over so often when they were little, but I haven't slept with a little kid for a long, long time. He chose a stuffed rabbit that he said would be for both of us, we read two stories, sang some songs, and finally he fell asleep. I just kept laying there saying to myself, "Thank you, God, thank you, thank you." 

A Quick Check-in from Port Angeles, WA

This is Lake Dawn, right outside the Hurricane Ridge gate to Olympic National Park. I have posted photos of the lake for the past five years as my eldest son's home is built by it. This shot was about 7:30 p.m. tonight. My grandson Zach and I watched a man canoeing and I listened to birds calling back and forth. Grandson Arlo had already gone to sleep. I believe that I live in an idyllic place in Redondo Beach, but each time I visit, summer, spring or even winter, I am awe-struck with the beauty of the place. I'm a Southern California woman but how lucky can you get to visit such a gorgeous place and be with the people I love so much. 

And back home, Cookie is being well taken care of by the team of Christy and Lorenzo--and she is doing great in my absence.