Santa Cruz

"Keep Santa Cruz Weird" is a famous car bumper sticker that you see around town. Not all of Santa Cruz is weird, of course, but there is definitely a sense of the 60's here that doesn't exist elsewhere.


Having lived in Harvard Square for many years prior to coming here, this was no culture shock to us. As the years go by, however, I continue to discover that there is 'more' to this place than Harvard Square ever had to offer. And I am sure that I am just scratching the surface of both places. For instance, this 'Penny Artist' gladly let me photograph her art. "That's what it's for," she said, as she moved away for me to get a better view. I guess the biggest difference that I see between East and West coasts, no matter how hippie one gets, is that here on the West coast, the wall between human beings is much thinner, much lower, much more accessible. There is a door through the wall, let me just say it that way. On the East coast, hippies are darker, deeper, more intense. It's hard to get through to them. But when you do, they become your friend, a true kind of friend ( I can say this because I had some hippie friends in high school).


See what I mean? That's what you see sometimes when you walk through that door in the wall, here in our weird city.

Santa Cruz Weekend

We literally went from the mountains to the sea within a few hours this morning. That is the beauty of living in Santa Cruz. But it also meant going from peace to chaos, mindful to mindless. It was a complete Santa Cruz experience.


We first did a good deed and visited Land of Medicine Buddha. This Tibetan monastary is hidden in the redwood forest above the little town of Soquel, just a few miles from where we live. The darkness and coolness of the evergreens opened up to a sunny terrace where several buildings housed meditation halls, living spaces, a bookstore and even a swimming pool. It's a well known place for the Buddhist minded people. Even the Dalai Lama had spent some time here.


The children enjoyed spinning the prayer wheels, sounding the gongs, and saying hello to all sorts of buddha statues. A small hill led us to the biggest pagoda with a large buddha inside. It is a very peaceful spot, hidden from all the hubbub of the rest of the world.


Especially from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk! In just a few minutes, we descended from the most peaceful and picturesque locale, to the noisiest, gaudiest place in the Bay area. None of us had visited the amusement park before, however, so we thought, why not?


We found some rides for small children that put smiles on their faces as well as ours. We also found some very unhealthy foods which also put smiles on our faces: ice cream, cotton candy, french fries, corn dogs. You name it, we had it!


The good thing about this whole morning was that it distracted me from feeling the flu that attacked me a few days back. Now that I am thinking about it, I think I should go lay down and take a nap before the little monkeys wake up from theirs!

Photo Blog

I have created a new blog devoted to my photographs only. I find that some photos do not need any stories or explanations. They should be viewed solo, like a painting or photo in a gallery.

So, if you would like, you can go to this photo blog, or click on 'my photography' under the favorite link column and view the photos leisurely. I plan to post at least one a day.

Real Moms...

I was tagged by my friend Emily to expose a little bit of life as a Mom to little people. I don't know if I am doing this right, but here goes...

Real Moms...acquire a new sense of fashion, or lack thereof. For instance, recently I wore something white, and everyone commented on how I NEVER wear white. Guess why? Another example is this morning, I noticed in the mirror after having worn the same thing the last three days, that my sweater has a huge blob of dried up something on it. I don't even want to know what it is (I am still wearing it as I write), and honestly, I don't really care.

Real Moms...eat anything that the kids don't eat, but are supposed to. This is happening less now that the kids are getting older, but still, it happens. For instance, tonight, my dinner was the fried rice that I made earlier in the day that the kids decided they didn't want to eat. They just wanted plain rice instead. Normally, I don't let them boss me around, but today I figured I would enjoy eating the fried rice, so I let them be the boss. And should I even get into veggie booties?

Real Moms (and Dads)...dread the day that their kids stop napping. So far, so good for us. But that day will come, and I will be waking up at 5am so that I get some quiet time with myself.

But truthfully, Real Moms...love their children, and would not want to change anything for the world.

Heaven

Obviously, I can't get enough of these flowering trees right now. It doesn't seem to matter that the closer I get to them, the worse my hay fever. Once my father told me a story about his friend who is deathly allergic to the Durian fruit (very stinky, but amazing delicious tropical fruit). But he loved it so much that he planned his hospitalization after feasting on the fruit until he could no longer breathe. I am not quite so bad, but I am beginning to understand the man behind the story.


In just a few days, these blossoms will be gone, and the leaves will emerge in their place. I hope you can enjoy a slice of heaven with me while it lasts! (The deep pink flowers are crab apple blossoms. The rest are still the cherry blossoms that keep blooming in front of our house and around the neighborhood).

Pizza Night

I am not the only cook in the kitchen. Sometimes I am a sous-chef.


Every so often, we do a pizza night at home. Homemade pizza, that is. I usually prepare the pizza dough in the afternoon while the kids are napping. By the time they wake up and ready to perform, the dough is ready.


The kids get to choose what they want to put on their pizza, and they also get to creat it. Most of the time, Claire will put tomato sauce, olives, anchovies and cheese on hers, and Momo usually just likes pesto and parmesan cheese on his. Tonight, we had no pesto, so his pizza was very Zen-like. We liked how he put the olives all in a row, on the edge.




Making pizza is like painting, actually. And I didn't really see it from that perspective until I started making pizza with my children. I find myself guiding them with the same vocabulary I use when I am helping them with their drawing or painting: "stay in the line, guys!", "spread it all out, guys!". After all, food is art, isn't it?

Market Meal

What do you get when you cut up some asparagus, add some eggs and cheese, salt and pepper?


I was inspired by the evening meal when I saw the asparagus sitting so prettily at the market. The asparagus man convinced me to buy the beautiful shoots even more when he said that they were just picked this morning. My next stop was for apples, but as I was getting ready to pay, I saw the free range eggs in front of me.

And voila, as simple as that, I had a meal - at least in my head at that point.


Back at home, after sauteing some portabello mushrooms with onions, I added asparagus and broccoli. Then I scrambled some eggs with milk, and added that to the saute. And to top it off, I sprinkled grated gruyere cheese, salt and pepper to taste. After a few minutes on the stove, I put the whole pan in the 400 degree preheated oven for a few more minutes.

It may not look so pretty here (because my camera can't seem to take good pictures at night), but it really turned out quite delicious. I love it when the market inspires me to make a simple meal like this!

Spring

Spring officially begins tomorrow, I believe. We are lucky to be in a place where it actually feels like Spring. The poor Yankees in New England are still digging out snow and avoiding icicles from falling on their heads. If they are lucky, they may see one or two crocuses trying to make it out from the still frozen ground. That will be us next year! The return to icicles and frozen grounds... What are we thinking?


These cherry blossoms are on the tree in front of our house. The whole street is lined with these cherry trees and when they are in bloom, they add such a sweetness to the neighborhood this time of year. It may sound cliche, but these blossoms truly make me feel like I am walking in heaven sometimes. At least, that is how I imagine heaven to be.


Claire loves flowers just as much, it seems. She enjoys gathering whatever flowers that she is allowed to pick. Then she turns them into pretend-soup, pretend-cake, or a birthday bouquet. She may have trouble finding bouquets next Spring, you think?

Bloom

These two trees stand right next to each other, and appear to be of the same species. Why is one more clustered with blooms and the other more sparse? I think they are both quite beautiful in their own unique ways. They remind me of our children. Momo and Claire share the exact same starting point in life, almost to the minute. Yet each one was given unique genetic codes and specific characters not so different from these trees. So beautiful, yet so individualistic, even when they stand right next to one another. May our children always grow, blossom, and spread their branches like these trees do.

Trikes

Today we bought Momo and Claire their frist tricycles. They had tried other trikes before, at school or at friends' houses. But now they have their own! They both seem very comfortable on the trikes. Momo, naturally, is already trying to find new tricks he can do with his. Both Brown Clouds get a ride in the back bucket as the children pretend to take them to school.


My favorite thing about this new phase is seeing the kids with their bike helmets. Momo tries to find a way out of wearing his, whereas Claire embraces her so very pink one. Oh, the difference between the genders!

Flowers and Lemons

I would die a happy woman if the back of my truck looked like this. But... I don't have a truck. And I am not ready to say goodbye. So, it was just enough to see and smell. No need for more.


My love for spring flowers isn't all peachy. Lately the back of my throat has been very itchy. And I sneeze about 27 times a day. Any clue as to why this is happening to me?


Perhaps I should stick to fruits and veggies. Meyer lemons in particular has the most brilliant color, and a rather sweet taste as far as lemons go. They make amazing lemon bars, lemon tarts, lemon pudding... This just gave me an idea!

Jasmine

Just this small blossom fills the air with sweet aroma. Happy Friday!

Sunday

This is what we found on our car when we returned from playing at a playground in Santa Rosa: a friendly parokeet. He was so friendly that we almost brought him home with us lest he was going to get injured if we didn't. The children, of course, were thrilled about having a little pet bird. "Please, can we bring him home with us?", they begged. Their wish would have been realized if the little guy didn't end up flying away to the other side of the street. Is it good luck to find a parokeet on your windshield, I wonder? I'll bet somewhere in this world, someone believes that such is a sign of prosperity, no?





Prosperity or not, we were blessed with a beautiful day in Santa Rosa. A new town to us just north of Sonoma, we had never explored it before. Luckily, we were told about a park with a train ride, ponies, and playgrounds: the children's haven. So that's where we spent most of our morning before returning to Sonoma to greet our family who had just returned from a two week trip to Australia.



I have been posting so much about Sonoma because we have been spending a lot of time there lately... No, we have not moved there. But maybe someday!

Eye Candy

Like I said, more colors are coming up as spring nears. You can actually eat the fruits in one of these photos: the kumquats. In the same family as other citrus fruits, Kumquats are like miniature oranges. You can either pop them in your mouth whole, or you cook or make jam or tea with them. Personally, I just like to look at them: they are like little jewels in a box. Eye candy that you can indeed eat!

Aquarium

For our (hopefully) last open house day, we went away to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Each time we go, it seems, the children would take interest in different parts of the exhibits. This time they enjoyed the pretend fishing station, the gigantic octopus, and the even bigger fish tank filled with enormous tuna, sharks, sunfish, sea turtles.




Outside the aquarium we found a lovely tea house with a fish pond, and a fountain. The children enjoyed the water and the fish as Jim and I enjoyed the tea and the architecture of the place. It was a little gem we hadn't found before.


We ended up with a good open house. A backup offer! No real celebration, though, until close of escrow in a month.

Loving Cowboy

He's a gentle loving cowboy who will probably never have a duel in his life. Ever. And how he will protect his sister!

Colors

There were some bright colors at the farmer's market yesterday as though someone decided to add life into the already lively atmosphere. I am looking forward to even more colors in the few weeks to come. If I closed my eyes, I could almost start to smell the sweet scents of sweet peas - our wedding flowers!



There were also several kinds of cabbages. I was introduced to a variety new to me: arrowhead cabbage. It looks like a cross between endive and cabbage, and is supposed to be nuttier and sweeter than the regular varieties. I got some and will let you know what I think! They sure are beautiful!