Triskel Life

In the spirit of appreciating the year that was 2007, here’s what moments I’ll remember.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Spending a week with my friend since Junior High, Rianna, was a treat. We shopped, we talked, we got hangovers, we had a great time. Oh, and she also got married. I was touched to be her Matron of Honor.

Wandering the West

Breaking in our new-to-us truck and 4 Wheel Popup camper on a two week trek around the West is an adventure we won’t soon forget. The desolate North Rim of the Grand Canyon, ancient cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde and (our favorite) hiking in Zion National Park. In fact, we were so enchanted with Zion, that we’re making plans to go back in 2008.

The 2007 Santa Cruz Film Festival

It took a lot of time and work, but the 2007 Film Festival had sold out audiences and Messrs. David Arquette and Pee Wee Herman in attendance. As a member of the Board of Directors, I couldn’t have asked for more. Be sure to put this on your calendar for next year, May 9-17, 2008.

Home Renovations

Hubby and I have a never ending to-do list when it comes to our house. This year we replaced our living room floor and completed renovating the downstairs bedroom into our new home office (post coming soon). We’re thrilled with the results. Next on the list, upstairs floor? Grout in the upstairs bathroom? New stair railings? Stay tuned.

Biking

The biking, ah the biking. My friend. My fun. Aside from my daily commute and new blog I had a couple of memorable rides in 2007: riding in the dark (no lights) at 10 pm in Death Valley, riding up the HWY 1 Coast by myself, and riding up to Waddell Creek for Nikkie’s birthday. Here’s to even more biking in ‘08!

It’s fun to stop and appreciate the good times we enjoy, instead of getting stuck on the bad or the sad. What was most memorable for you in 2007?

The Santa Cruz Film Festival VI: STAY TUNED, dropped the proverbial velvet curtain last night after 10 days and nights of independent spirit.

The Festival has been my life outside of work the past six months and its conclusion is both sad and a relief. Despite giving up my nights for months on end, the payoff was reward enough: full houses, our highest tickets sales ever, amazing films, pleased audiences, and equally inspiring team members.

Sometimes it’s hard to explain to people why I volunteer for organizations such as the Fest. “You already work full time” they say, “Why do you give your only free time away?” While that’s a rational observation, I’ve always volunteered, starting at the age of 13. Volunteering, signing up, and standing up for what you want to see changed in your own community makes every day meaningful. There is nothing that makes you feel more alive than doing something outside of yourself with no expectation of return.

Volunteering has always led me to the best people and opportunities in my life, even when the tasks weren’t that fun or easy. It’s the perfect way to network, make friends, learn new skills, and have fun. When else would I get to meet David Arquette or a horse who walked 20k miles (pictured) all in the same week? The question I ask in return is why wouldn’t you want to volunteer?

But with my volunteer time now spent, it is time to shine the spotlight inward for a bit: hubby and the “kids”, home, soon-to-arrive vacation and catching up with family. That’s something I’m ready to volunteer for!

A feast for the belly, the eyes and the spirit was the order for my holiday weekend.

Thanksgiving was darn near perfect. I woke up late doing my final house tidying in my PJs and made the final “turkey arrangements” with Dad. We spent the rest of the day slowly filling the house with amazing aromas as the the bacon-covered turkey turned gold and my dad stirred his “world famous” (or at least soon to be) artichoke green chile soup.

Friends and family began to arrive at 3pm and the rest of the evening was rich with laughter, wine (leading to more laughter) and glorious quantities of food. If you think you had a lot to eat on thanksgiving imagine this: 5 pies, 10 people (we could each eat half!). They were: pumpkin, coconut cream, apple pear, pear cranberry, and pecan. It turns out we have some very talented bakers in our sphere! The evening ended with all of the dishes washed (they wouldn’t even let me help) and the senses full.

The feast for our bellies was just the kick-off to our anniversary weekend (has it been 5 years already?!) in Fort Bragg and Mendocino. We ate up the beautiful expanses of ocean and cliffs, imagining what life in a town with a population of 800 must be like (Mendo has more, but we traveled through many smaller coastal towns). To us, that life is a part of the fantasy. It’s where Puffin Ranch could be. Where life would include a craft and homegrown sustenance, and handmade goat cheese would reign superior to blocks of Costco cheddar. But alas that fantasy has a Santa Cruz-sized price tag. So we strolled, we window shopped, and enjoyed slow time together (like slow food–the best).

With our senses full we came home (through a deluge of cleansing rain) and began the first week of year six. What dreams, friends and foods will enrich our next half-decade? I can’t wait to find out.

P.S. Apparently my finger is on the pulse. Sunset Magazine’s December issue included an article on visiting Mendocino. This was their photo (below), taken from nearly the same vantage point as mine (above).

I’ve been reading about Buddhism in the Western world and have been particularly intrigued by the concept of presence. Naturally we’ve all been told to be present, but usually we only think of presence in the physical sense, forgetting to bring our minds with us.

I’ve been a victim of this lately. While physically present my mind is either racing ahead, contemplating my to-do list, or lagging behind reassessing some previous event. My personal challenge is to truly be in the moment, breathe it, appreciate it, and just be alive!

While I’ve been mostly failing, I did have the opportunity to forget about life and work two weekends ago on a camping trip in Big Sur. Mike, Nikkie, Linus, Bella and I hiked some and mostly enjoyed the fine art of camp cooking. Bella turned out to be a fabulous hiker, making it over 1.5 hours on her own four paws (Nikkie carried her back most of the way).

Finding that presence is easy when withdrawn from my day-to-day life, but my challenge is to find it in the body of every day and experience. Let the journey continue.

Labor day is for everything but labor. But it’s not just for relaxing either. A special day off work is for stepping outside of your regular routine, seeing the bigger picture and catching up on the good things in life.So that’s what we set out to do on our three days. The first day we drove to Pleasanton for the annual Highland Games. Despite frustratingly hot weather and a fruitless search for some of hubby’s piping gear, I took a happy trip down memory lane after sipping some Irn Bru. Irn Bru is a staple soda of the Scottish world (probably elsewhere in Europe too). This orange colored and flavored soda was one of our common libations absorbed with “Nice ‘n Tasty” eggsalad boxed sandwiches during our Scotland travels in June of 1998. Okay, I realize that might sound kind of gross, but we would pick up our nourishment on the food trolley that strolled down the aisle of the trains where we would eat over game after game of cribbage. We now realize how truly formative this trip was in our relationship and later our marriage. We discovered we traveled together very well and never got sick of each others company, even after four solid weeks. Pretty cool huh?On Saturday we headed to Santa Barbara to visit my best friend Rianna who was in California for a brief three days, far from her home in Boston.

Seeing her was a sort of coming home. As one of my oldest friends (in years, not age of course) she is like a sister to whom I need to explain nothing. We kicked back on the Santa Barbara coast, drinking pints at Dargan’s pub and enjoying the sunshine. After sending her off at the airport, we slowly made our way home visiting the funny Danish town Solvang and lunching in San Louis Obisbo. Our stop in SLO opened my eyes to another place we could consider building our Puffin Ranch. With realty prices a few hundred thousand dollars less than their SCruz peers. Perhaps my Puffin Ranch dreams are not too ambitious. Friends, relaxation, and the potential of making a dream reality? That’s a labor day to enjoy.