Crazy Weather in Santa Cruz
The weather in Santa Cruz has been crazy lately. For the past two days the sun has been bright in the sky by 6:30 a.m. and the temperatures have been in the 90s . . . for this beach community, that is very hot.
Then, just when I plan my day with the crippling afternoon heat in mind, I take my daily morning walk super early, expecting the sun to appear, and am absolutely freezing by the time I get to my favorite coffee shop.
The fog accompanied me all the way home, and now I’m bundled in a crocheted afghan drinking Red Bush tea.
The rest of my life is like that, too. I plan my writing and teaching around my granddaughter’s schedule. In the summer that changes every two weeks or so. This Friday several presentations of Little Mermaid Junior will bring an end to Theater Camp, which met 1:00 – 5:00, giving us long mornings to build, paint, cook, sew; next week she’ll be in Meme camp, whatever that is, in the morning, then coming to my house in the afternoons. Just about the time we get that schedule down, she’ll start Farm Camp up at the UCSC Life Lab, which has its own unique schedule. When we first discovered Life Lab I wrote it here. After farm camp, it’ll be Ramblin’ Adventures, then Outdoor Art. Each camp starts and ends at a different time, and is located in a different part of town. This is what summer vacation looks like for most American children today.
Flexibility is an important characteristic in everything we do, and I’m especially reminded of that today. I’ve committed to finishing what I call my Land Memoir – an account of the years my family and I spent homesteading on the back side of the Santa Cruz Mountains – by August, which means I have been using up all my creativity on that and not leaving enough to write in these pages. So as a reward for those of you who still read what I write, even when it shows up on no particular schedule, or in the middle of the week, I’ve posted two scenes from that memoir in a new section of my web page called Work in Progress. You should see the link in the menu bar at the top of the page. I’d love to know what you think.
Please post any comments or suggestions on those two pieces in the comment section below. Feel free to post any other comments there too.
Next week I’ll be talking about teaching children to tell time.
If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please do so on my web page. See you soon!
Marlene
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Hi Marlene, I just read both of your chapters from your book about homesteading west of Morgan Hill (I hope I got that right). Very interesting and entertaining. The conversation at the first about the goat/horse drew me into it right away. Great writing! I could feel your frustration at the horses bothering your garden. I am now looking forward to learning more about your life out there. The other people are also being introduced into your story in logical and interesting ways. Was your address Morgan Hill? What is in that area now? Did the Quonset hut belong to the Bernal family?
Another mystery in my life has been solved today. I couldn’t remember why I checked out the Elephant Dancing book so now I know. I haven’t read it yet but I will get to it. I remembered why I checked out Possum Magic and thoroughly enjoyed it. And learned a few things about Australian food. Very cute!
I hope you have had success in finishing your book by the end of July. Or was it August? Anyway, I am very impressed with the 2 chapters and I will happily get in line to purchase an autographed copy. Have you read Jean (Skeels Wright) Pinard’s new book? She wrote it for her family (about growing up in Morgan Hill). When the Historical Society saw it, they thought it should be republished and have done so.
Linda,
What a treasure trove of a post! You just made my day. I love your specific comments about the two stories I posted, especially that you felt that the introduction of new characters felt logical and interesting. I have given myself until the end of August to finish the book which will go through the year I spent writing the Book of Whole Grains, then opening and operating the Morgan Hill Trading Post, writing the column for the San Jose Mercury, and ending up with going on the road with my kids to lecture and sell Organic Cooking for (not-so-organic) Mothers. I am so pleased to have you as a regular reader, and I am going to look for Jean Pinard’s book. I can’t find my old copy of The Hills West of El Toro, so may have to visit the MH library to refer to a copy.