Gratitudes + things that are making me happy

• Several days of spring-like, hopeful weather to remind me that life is even better sometimes than I remembered it could be

• The sound of palm trees in the wind, especially at night

• Seeing flowering broccolini for the first time, and learning that it is a sign of deliciousness

• Wild beautiful front yards with humble ordinary houses inside them

• Sprinting to make a crosswalk light at the end of a jog

• Plants that remind me of Australia

• Eating tangerines in Hebrew class

• Magnolia blossoms and plum blossoms

• A subway busker with a bright green clarinet

• Flowering rosemary

• A new issue of Womankind to read on my breaks at work

• So many stripey shirts

• My carpool to work, and working on my knitting to stay sane when we are stuck in traffic

• An excellent clothing swap among a few friends

• Not starting work earlier than I'm scheduled to - occupying myself with a book, my journal, etc. if I arrive early

• Getting better at leaving work shortly after when my day is scheduled to end. Being realistic about what can wait, and doing what can't wait earlier in the day.

• Waxed fabric wraps for food

• Potato carrot onion soup

• Weekend snuggles

• Drifting away from Goodreads a bit, and recording my reading more in my own journal

Escaping north, part two

A chilly walk on the beautiful headlands of Mendocino. I love northern/seaside/winter colors. Best of all, all three at once.

Part one here.
Part three here. 

February: predictable

February: predictable.
Eating pomelo
and tangerines, eating
my baseless sadness.
These words scratchy-dry
with rust, like certain muscles in
my feet, thighs, and hips.
I go to make them sore today.
I know what to do. No shame
in being detected as what you are.

Escaping north

For our anniversary, my girlfriend and I drove north and stayed for two nights. I had been to that part of California only once, when I was a child, and that wilder northern coast had been occupying some space in my imagination lately. It was cold, lovely, and quiet -- a welcome escape from the seemingly never-ending hustle of the Bay Area.

And I took my new-old camera, a popular vintage 35mm camera my parents gave me for Christmas as a replacement for my now deceased (but still beloved) old Russian 35mm companion. So I have these, and a few more photos to share from it.

Part two here. 
Part three here.