It’s been seven months since I moved into my little trailer on the hill, and it’s been a great seven months! I was just talking to friends last night about gratitude, and how we all have so much to be thankful for: a roof over our heads, a warm bed to sleep in, food, a job, great friends, family – too many things to list, really. I had kept a gratitude journal for a while, listing five things every day that I was grateful for, and I think I need to resume that habit. It struck me hard a couple of months back (one of many times) what a freakin’ awesome life I have. I’m not focusing on things like losing my home and having had to move, or struggling financially for a couple of years. There are too many good things to focus on to spend time wallowing in what could have, should have been.

As for those things that have gotten in the way of life? They really are, as Lennon said, life. I have been spending more time with friends, reconnecting with some, solidifying relationships with others. I haven’t learned a new language (other than my students’ teaching me the occasional Spanish cuss word!), but I have been playing a lot of music, alone and with a friend, and teaching another friend how to play guitar…and teaching myself to play two new instruments – piano and drums. My life is full up here in my little trailer on the hill. I really couldn’t ask for anything more

By the way, thanks for the kick in the ass, Martha – next drink’s on me!

Same direction…from the deck.

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My bedroom has lots of light, which makes up for the ugly carpet and old-school wood paneling.

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Added a little color with diversity flags.

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Trees in bud – yes, it’s spring!

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Looking from the deck to my yard…not really “my” yard, more like “our” yard. “Ours” meaning the compound’s ☺

What a beautiful day to be outside…I went birdwatching with a group of friends on this lovely, almost warm winter day. We saw dozens and dozens of wonderful birds: hawks, eagles, swans, cranes…what a day!
This was a rare shot of a very calm lake, and not a bird is in sight. Not the way the rest of the day unfolded…

Just one of the reasons I love this valley so…it really doesn’t matter which season we’re in, it’s always lovely. I took this photo just after the new year began, on a blustery hike around the lake. Make that MUDDY hike around the lake. We were lucky and managed to not get ourselves too bogged down – on foot – but there were a couple of four-wheelers who got stuck in the mud.
It really did feel like being in Scotland

So anyway, this group of budding authors/poets/songwriters was participating in a young writers’ retreat up in the nearby mountains. They had written some poetry/lyrics, and my job was to help them put their words to  music. Over the course of a few hours, I managed to help create five pretty solid songs, from rap to folk to a pseudo-B52′s piece. One song, the last one we worked on, was a sweet ballad, and ended up being a collaborative effort between a former student who was volunteering at the retreat, and myself. By the time we finished that one, we were both done. I forgot how exhausting creativity can be.

Exhausting or not, it was just what the doctor ordered. I’ve been trying to get back into writing music, something I’ve dabbled in over the years, and this gave me a kick in the butt in the right direction

The good thing is, the smoke has cleared. We’d been getting a valley full of smoke from the fires in northern California. For close to a week, you could barely see any of the mountains surrounding us. They just disappeared from view.

But on the morning of the 4th, once the cloud cover lifted, there was this odd sight in the sky: blue. It was an awesome way to celebrate Independence Day, on a morning walk under cloudy skies yielding to blue. 

The next few days were wonderful, temps in the 80′s, no crap in the air. And now- over 100 – but clear. As long as I can breathe, I guess I can handle the heat. And if not? There’s always a quick trip to the mountains…a river…a lake…the coast…that’s what I love about this place, not only is it beautiful in its own right, but we’re not more than an hour of two away from any sort of outdoor environment or activity a girl could wish for

Bats! In the evening, just after sundown and when the sky is still dusky, the bats are out, zooming about erratically as they cleanse the skies of skeeters One flew about four or five feet from my head, and I was proud of myself for not ducking it. Bats are pretty darned cool.

Woodpecker – flew across the road and landed on top of a telephone pole. At first I thought it might have been a flicker – we see lots of these around, especially at school under the builiding’s eaves. But when I got a good look at this one, with its black and white and red markings, and crest on its head, I knew his true identity.

Raccoons…damned raccoons! They make their occasional appearance on my porch, wreaking havoc at the kitty food dish. They’re sooooo cute, but also soooo huge and mean and scary! I toyed with the idea of shooting them with a pellet gun (to scare, not to kill), but all I could think of was that I would hit one in the eye, and I’d have a blind raccoon living out the rest of his days on my porch, feeding with the kitties…

My absolute favorite, and most frequent, sightings: barn owls. Yep, a mating pair and baby are currently inhabiting some trees at the end of my block. There has been a pair living there for years, not sure if these are the same or their offspring, but either way, it’s probably the coolest thing I’ve experienced as a city dweller. In the evenings, I’ll take Emma for a walk, and we’ll stop across the street from their trees and watch…tonight, I was treated to all three…first, the baby, perched atop the dead tree where they nest; then I heard the screech of a parent as he flew in to stand guard over the little one; parent number two then came in for a landing, sending parent number one scattering to another branch, after which the three just perched there and stared at me, probably sizing me up to decide if I was small enough to eat (not!)

More to follow, I’m sure…