When we moved from Cole Valley to Emerald Hills, it was a deliriously happy time for our family. We were newlyweds, new parents, and were able to buy our first home, it even had a white picket fence! Our neighbors welcomed us home, bringing food, and laughter and community.
Almost 30 years have passed, we moved away, we came back, our kids are grown, and now, I am me, not we, and through this quiet time, this opportunity/mandate to stay home, I am filled with gratitude that this is where we/I have made our home.
Today, August and I got an early start, and reversed our usual course, we went up, over,down, up, over and home! He is getting a bit better behaved on our walks, and has worked out a way to tell me when he needs a water break, he smiles ( I swear it is true) and nudges my pack where I keep our bottles. Now he drools out much more water than he takes in, and still doesn't love it when I sprinkle him with any leftover water, but we have our routines, and keeping him hydrated and cool is the least i can do for this boy.
We did not see our resident coyote, and the usual deer family that are the other typical occupants of the Eastview meadow were also missing. I have no idea what , if anything, that signifies, so we did what we. do, and kept walking.
There must be streets we have missed, and I have been playing favorites with certain routes, but if you were to walk along West Maple Way, you would understand why I can't pass that up. It has views, and wildness, and cultivated gardens, and a wall of poison oak, and connects with some other slices of heaven, so yes, I admit it, I have preferences. I am NOT throwing shade on Tum Suden, or Glen Loch, not at all, those are both excellent, excellent avenues, as are so many others, but I feel the need to create a bit of a highlight reel tonight.
What I know for sure, is that when I put on my boots, and head for the hills, I am at peace. And there are days when I want to rest, and I do, and when the boots go back on, I am ready to see, and hear, and smell all the beauty in my backyard adventure.
Almost 30 years have passed, we moved away, we came back, our kids are grown, and now, I am me, not we, and through this quiet time, this opportunity/mandate to stay home, I am filled with gratitude that this is where we/I have made our home.
Today, August and I got an early start, and reversed our usual course, we went up, over,down, up, over and home! He is getting a bit better behaved on our walks, and has worked out a way to tell me when he needs a water break, he smiles ( I swear it is true) and nudges my pack where I keep our bottles. Now he drools out much more water than he takes in, and still doesn't love it when I sprinkle him with any leftover water, but we have our routines, and keeping him hydrated and cool is the least i can do for this boy.
We did not see our resident coyote, and the usual deer family that are the other typical occupants of the Eastview meadow were also missing. I have no idea what , if anything, that signifies, so we did what we. do, and kept walking.
There must be streets we have missed, and I have been playing favorites with certain routes, but if you were to walk along West Maple Way, you would understand why I can't pass that up. It has views, and wildness, and cultivated gardens, and a wall of poison oak, and connects with some other slices of heaven, so yes, I admit it, I have preferences. I am NOT throwing shade on Tum Suden, or Glen Loch, not at all, those are both excellent, excellent avenues, as are so many others, but I feel the need to create a bit of a highlight reel tonight.
What I know for sure, is that when I put on my boots, and head for the hills, I am at peace. And there are days when I want to rest, and I do, and when the boots go back on, I am ready to see, and hear, and smell all the beauty in my backyard adventure.
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