A mixture of good stuff

 We always enjoy a day working at Kelly's. Its beginning to feel like spring in her orchard...so general clean up is enjoyed by Bixby, myself and the chickens.

The daffodils in their splendor

Gifts from the chickens

A fence to repair

Suckers to remove

And time for some fun 

Tools of the day..

The trees are happy

and ready to begin their fruiting cycle.

Back in Cambria

The native Ribes and sage are showy.

Something else that I really enjoy is

time spent with my nature explore

families...

N'nady, Lily and Eden  working together 

to lift the tire.

N'nady begins to dig under it.

"Lets use the stick" says Lily

They could have continued longer

but at some point we wanted to explore

further.... the lagoon

Eden was interested 

in finding life in the water

While Lily likes to mix sand and water.

The sandy water washed our hands.

The mud was soft and turned our hand black.

There is always time to reflect

 and share conversation.

I am so grateful to have these children 

and there wise moms in my life.

I do wonder how we will reflect

on these masked times in the future.

49th wedding anniversary!!!

                                                     February 26th 1972... 49 years ago...this...

And today....49 years later

 Lunch at Ragged Point

and a visit to one of our

favorite beaches.

The elephant seals have taken over

at this time of year....

just laying around after birthing and mating....

 But....we are not just laying around !!!

We are healthy, active and

 still enjoying adventures together.

Feeling very blessed 

even in these restrictive times.

Elephant seals take over Cambria and San Simeon.

 

A few miles north of San Simeon on Hwy 1 is a viewing area over a beach where every year hundreds of Elephant seals come ashore to give birth and mate. This year it seems like there are fewer....but this week I went to one of my favorite beaches just north of Hearst Castle and there they were...big males with their female harems and births and mating taking place. They are also showing up on other beaches in Cambria, but not settling as they are here. We have visited this beach before and we like to slide down the sand dunes. This time the rides were short as we could not go onto the beach. I went with Eden and her mom Michelle. I am so lucky to be able to spend time and enjoy this family. I love looking at the world through the eyes of a child.

 Eden built a see saw

 out of a piece of driftwood.

She had to leave the log on the beach

so she hugged it goodbye.

An elephant seal family

dad, mom and baby.

They seem calm in a photo 

 but they are quite

noisy and active.

Always something interesting worth a closer look

That row of sea gulls announce 

that a birth has just taken place.

They clean the beach 

around the mom and baby

End of a lovely afternoon.

A tribute to my friend and the director of

the school where I taught for 20 years...Judy Hightower.

She passed away very suddenly a couple of weeks ago.

Here we are playing music together

 at a World Forum Outdoor Classroom conference

at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska.

She gave me the tools and freedom

to explore my passion in developing

 the OC program at our school. She will be missed.

She made every teacher, parent and child feel special.

A very special lady...