busy

hi blog

we have been busy, so here is a little rundown of recent events in the lives of the deiner and millman family...

we fled the city again for a week in sonoma. we bonded with the family who lives in my mom's condo complex, and i found i had quite a bit in common with the divorced, very bleached-blonde and tattooed single mother of two. miles had lots in common with the older boy, and they spent hours several days in a row playing aggressive boy games in the pool. maya went from timidly sitting in the (warmish) hot tub to jumping into the pool and swimming laps across the pool wearing water wings to actually swimming across the hot tub with her head under, water wing-less. from this pool there was a view of hills through trees, with a perpetually blue sky overhead. soaking up sun on a black lounge chair with maya wrapped up in a towel peacefully in my lap felt good. we visited a huge community garden and went to the cheesy but nice county fair. from sonoma my mom and the kids and i took a three day trip to stay at the inverness valley inn near point reyes. another pool and hot tub with cool kids to keep mine occupied. we watched an osprey family return with fish to a huge nest in a tree which towered over the inn. miles got to herd the inn's little farm animal group of llamas and sheep and goats and we got to eat fresh blue and brown eggs in the morning. we visited limantour beach and got a little sunburned and the miles ran about 10 miles chasing the waves. we also went to kule loklo indian village where we quietly felt like miwok indians, and quietly felt a little sad they were gone.

now we are back. i just harvested a bunch of carrots and potatoes and greens and lettuce from the garden. tomorrow we are heading out again to rancho cicada, east of sacramento, where we are going to stay in little wood cabins next to a swimming river, with a big group of people we do not know all too well, but who we will get to know better.

of course i am wondering again why the heck i live here if i am so happy being in nature and quiet, but it is really the juxtaposition that feels good to me. the other day i took the kids downtown to see a movie and we killed a little time in yerba buena park, riding the carousel, making the metal man stand and sit on the metal globe, sliding the giant slide and running around the maze. the city is not peaceful but it is never boring. and i am feeling full of new ideas for making my kid's elementary school more full of experiences with the natural world.

if only there were no earthquakes the city would feel a little more peaceful too, but it is hard for me to let go of earthquake images as i navigate a parking garage, or a huge glass-windowed movie theater complex. i have been in avoidance mode, taking ferries instead of bridges. or maybe it is the threat of earthquakes, which will strike when they want, not when we are ready, that cast a shadow of preciousness over our lives here.

i promise more photos soon.