Ya Gotta Have Heart

Four climate zones in one day is invigorating! Going to cool Muir Woods, on the second day of September, from Oakland Hills where it was about 85 degrees starting out at noon, was an exercise in “let’s make the best of a disappointing situation.” Turns out that even mid-week, Muir Woods National Park is a huge draw for tourists and local hikers. No place to park. My L.A. pal and I followed the double-yellow-brick-road-line out of the park area and toward Green Gulch Zendo Retreat Center, about a seven minute drive down the winding road.

What a beautiful acreage they sit on! Organic gardens with row after row of flowers, espaliered apple trees and broccoli, collards and kale, oh my, invited us to kick off our shoes and steep in the tranquility.

My old flip-cell-phone would not have allowed the documentation of the courting ritual you might notice posted here, but the new phone, that’s smarter than I am, does!

Ya gotta have heart, so enjoy the slide show of what Andrea and I saw first Wednesday in September.



By the time we got to the beach it was FREEZING for these So Cal gals! Fog obliterated the sun except for the narrowly focused brilliant arc-light tracings across the dun colored hills. Pelicans filled their bellies - diving into the spraying sea. Two nubile nine year olds body surfed in the waves. I ventured over to some tide pools at the edge of the cliffs to see what I could see before the sea's high tide could seize me!