A Respite from the Usual Fray

A belated happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. If you can step back from the corporate commercial side of the holiday season, this time of year is filled with a combination of busy time preparing for family and friends visits and quiet time as we reflect on and appreciate all that is good in our lives. My week "off" from teaching this Thanksgiving week was just that. I chose not to get caught up in the big spending push of "Black Friday" and all that ensues. Instead, I chose to use this time for rest, spending snippets of time with my adult children, tend to a few piles of accumulated stuff at home, and take many walks in this unseasonably warm weather. 

Tomorrow, the work fray continues..........

Here are a few quick snap scenes from my week:

 <--------The Automotive Museum in San Diego, California. My son wanted to visit this during our day at Balboa Park. Me? Not so much. But, since he appeased me by allowing me a few hours at the Museum of Photographic Arts, I obliged and was pleasantly surprised. In this shot is Louie Mattar's Fabulous Car that made 2 non stop long distance drives in the mid 1950's. This car could change a tire, refuel, change oil, do laundry, cook, had a toilet and shower, tv/radio, wet bar....all the comforts of home without ever stopping! In the 1950s no less! It even had a hookah. Interesting.


I see this bridge every time I walk from where I stay, around the bay, to the other side where my favorite cafe for morning coffee is. It goes across Mission Bay to Pacific Beach --------------------------------------->


<---------------Soaking up the lush green surrounds while in San Diego. It does a desert dwelling body good.






My hike yesterday was on my favorite trail out of Black Rock Canyon in Joshua Tree National Park. This is the Panorama Loop Trail with vistas galore. The view below is looking north back down the trail. We were probably 3 1/2 miles into the hike. It was warmer than usual for late November. Sweating is a good thing, right?

 This is the top of the ridge. A hard hike up, up, up. You can see my valley town in the distance.


And here the terrain changes back to pinion pine, joshua trees, and scrub oak as we happily descend back to the trail head.  Nothing like a heart pumping hike to balance out all the holiday splurging - not on Black Friday deals but on great company and scrumptious food.......


I hope you and yours, wherever you are, enjoyed the warmth of family, friendship, and simpler times.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seeking Shelter (aka Querencia 2)

Image
I am having trouble picking up my camera lately. The spark of creativity is buried underneath a pallor of human unkindnesses. Can't watch the news or read the internet or walk through the staffroom without feeling personally assaulted in some way. The world outside is coming alive with wonderful spring light and peeps of color. The air is warm and alive with happy chirps and the whir of wings as life gets busy making more life. But I stare at it from inside. Unable to move. Tears spill over without warning. There's a sharpness to my speech. Breathing is shallow as it burns in my chest. I feel like a thousand elephants sit on top of me. The only solace is my walking buddy, Toby, who insists on his daily walk - which we do. Most of the time. And I always feel, a little, better. I turn off the tv. I limit the internet to communicating with friends and family on "good things",  researching fun lessons, or playing a mindless game (or 2) of (dare I say it), CandyCrush. Bu
Read more

19 March 2012

Image
Here is another shot from this past weekend in my beloved park....more for the benefit of my distant readers (and maybe those of you close by who haven't taken the opportunity to explore this beautiful area...). Considered the cornerstone of Joshua Tree National Park, this particular photo is of the Oasis of Mara which is a short and pleasant nature walk down a paved path from the national park headquarters / visitor center. When my daughter worked as an interpretative ranger there before sailing off into the Navy, she had the most interesting stories of what was witnessed just outside the large picture windows from inside the visitor center. One story that stuck in my mind, both kind of funny and sort of 'gross' if you aren't used to the ways of nature, centered around some European tourists experiencing desert life in all its glory one hot summer day. Both visitors and rangers were watching in awe and amusement the antics of a roadrunner in the garden area just off
Read more

Promise yourself...

Image
What to you think about as you meander around the great outdoors? Do you meander in the great outdoors? If not, you absolutely should. Dr. Shay's orders. It's good for what ails you and reinforces all that doesn't.  I stumbled upon this poem somewhere on the 'net.  Something to turn over in your mind as you wander instead of the usual things that can strip us of peace and joy..... My favorite light at the end of the day - just before sunset..... 2012 ©Diana Shay Diehl / JTNP Promise Yourself... To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and pr
Read more