1.24.2014

local rumor has it, one of these eucalyptus trees holds the world record for the very biggest, much to clint eastwood's dismay.

1.12.2014

spring blossoms 
are blooming.

1.11.2014

12.27.2013

11.8.2013

it's finally starting to feel like sweater season.

10.6.2013

dear t, i didn't take any pictures at your party because we were so busy cooking : smoked oyster stuffed mushrooms; vegan squash gratin with walla walla onions; mashed potatoes with roasted celeriac and wild mushrooms; nutmeg swiss chard and fennel gratin; apple, celery, grape, and pecan salad; roasted apples and parsnips with truffle salt; mashed sweet potatoes with candied pecans; roasted peppers; multiple pumpkin and pecan pies; and a smoked and maple glazed ham fit for a king, raised by you. all produce save the potatoes, button mushrooms, and nuts was provided by friends' gardens. life is so good. you are so loved.
happy 30th darling.

9.23.2013

9.1.2013

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. … 

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. …

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all."

― Hermann Hesse, Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte

7.18.2013