to do

Watch more sunsets.

spring

The trees started blooming a week or two ago, right on schedule, and as always, it makes me grateful for California seasons. It may be colder and rainier than usual this year, but spring and summer are almost here...

surprise rainbow

Giant rainbow over the wing of the plane as we descended into SFO. I've never seen that before, and it was really cool.

december

When the maple trees turn red and the hills start to turn green.

rain

First rain I've seen since the spring, and it came with thunder and a brilliant rainbow, plus I got to wear my new rain boots, so it's worth it.

sunday funday

Sushi, friends, sun, sky, ocean, seals, tide pools, trees, and pizza. California doesn't give in to winter without a fight.

saturday is best

A pretty chill Friday at work, capped off with a stunning sunset on the drive home. But today is Saturday, and Saturday is the best day. Had a 90 minute massage that turned into a 130 minute massage, then returned a bunch of stuff at three stores (I think my returns are almost done, just maybe three more items and I'm done for a long time, as I'm starting a shopping fast for the next 6-12 months). The rest of the weekend will be spent reading, preparing for camp, watching TV, and doing some yoga.

double happiness

And my work wife got me flowers, too!

happy monday

My coworker got me birthday flowers 🥰

orange you lovely

My favorite flowers are back in season!

good friday

Lunch at Google with a friend, Star Wars with coworkers, a gorgeous sunset (I never see sunsets anymore), a drink with my two work BFFs, a prank gift for one of them, a few rounds of our favorite video game, and a quick dinner out. A pretty good Friday.

tis the season

First California poppies are out, and all the trees are in bloom! A bit late because of the long winter, but all that rain means we'll have crazy wildflowers this year, right?

rainbows everywhere

The sunny-rainy transition from winter to spring means frequent rainbows on the morning drive to work.

first

Saw the first tree in bloom for spring today. Winter is on its last legs.

green thumb

Apparently, if someone gives me a box full of rich compost in the sun, appropriate seeds and plants, and strict planting and watering instructions, the plants don't all die. The tomatoes, radishes, cilantro, green onions, and jalapenos have been fun to eat, and the bees appear to like the sunflowers.

treasure at home

I have been coveting the California poppies that grow wild every spring, and lo and behold, there is a clump growing wild on the edge of our front yard. Breed and spread, poppies, and come back every year.

after the rain

A good rainy season kicked off the trees going into bloom in late January, then California poppies (my favorite) in March, and now there are wildflowers everywhere, and jasmine season has started.

february

February in California catches me off guard every year. After a lifetime on the East Coast and a stint in Europe, I tend to think of February as a month solidly ensconced in winter, with many cold and dreary weeks blocking the path to summer. But in California, February is spring time. The days start getting longer, the plants have put out new shoots, and the trees (ohmygod the trees) bloom as if they have no idea that it's winter anywhere else. This year, they got started last week, probably because of extra rain we've been getting, and seeing all the green and white and pink everywhere is a welcome reminder that summer is just around the corner.

namibia in depth

Two weeks of pure awesomeness on what Boyfriend has declared to be the best trip we've ever taken!

• Windhoek
• showing up and finding a firepit in the room
• Okonjima:
• eating granola with yogurt and fruit every morning, and bacon (I don’t usually eat a real breakfast, but I also don’t usually get up at 5 every morning)
• discovering the joys of having hot water bottles in the bed at night, and a fire in the fireplace
• watching a baby leopard play while its mother ate a warthog on our first drive
• taking an extra day so that we could go on a second leopard drive and a second cheetah drive
• going into safari trances on the road and getting a lot of thinking done, and having some good realizations
• and some smaller realizations, such as how much I really like to pee on dives and game drives
• giving up on FitBit, because it registers too many fake steps on bumpy roads
• not being online
• Ongava
• watching the sun set and the moon rise at the same time
• seeing mother and 3-4 week old baby rhino at watering hole on first sundown drive
• taking a hot shower (super-hot, heated by a wood stove) in a cold tent after a dusty day never gets old
• watching a huge orange full moon rising
• seeing a herd of elephants with two babies at the Okonkuejo watering hole in Etosha, drinking, bathing, playing, and taking a dust bath
• watching rhinos and elephants at the watering hole during second dinner
• seeing a mother rhino and her older baby on our last morning drive, and walking near them
• squeezing extra life out of my camera battery when it tried to give up a few times near the rhinos
• Onguma
• getting in before sunset and not having anything to do the rest of the night
• staying in a warm room and a fancy lodge is so great after a cold tent with a basic lodge -- so glad this was after Ongava so we could really wallow and appreciate it with no pressure to go do things
• seeing the Milky Way from our house
• listening to roaring lions the first night
• going into Etosha and feeling no pressure, since we'd already seen everything we'd really wanted to see, so everything else was just a bonus
• getting back from Etosha by noon and having the rest of the day free to relax, read, write, and think
• taking a 2.5 hour nap on a sunny bed after a week of waking up before 6 a.m., and on this particular day, waking up at 6, going on a walk for an hour and a half, then having breakfast, then getting back in bed before 11 a.m. to have a dream within a dream within a dream in a sleep that felt like I was in an underwater cocoon
• coming across a fat, sleepy male lion on night drive
• having a super helpful manager who fixed our wheel well and got our car washed
• starting to figure out manual camera settings for sunrise, sunset, stars
• eating the best food of the trip (the food was good in general, but particularly good here, and we discovered that all those antelopes are delicious -- oryx and springbok are good, but kudu is the best)
• Windhoek
• after seeing the room they were going to give us, asking for our first room back and getting it
• Sossusvlei
• having the front seat in the plane
• making it up the biggest dune (Big Daddy) after much huffing and puffing
• gliding back down the steep face of the dune after some doubt, making the sand sing like a cello and then like a tuba or trombone
• spending another morning at the dunes -- two fun descents, and a long photo session at Deadvlei
• going horseback riding into the sunset, which was startling when we were galloping but exhilarating
• getting two massages, one of them outside!
• getting a late afternoon flight out of Kulala so we could chill for the day
• spending the last night under the stars
• sitting in the cockpit again, just by asking

And generally:

• I don’t usually keep this kind of schedule when left to my own devices, but it was amazing to see sunrise, sunset, and stars every day, especially when there was so much sky.
• I realized that one of the amazing things about dive trips or safaris is that you just show up, and then you can turn your brain off, because there is no planning to do and no decisions to make. They tell you when to wake up, when to eat, where to go, what to see, and you can just enjoy yourself without worrying over whether you’re doing the right thing at the right time to get the most out of the day.

late rain

The smell of freshly washed eucalyptus trees while walking the dog at Stanford after what is probably the last rain we'll see until October.