Warm Holiday Wishes to All!

from sunny California

We have certainly had a wonderfully busy and eventful year this 2009. We are enjoying our new “home” state of California. It has taken us a while to begin to settle in but because of the many wonderful folks we know in CA and who we’ve had the good fortune of meeting, we’re beginning to feel quite settled here.

As fall and winter unfold we’ve enjoyed the fact that there are really seasons here. Yes some of the leaves do change colors quite beautifully. It is fun to come across flame yellow, orange and red leaves mixed with palms trees and ripening oranges. Surprise we’ve had our first snow storm. Sorry no pix! (Which was only really experienced if you live above 2,000feet in the east hills.) But one morning we woke up and the hills were snow coated! It is going to take me a while before looking at snow capped mountains through palm trees doesn’t give us a very silly grin.


Some highlights of this year include many hikes in redwood forests and in foothills overlooking the SF Bay. We’ve enjoyed the ocean and built an amazing set of sand/branch/shell sculptures near the crashing Pacific ocean waves.


We’ve had a wonderful time going up to visit the “city” of San Francisco. Nye loves the hills which make the whole city feel like one giant roller coaster. Archil loves the urban grit that is soooo missing from our current city. And, I love the chance to explore a mix of museums, parks, and cultural events so close to such a beautiful bay. The Bay Area very different from NY but we still value the mixture that feeds the needs of the whole family. We are especially grateful for friends we’ve been able to re-connect with out here and
new friends we’ve made. They have made this process of moving across country much easier! There have been ups and downs, losses and discoveries. As we look forward to 2010 we are very excited to be in a place that fuels us with so much opportunity for discovery and we’re eager to take advantage of that!


To all of you - our friends and family we send our love and our wishes this holiday season!


Sara, Nye and Archil

Nye in November

Celebrations and the Sea

What is California like in November, you ask?
Ah, celebrations and the sea!

Well Californians tell us that the fall and early winter are hot. Hmmm to us it feels like fall in New England but maybe a bit warmer. The trees are in full fall foliage. Yep there is even a bit of color, not NH or VT style color but it's there. We're balancing the process of exploring the local scene with our trips to the ocean.

October was busy with a visit from Archil's parents (Inna and Tamazi or Babu and Bebe.) We did our very best to run them around seeing all that we could squeeze in during their visit. One highlight was a trip on the Roaring Camp Railroad. We boarded the narrow guage tracks for a fun trip through the redwoods. Along the way they treated us to a little history, geology, and just plan silly railroad humor. It was a blast!


Much of early November was taken up with the preparations for Nye's birthday party. He had fun with friends. We had a small celebration since we have a small apartment! Along the way there were sculptures, scavenger hunts, and cupcakes. I think the kids had fun and Nye sure had a blast. Now if we can just figure out how to break a pinata! Nye's friends did their very best but the crazy creation just wouldn't give up the loot. Eventually the kid's persistance payed off and the candy and toys were distributed sort of fairly.

After the multiple celebrations, cupcake baking sessions and shameless spoiling of our son by family and friends we took a break from celebrating. One of our favorite adventures is over to the coast to explore. We took a trip to Soquel Cove and New Brighton State Beach. (FYI This is very close to our friend's Jenny-Sayre and Jen's home in Aptos where we will be visiting for Thanksgiving. ) Exploring the beach at low tide there is quite a trip back in time. The beach is littered with fossils. So many in fact that it's just silly. Nye and I decided that it was too much like shooting fish in a barrel and went off to explore the tide pools. Tons of sea anemone and hermit crabs! Arch explored far down the sea cliffs and came back with a very exciting discovery, fossil whale bones. Yep, that's right! We walked and discovered with him, skulls, vertebrae, ribs, and even most of the ribs of some small whales. It was just amazing!

As Truman Capote once said the longer you stay in CA the more IQ points you loose. I can understand why that might be, but I'll happily trade that for a chance to discover some of the amazing places and features we've been privileged to see so far.

We are wishing everyone a very wonderful and peaceful Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Love,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Pumpkin Season

Arch is Back!

Nye and I had three weeks of wonderful time together while Arch was in New York, but we're very happy that he is back. On Saturday Arch returned from working in New York. Nye and some time to do special Mom and Nye things like writing "The Dragon Times" and have had a great time both exploring and entertaining visitors.

Over the Columbus day weekend we had Jill and Ella Fruchter come and spend a few days with us. Jill and her daughter traveled here from Brooklyn. Ella had a lot of fun catching up with here good friend Ivy (who is one of Nye's friends and classmates.) Jill and Ella split their time with Nye and I and the Benningtons (Michaela, Charles, Ivy, and Julian.) It is actually through Jill that we've gotten to know the Benningtons so we're very grateful for the introduction. Nye and Ella had a good time together. And it was wonderful for me to get a chance to catch up with Jill.

We took them down the coast to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. I think Ella could have spent her whole day at the touch tanks! She had a blast with the hermit crabs. We tried our best to fit the whole of the aquarium in. (As always the jellies are one of my favorite but the seahorses are a treat too!) After a day of that we drove up the coast to visit with some sea lions. I think we even managed to squeeze in a swim and a trip to the hot tub that day. Wow!

This past weekend Nye participated in the school's annual walk-a-thon. He raised $80 in pledges by committing to walk 10 laps or 2 miles. (In the end he walked quite a bit longer than that.) Nye got to the school with me early to help with setting up the face painting booth I had volunteered to help staff. He did stretching with the YMCA leader and then he was off. After 14 lapse he checked in with me to let me know he was going to walk even more. (After 25 laps the kids earned a free popcorn!) Nye stopped by with his free popcorn for a snack break and some refreshments. Then he was off again. Meanwhile, back at the face painting booth, I was kept quite busy! The next thing I knew Nye's name is being announced. He was the first "grand prize winner" having walked 55 laps. (That is 11 miles!!) I'm so proud of him. He did a great job! What a sense of accomplishment for him too. He earned a whole backpack full of great school supplies.

On Saturday evening we were very excited with all the walk-a-thon news and the chance to see Arch again after three and a half week. Good thing his plane was early rather than late!

All the best,

Sara, Nye and Arch

Fall in the Bay Area

A Blog in Three Parts

As fall approaches we're not really sure quite what to expect out here in the Bay Area. This is our first time watching the seasons unfold in California. We've been delighted by all the wonderful natural places to explore. We love the great weather and the friendly people. But fall is a season of change. And with it we enter yet another unknown.

We've been enjoying our drives along Route 1 and the coast. One thing we're looking forward to is going to pick pumpkins. There are a number of farms nearby that sell strawberries and many that have large pumpkin patches. Since so many of those have disappeared back east we're really happy to see that this area still has many. We've stopped at farm stands like the one pictured above to snap pictures and to sample the local produce. So many of the farms overlook the Pacific Ocean which is of course an extra treat.



Paleontology Field Trip

At work I'm continuing to research and planning on the "Lupe" project. This "next big exhibition" at the Children's Discovery Museum has to do with the finding of a fossil mammoth near the San Jose airport.

I'm working with a great team from UC Santa Cruz Developmental Psychology Dept, UC Berkeley Paleontology Museum, and of course CDM. One of the wonderful side benefits of the project has been getting a chance to take field trips to look for fossils. After all how can you create an exhibition about the process of paleontology without experiencing it? We're very lucky to be working with a graduate student at the museum who is both a paleontologist and a geologist. Guess who's car I vote to ride shot gun in.

On this second paleontology trip we hiked and explored in the Diablo Range to the east of San Jose. Traveling along the route we chose was like going backwards in time. We found plant fossils, fossil tracks or traces, a fish bone, and searched unsuccessfully for ammonites. Research in the chaparrals is pretty hot and shade-less (as you can see from the background of the above photo) but it was very fun.


Going Solo

Archy has a bit of work that has taken him back to NY city. He is there for three weeks so I'm taking care of Nye. We're doing our best to have fun while Dad's away. Nye has been coming to work with me after school and working on his homework while I finish up my day. On weekends we've been doing a little exploring. This past Saturday we were luck enough to be able to visit with Matt and Suz in Sausalito. Suz was in San Francisco for work and Matt came out to join her for a weekend of explorations. They went biking in Sonoma during the day. Nye and I went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum and then we rendezvoused for dinner.

Thanks guys for arranging time to visit!

We miss everyone from home so getting this little chances to catch up in person is just wonderful for us.

That's all the news from California. Nye is preparing to be a Ninja Mummy for Halloween. We're getting together the decorations for the apartment. And of course starting to think about the November birthdays.

Wishing everyone the very best!

Sara, Nye and Archil

Nevada City - September

Visiting with Ted & Nancy at the "Dream Cabin"

Over the long weekend we went to visit friends Ted and Nancy in the foothills. We had last visited them in May. Once again we were so happy to have the chance to spend time with both of them. Nye set about immediately renewing his friendship with Patches (Patches belongs to Ted's and was spending the weekend with Grandpa Ted.) He also set out to find and catch as many lizards as possible. For a child who is constantly in motion it was amazing to see him sitting still as a garden gnome for long stretches hoping to trick the lizards into reappearing.


"Dinosaur Bugs"

We were not disappointed by the wildlife around the Dream Cabin. Nancy pointed out a bunch upon our arrival. In total we counted at least six big fat females in different colors. The lone male we spotted was sensibly hiding on their solar panels.

In addition to the insects (which Ted calls dinosaur bugs to Nancy's annoyance :) we saw multiple mule deer visited the feeders - they're regulars, turkeys came to kick around in looking for acorns, and on the trail south of the cabin Nye and I spotted bobcat tracks and possibly mountain lion. Too bad we missed a seeing the bear that passes through occasionally.

We did our best to help take care of a few things around the cabin. Nye helped fill the bird feeders, put our the corn for the deer and re-fill the water bowls for birds, deer, and lizards alike. Sara helped with defrosting the propane refrigerator. Archil did dishes, took pictures, and generally kept us entertained. Nancy's health is failing and I'm hoping that our help eased some of the apprehensions she had about how Ted will manage in the future. Given the love of their friends and family that live close by I know he'll be just fine.

Now We're Sewing

Nancy insisted that Nye help himself to some of her sewing/craft supplies. With the gift of thread, needles, stuffing, and fabric Nye quickly assembled his own little sewing kit. We've been doing "sewing projects" almost every night ever since. His first construction was a little transformer like creature (that I think looks a lot like a clam with a blue neck) but he insists is really a polar bear of sorts. My first construction was a blueberry pin cushion. Archy made a green frog pillow. Okay, Martha Stewards we are not!

While I'm not the craftiest person in the world I'm still thrilled that Nancy shared these with Nye. We'll both think about Nancy, Ted, and the Dream Cabin each time we pick up Nye's new sewing box and start to invent a new project.

xo,

Sara, Nye, and Arch











View from the deck of Nancy's gardens and the hummers that visit.

End of Summer Vacation

Fun fling before school begins!

We're really happy to be back together as a family. It was fun to have Arch and Nye go to NYC and play and visit with family, but I for one am happy to be back together and exploring together.

We spent Nye's last weekend before school started exploring Berkeley. It is a wonderful town with lots of cool shops. Sara was bent on picking up some supplies from the "Bone Room" which is a lot like "Evolution" or other shops we know from NYC like "Maxilla & Mandible." It is a great place if you need fossils or old bones. (Hazard of working on a paleontology project!)

Berkeley is one of the few places in this country with an Adventure Playground. After years reading about these it was such a treat to find one so close by. I've been reading about these wonderful playgrounds for years. Yet I've never been to one. It was such a treat to discover that one of the two Adventure playgrounds is so close by. We arrived about 15 minutes before closing but we'll be back.

Capitola—a little piece of Europe in CA

On the Sunday before school started we decided to spend some time exploring along the coast. We decided to explore the area south of Santa Cruz. We went to Capitola. I have to say we were very excited to discover a place that reminded us so much of the many hill towns we've explored along the coasts of Europe.


Capitola has some great streets to explore and a lovely walk along the river. We haven't see too many towns around that have the character of this little sea side town. It has a great beach. A pier with a couple of businesses out there (fishing shop and a bar.) Surrounding the beach are some great sea cliffs. We loved that there were sea lions, pelicans, etc. Okay, we'll come visit this town again.


We're still having a great time exploring! Nye, Arch, and I had a blast building sand castles, eating ice cream and enjoying the waves and the sunshine. Hmm sounds silly but it is fun to be able to go and play in a place as cool as Capitola in an afternoon.



All the best ! xo

Sara, Nye & Archil

Nye & Arch in NYC

Nye and Arch Paint the Town!

One of the fun parts of Nye and Arch's summer vacation was traveling to NYC to visit with family and friends. (Sure beats hanging around the apt!) They spent time with Babu and Tata and visited the old neighborhood. Nye was very happy to get a chance to go to Coney Island for the rides.

One of the best things about being back in the city was getting a chance to visit with friends and family. Nye and Arch visited with Naor, Natalie, Gabriel, et al. Nye also had a chance to travel out to Nana's house and spend some time with Henry and Gillian. Seeing familiar family and friends was really exciting.

Arch and Nye also traveled up to the Berkshires to spend time with Anika, Nikoli, and Suzy. Friends reconnected over ice cream, swimming, and blueberry picking.

Thank you Inna, Tamazi, Nana, Becky, Henry, Gillian, Scott, Mark, Linda, Miles, Sima Bebe, Suzy, Anika, and everyone for making their trip so memorable.

xo

Sara, Nye & Archil

Sara Solo

Summer Vacation

For the past two weeks Nye and Arch have been on the east coast visiting with family and friends. While they are away I'm on my own. (Q and Nicodemus have been doing their best to keep me company.) Mostly I've been taking it slow and enjoying the quiet and keeping an eye out for hummingbirds on our balcony.


Explorations

Over the weekend I had a chance to explore San Francisco on my own on Saturday. On Sunday I took a drive around and explore the beaches on the way back towards Santa Cruz. I had a great time! The Richard Avedon show at SFMOMA is wonderful. I have to say that I really enjoy the scale and collection of this museum. It is all very smart, and they have some great art. (Still missing the scale of NYC art museums, but hey we're spoiled.)

On Sunday I had some time to take a really lovely drive through the Santa Cruz mountains and then down into Pescadero for a snack of artichoke/garlic bread and cheese before heading to the beach. I decided to stop at lots of spots along the way south to Santa Cruz. One of the first memorable spots was Pebble Beach. Here I discovered a new term Tafoni. Tafoni is a kind of rock that has is a mixture of silt or mudstone with pebbles mixed in. As the rock is exposed to the salt water and erosion the pebbles sort of fall out of the substrate to create are really unusual patterning.

Farther along I discovered an a really wonderful beach that was a wonderful place to enjoy the surf, the cliffs, and the inspiring sand cresent. There were so few people on the beach that it really felt like I had the place to myself. I can't wait to share my finds with Arch and Nye!

Guess I'm looking forward to the company of my guys and going to explore as a family!

xo,

Sara

Fun with Friends & Family

Enjoying Summer Sun

We've been enjoying summer vacation. Nye has settled into a new routine of reading in the mornings and swimming or playing outdoors in the afternoon. Both Nye and Arch are enjoying the lazy days of 70-80 degree temperatures and blue skies. Hey, who could complain, really! We have also been very fortunate to have had time to visit with friend and family. Sara had time to finally get a chance to meet Stacy's husband Deron and her son Terre. We were thrilled to have Chris, Laurie, and Julie come from Connecticut this past weekend. It is so wonderful to see friends and family from back east. It helps us to feel connected!

July 4th

We celebrated the holiday weekend by kicking back, sleeping late, and then driving over to Santa Cruz to explore the tide pools. Next time we promise to time it better. (I've purchased a new tide chart to help with that.) Not too far from Natural Bridges State Park there are these great flat rocks that are eroded by cobblestones. The stones create pits in the table rocks that many sea creatures colonize. We encountered sea anemone, chiton, snails, kelp, crabs, etc. In the fractures between the table rocks where sea stars and many other creatures. (Most of these were inaccessible to us because of the tides. Next time . . . .)


Down on the Ombogombo!

This past weekend we were delighted to play host to Chris, Laurie, and Julie. We did our best to entertain. During a visit to the pool in our complex Nye was introduced to the game of "Down on the Ombogombo" by Uncle Chris. (Credit to Uncle Matt I hear.) The playful pool game, which is basically a trip down the mytical Ombogombo River, involves many hazards -- alligators, crocodiles, whirlpools, hippopotimi, etc. It was a big hit with Nye!

As if traveling along the Omobgombo were not enough we took Chris, Laurie, and Julie down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to enjoy the most wonderful aquarium we know. We all enjoyed a day of enjoying the sea creatures and keeping while looking out to the Pacific beyond the doors of the aqarium keeping our eyes open for sea otters, seals, and whales. (No whales this trip -- too early sorry!) We did have great time enjoying sea horses and jelly fish. If you haven't seen these really mesmerazing creatures you are in for a treat! (They put lava lamps to shame.)

We traveled north from Monterey to Moss Landing. There we spotted harbor seals, sea otters, and the most amazing crowd of sea lions we've ever witnessed. The moms and pups where piled three animals high on the pier and were spilling over to the rock embankments right up to the parking lot! (That is a crazy lot of sea lions and some rather crushed looking pups.) Conservative estimates put it them at about 500. We've gotten used to spotting the sea lions at Moss Landing but we were quite overwhelmed by their numbers during this visit.

From there we traveled up to Sea Cliff's State Park to enjoy the cement ship, pictured right .
(It is endearing in a way that is hard to describe!) We all worked on the S.S. SNAP, a sand vessel of Nye's special design. Sorry no picture here. Watching the seals in the waves just off the beach, boogie boarders, and the graceful curve of the pelicans. It is a great way to end a day. After our visit to Sea Cliff's we topped it off with a trip to the pier at Santa Cruz for a nice sea food dinner. (Most of us had good food -- Julie and I won't mix Mango and sea food again -- right Jules?)

So far July has been a quiet and enjoyable month with friends and family. We help to celebrate our friend's Charles and Julian's birthdays at the Benningtons. We've welcomed, Chris - Laurie and Julie to Callie. And we'll continue to explore, enjoy and share our new home.

Wishing all the best!!

Sara, Nye, and Archil

Coyote Hills Park

Wanderlust

We really enjoy exploring! That makes up for most if not all of the many small frustrations of moving from the great city of NY. Within just a few moments we can be in places that are truly sublime. (For those who know about nature reserves Don Edwards Reserve is literally a bike ride away.) Small regional parks like Coyote Hill pepper the landscape around the Bay Area.

We are only beginning to really understand the landscape. Basically we live in a huge flooded river valley or Fjord which forms the greater San Francisco Bay Area. San Jose is just south of the southern tip of the Fjord. All around this great tidal bay are salt marshes that host an awesome number of waterfowl. ( I do mean that in the most literal possible way.) On our recent hike to Coyote Hills we were privileged to have White Pelicans soar over us numerous times. Egrets and Herons abound. We spotted Cinnamon teals and Common Moorhens. And all this in the late afternoon -- by far the worst time to go looking for interesting birds!!

The Coyote Hills are no doubt aptly named considering all the "scat" Nye and I were able to spot. Nye is a fair naturalist for someone who is so young and raised in a city! Makes me rather proud :) We found that we were enjoying both the aquatic landscape, salt marshes and our explorations of these geologically interesting hills.

One thing that we've actually been enjoying is the way that the hills on the eastern slope of the area turn to amber starting in June. The grasses go to seed quite early and their casings dance in the wind. For folks who have been living in NY this attention to the nuance of the natural landscape is really very entertaining. To the East of San Jose the hills glow golden, to the west they are lush and green. This may sound a bit hollow until I tell you that overarching these wonderful amber waves of grasses is the most azure of sky only occasionally populated by a fluffy white cloud.


We moved on to the Grasslands

And that is when the male and female Marsh Hawks showed up. (Okay, anyone who doesn't know the term "Gray ghost" just check out here. This is for bird geeks only! If you read on you have to pretend you know what we're talking about, okay?) We were thrilled to spot a "Gray Ghost" aka a male Marsh Hawk (can you say rare as Hen's Teeth?) lofting over those amber hills close to the marshland (okay, if you are not a birder, just to understand- these guys are rare, really, but if you're having trouble just consider that spotting one in CT would be legendary@!!! We were of course super excited. I've by now made sure Arch understands this type of thing.) Suffice it to say that when a female March Hawk shows up and started to play/harass the male (aka Gray Ghost) we were thrilled. For those who have never seen these birds they are large, brown or in the case of the "ghost" gray with pronounced coloration on their long tail feathers. What is best of all is the way that they seem to float above the landscape kite like. They are quiet beautiful!! (Oh and let us now forget the score of white pelican's occasionally wheeling overhead.)

All in all very picturesque. At Coyote Hills ee hiked among the salt marsh grasses and spotted Egrets, Teal, Huge Carp, Herons, Pelicans, Gulls, Moorhen, etc. Then we hiked up into the hills for a view of the greater bay and some spectacular metamorphic rock formations.
e explored so close to our new home!

Callie is quite wonderful choice to be faced with --"shall we go to the rain forest or to the scrub desert today?" We are so thrilled to be able to explore all the parks small and large in the area around our new home. We invite anyone who cares to join us to come and hike the hills, beaches, and other areas of that are so close to San Jose.

With Love,

Sara, Arch, & Nye

Busy Times . . . But Fun!

Explorations

After our return from Yosemite we decided to take it easy. We all needed a little rest right? It was back to school for Nye and time to play with friends after school in the park and in the pool. Back to painting for Arch. And back to work for Sara! ;)


La Brea

Okay so to mix things up from the routine of sunny days with blue skies in the 80's I decided to take some fun trips for work. Okay they were all to sunny places but hey this is California! The first was to the La Brea tar pits. This consisted of hopping on a plane and flying to Los Angelis for the day and then driving across the city to the DuPage museum. I've always wanted to go to La Brea! This was my first chance to see some of the amazing animals I've been reading about at work like Giant Sloths, Mammoths, and Sabertooth tigers. The tar pits themselves are very, very, weird. There are places in the lawn of the museum where the tar is just bubbling up to create new little pools. Must be hell on the lawn mowers!

We topped off the trip with a supper quick trip through Hollywood. I can honestly say that it was thrilling to see the sign "Hollywood" but after all the time I've lived in NYC the "strip" was a bit of a disappointement. I guess I had been thinking about Times Square and the whole Broadway experience. It just isn't like that at all. But that didn't keep me from sticking my head out the car window and snapping bad pictures.


Paleontology At Sea Cliffs

As part of "work" at the museum I had arranged a paleontology field trip. It is hard to do an exhibition about the process if you've never been out on a fossil dig. I'm fortunate to have folks at UC Berkeley's Paleontology Museum who are willing to endulge us. A small group of us had fun learning all about how to read the rocks of California's sea cliffs and then follow that up with a chance to find marine fossils. I came back with a few pretty cool sea urchine fossils and one giant "rock" clam.


Alum Rock

Our latests family exploration was to Alum Rock Park. We've spent most of our time exploring the hills of the Santa Cruz Mountain Range to the west of San Jose. This was our first adventure into the foothills to our east. Alumn Rock is a steep gorge that cuts into the foothills. At this time of the year the eastern hills are amber in color since all the grasses have already browned and gone to seed. (That is in stark contrast with the more "rain forest like" green of the western hills.) Still Alum Rock Park is really beautiful! We hiked a 3 mile loop on the South Rim Trail. From up top we had wonderful views of the whole of the San Jose Valley and the southern end of the San Francisco Bay.

We all had a great time enjoying the butterflies, flowers, and lizards we found along the trail. I'm continually impressed by all the amazing flowers we've seen since we moved here. The terraine is dry and the sun does beat down but the scrub oak trees afford wonderful cool spots along the trail. Hummingbirds buzz overhead and these amazing oasis of color attract the most wonderful range of butterflies imaginable.

The park was once a "spa" back in the 20's. Along one side of the stream that runs along the bottom of the valley are these great old relecs. Old bridges, little arched doorways where the water runs out smelling like "dragon farts" as Nye so aptly phrased it. Intricate rockwork pools are set along the path, no doubt for the happy bathers at the spa. We couldn't quite imagine the whole idea of sitting in water that smelled that bad. Still it didn't seem to phase all the the local wildlife.

We'll be back to explore more of Alum Rock's beauty one of these days. It' is sooo close to the city but feels remarkably far away.

Love,

Sara, Nye, and Archil

Yosemite!

Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue.

-- John Muir

What a way to spend your birthday!

My wonderful husband decided that the perfect way to celebrate my birthday would be a long weekend in Yosemite. (Arch rocks!) Ever since we first looked at the map of San Jose and its surroundings Yosemite has been on "the list" of must visit locations. Needless to say we were giddy with anticipation.

We set off on Saturday morning. It is a 3+ hr trip to the park entrance through some amazing landscapes. One highlight were the wind farms we passed, quite surreal! We drove through the flat central valley and up and up and up in to the "hills" and then into the pine forests. Nothing about the winding mountain roads through pine forest and occasional glimpses of bits of the range quite prepared me for that first glimpse of Half Dome!

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
-- John Muir

It is really quite impossible for me to put into words the impact of the Yosemite valley. I can say that for all that you may read or hear about it nothing compares with experiencing that most magnificent of places. I can say please come in the spring or the fall, away from the touristic crush, stay for long enough to make the drive worthwhile and we will happily take you to Yosemite to be drenched by the mist from the falls, awed by the majesty of the mountains and renewed by the many sublime moment the valley affords.

One highlight of our adventure in the park was the chance to take hikes. Our longest hike was up to Vernal Falls and then a loop to Clark's point and back again. We covered about 4 miles and several hundred feet! The Mist Trail was charged with energy from the raging spring melt water which makes the river fairly roar. Huge building size hunks of granite completely engulfed in foam by the frigid flow. (There are plenty of reminders posted that you'd be pretty much dead if you fell in by accident.) The real point of the Mist Trail is to take you along side the falls themselves. At this time of the year the trail could be better named something like "Take a long cold shower in ice water blowing off the torrential falls" trail. Which of course doesn't sound much fun so it should also include "it is the thrill of a lifetime seeing double rainbows over the falls plumitting water" trial. Ah well, I'm not up to the task of describing the combination of thrill, wonder, majesty, etc. We had a blast!

The water in music the oar forsakes." The air in music the wing forsakes.
All things in move in music and write it. The mouse, lizard, and grasshopper sing
ogether on the Turlock sands, sing with the morning stars.
-- John of the Mountains Muir

Our highlights were digging in the sand of the sandbar, spotting ground squirrels and scrub jays or revaling in the colors of the flowers and the brilliant expanses of granite. I know we'll be back again in the fall. With luck we'll have the company of family.

Love to all!

Sara, Nye and Archil

Nana's Trip to San Jose

Hurry for California!

First, we have to send out a huge "shout" to CLJ for making Nana's first trip to California possible. She certainly had a good time (we hope) and we were so incredibly happy to have her visit, and to get a chance to share some little glimpses of our new neighborhood. So naturally dragged her everywhere!! Thanks Mom for being a good sport.

First Day

Okay it is a long trip from the east coast to the west coast so we relaxed the first evening but yeah that was still fun. We showed Nana around our very exciting beige apartment. :)

Day 2 - Monterey Bay

On Saturday we took it easy and got a nice late start. We drove down to Monterey Bay and explored the Aquarium. World class to be sure! It is hard to explain the joy of lunching near where the sea otters dine. Nye and Nana had a chance to explore everything from touch tanks to what if feels like to be swamped by a wave. For those of you who haven't been to the Aquarium there is an awesome new exhibition all about Sea Horses. While very crowded while we were there we were all impressed by these amazing these little creatures. We enjoyed all the usual thrills, kelp forest, touch tanks, ocean views, and on and on. We have a family membership which includes a couple of guest passes so you're invited to visit with us if you can. (FYI, It is worth it if you haven't ever been to this amazing place.)

Day 2 - San Francisco

One of the wonderful things about the Bay Area is that things just aren't that far away. On Sunday, after a late brunch, we decided to explore Golden Gate Park. The park has a special connection for us since it was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead who also designed Central Park and Prospect Park in NYC. Golden Gate has a vibe that we really enjoy. We took Nana up to the top of the D. Young Tower to see a spectacular view of the whole area. From there we traveled to the Japanese Garden for a little wandering and afternoon tea (check out the movie for all the images of great little space!) We enjoyed all the vistas and the scale of spaces because it makes you feel like you were exploring a much larger environment -- very Japanese.


Day 3 - San Jose

Monday was a day to walk around Willow Glen. Powell's candy shop was a highlight. Nye was very excited to show Nana this "legendary" (in his mind) candy shop. The gang also checked out the pool and the local population of hummers. (Seriously we have to get a humming bird feeder!) Later Nana, Nye, and Archil explored the Tech Museum of Innovation while Sara worked. We're glad Nana got a chance to see the scale and features of our new neighborhood. Arch and I really appreciated Nana babysitting Nye while we went to see Leonard Cohen Monday evening in Oakland. (Awesome, thanks again that was a once in a lifetime opportunity Nana!!)


Day 4 - Redwoods . . . they are so cool!

On Tuesday we explored the Redwoods. I think Nana enjoyed the quiet awesome beauty of these most magnificent trees. The scale is overwhelming at first, but for us they are becoming more familiar. I find I appreciate their quite grace. Somehow I and feel compelled to attribute them with animistic qualities which is probably more about human nature, but they are so very calm, stately, and peaceful. We walked and toyed and played underneath their fine and lace like branches. Ironically, we don't see many animals in the redwood forests. There is a lot of activity up at the canopy but down at ground level it is a bit quiet. We were thrilled to spot a black tailed deer at a clearing in the woods at the end of our trip.

We said goodbye to Nana on Day 4--Wednesday but we sure hope she'll come and explore with us again. We had so much fun sharing our local environment and San Jose with her. We were only able to touch upon a few highlights. Next time she comes we're taking her to Yosemite! Thanks for coming to visit Nana!

XO,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Our Visit with Ted & Nancy Peach

I'm a little behind in updating the blog. We've been very busy
and having loads of fun as you'll see in the next few entries!

Nevada City - Foothills of the Sierra Nevada's

The first weekend of April we drove up into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range to visit with good friends Ted and Nancy Peach. We last saw Ted and Nancy in a CT reunion in 2006. And after years of reading reports from the "Dream Cabin in the Woods" we were delighted to check out their homestead in person.

We explored the woods around the cabin. We were impressed all the work and attention to detail that has gone into all aspects of their lives there from the bear proof bird feeder (with solar powered motors to raise and lower the feeders for easy filling.) The feeders were visited by small groups of black tailed deer and turkeys in addition to tons of finches, sparrows, and several species of humming birds. Nye really enjoyed spotting lizards on rocks, logs, and in the brick lizard house. Nye also really enjoyed meeting Patches. I think after loosing Birdie the chance to connect to a lively dog was a lot of fun for him. Patches belongs to Ted's son but seems to spend most days following Ted around.

We took some lovely hikes down into the ravines. On our Sunday morning hike Ted showed us all how to pan for gold in the stream. This seems to chiefly involve swirling water and debris in the bottom of a specially shaped pan. The gold is heavy and sinks to the bottom. Lighter rocks, gravel, and dirt stay up near the top and can be pushed off the pan. Ted was equipped with beads of copper shot which we used as "test objects" to ensure that we were getting the technique down properly. We tried and tried but never quite came up with a flake. But we did spot some very large and wonderful California Newts. We'll just call them gold bellied newts since they did have bright orange bellies!

We packed so many good times into such a short weekend. From watching Bruce Springsteen to enjoying wonderful meals together. The real gold was in spending time with two wonderful people and we can't wait to visit again soon!

Sara, Nye, and Archil