the land: branching out on new adventures.

lately i've been slacking on making adventurous weekend plans. i typically get caught up in the tasks of the week and arrive at friday without a thought on what i will do over the weekend.

this weekend, however, i went through several different options. i first thought i wanted to go to las vegas. after considering that i've been trying to save money and not spend it...i decided against that. then i thought about going to the REI used gear sale, hitting up huntington gardens and going to a housewarming party for a former high trails employee. but, considering i don't need any gear, the gardens cost $20 to get in and the party would probably end up with some unnecessary unwise life decisions.

i ended up going to joshua tree national park with a few friends. one of our coworkers let us borrow her parks pass so we got in for free. on our way we stopped by the farmer's market and a few thrift stores where i picked up some grapefruit and a crazy cat sweater. after scrambling around the park for a few hours, we scrounged together our food to make a delicious meal of quinoa, adzuki beans, tofu and an assortment of veggies. 

so delightful.

here are some highlights:

the land: living in the national forest.

my entries this month are going to focus on the land. now that i've been here for 6 months, it's nice to have some perspective on living in the san bernardino national forest.

i came from living in state forest in the hilltowns of western massachusetts complete with gently rolling hills and scenic new england towns to slightly steeper elevations of the high desert. i still remember driving up from the desert into the forest and seeing the marked change from craggy desert land to the ponderosa pine forests. i've slowly connected to this place, not as quickly as i connected to the forests of western massachuestts. my home in massachusetts had hallockville pond to its favor which provided year-round entertainment with polar plunges and ice skating in the winter and summer swimming. there was also the pond loop which i walked most days there...

but the land in the california definitely has its perks, too. since i'm up in the high desert, there aren't too many different species of trees and plants, so it was easy to learn. i'm starting to notice plants that i don't know now and need to keep reminding myself to bring a field guide out the next time i go on a hike.

it was interesting to experience fall here with out the dramatic color change of leaves. since most of the forest is filled with evergreens (pine, fir, and cedar), only the oak trees changed color (with some willows and alders closer to waterways). now the land is covered with a blanket of snow. most of the snow has yet again melted off and considering that it is already march, it might be safe to say that this is the mildest winter i've experienced in my life.

in other life news, my bread baking adventures have continued. i baked a monster loaf of garlic rosemary bread followed by a more appropriately sized honey wheat loaf. i capped the week off by making maple-cinnamon challah bread based on this delicious recipe. along with my friend karis, i also made some chickpea burgers with homemade buns! so delicious.

i finally got around to cleaning my car out this morning and found a moldy orange, a snow shovel, a tent, lots of directions to random places but the best thing was finding a $20 bill underneath the driver's seat. holler! then i found $2 more wedged between the seat and the center console. that combined with submitting my federal taxes (getting a nice refund!) made today very good financially for me.

that's it for now. more musings (and hopefully pictures if i can get to a high speed internet connection) to come later!

people: welcome to winter.

the past two weeks have been full of weather, knitting and new people. obviously we get new students every week...but i also went to a contra dance weekend in pasadena and met lots of fun, strange and interesting people. contra dancing sure does attract it's fair share of characters. 

one of the younger guys, jesse, has long flowing curly locks and dances to pretty much anything. at one point, the dancers took a break to listen to a concert by one of the bands and jesse was helping wipe down tables from lunch. i looked over at one point to see him dancing while cleaning a table. so great!

the crowd at contra dancing was much older than what i was used to in massachusetts, but still equal in skill. i was twirled around so much that when i got back to camp that sunday i still felt like i was twirling.

life has been pretty swell though. i will officially be doing summer trail work with SCA leading high school trail crews. i get my site placement later this month which makes me really happy. my family has been pretty great. my parents went on a fabulous trip to hawaii for their anniversary, and my niece olivia just turned one on friday! wahoo! oh, and my best friend from college got engaged! congrats : )