i fell hard for northern california while i was a grad student at stanford. i have always felt that i belonged to that part of the world in some way. i have sjogren’s syndrome, which means i have dry skin and dry eyes, and that makes our brittle minnesota winters particularly hard on my system. it didn’t make things any easier to spend the last week driving from san francisco to big sur in humid pacific sea air and 60-70 degree temperatures. the beautiful purple sand above comes from pfeiffer beach where manganese garnet washes down from the cliffs onto the beach, and big northern california waves crash through rocks and boulders, then roar onto shore, while pelicans glide inches above the waves just beyond the surf line. this minnesota girl was falling. falling hard.
purple sand (from manganese garnet) at pfeiffer beach
pfeiffer beach, big sur, california
we just got back from a trip to california to look at colleges for our daughter eva. this involved the laborious duty of driving a convertible ford mustang down highway 1 from san francisco through big sur to los angeles. the air occasionally smelled like the pacific ocean. occasionally like mediterranean herbs. and quite often like eucalyptus. the mother lode pictured above was discovered on a crowded trail, where our family stopped traffic repeatedly to pick up pocketfuls of my favorite seed pod in the world. i wish you could smell my kitchen right now. it smells like california.
eucalyptus leaves and seeds
big sur, california
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My hometown, LA. I do miss the eucalyptus.
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this was found somewhere near our house by our 80 year old neighbor, who has been concerned about my running out of still blog material now that winter is behind us, but spring has not yet poked its head up over the horizon. he held it out to me with a slightly trembling hand, certain, as he had every right to be, that he was conveying a treasure.
driftwood
gift from my neighbor bruce
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Bruce, a man with a good eye and a warm heart
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I was wowed to see my initials made of sand. Please laugh. We made the journey along the coast on our way back from a driving trip to Sooke, BC a few years ago. There is nothing like N. California. Thanks for this vicarious trip
I understand about and empathize with your sjogrens and also hope you are able to have occasional relief from what the ‘market’ has to offer for your symptoms. Be well.
Hi Linda, not many people know about Sjogren’s, I’m surprised you know about it. I sure hope it’s not because you or someone you love have something in the same Lupus family.