I had a great birthday and mother's day weekend. I got to drive in beautiful places, which I like, and see and hear from people I love. I felt very loved and acknowledged this year. For that I am grateful. Birthday’s are always a chance for me to reflect, assessing my life’s intentions and goals. Are my values and my life’s actions lined up? Am I doing what I intend? How do I want my life to be now? I’m entering into my sixth decade, which has with it the knowledge that I don’t have unlimited amounts of time left. I’m more reminded than ever that time and the people in my life are precious, and what I value. This year I gave myself the gift of being with family and friends, giving and receiving love from my children, funding my art, and showing my photography in two public places, and always the gift of being married to Sam. I am thankful.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Following Changes
Sunday, we drove to Cohasset, California, 15 miles northeast of Chico on top of a forested ridge with canyons on both the east and west sides. Originally used by the Maidu Indians in the summer, it also had occasional visits by the Yana, Yahi, and Wintun Indians until the 1800’s when the European invasion of trappers, gold seekers, and lumbermen blew through with the typical results. Prize winning apple orchards made a brief claim to fame in the early 1900’s but as the soil and water was depleted, farming and people moved on. Today, 750 people reside in a slowly declining community. The store, gas station, fire station, and school all have been closed, and the only remaining business is an antique store, the site of this gas pump. The owners' granddaughter said she thought the gas station was active when her grandmother bought it in 1966, and long before it was built. a stage coach station, but she wasn’t sure. It’s California, always changing, never still, always changing.
