Redwoods and Bay Laurels

26 November 2001

Yesterday was muuuuuch better. We actually planned things and then did them as planned. Amazing. And I thought I'd discovered a genuinely valid reason why people sit at the back of churches: in some churches, the speakers blast your ears out if you sit at the front. When I mentioned this to Timprov, he said that's not always a good bet, because he'd been to churches where they put the speakers in the back. Nonetheless, that's one of the things that bothered us about the church we went to yesterday morning. Also, putting a pseudo-80s beat to "Now Thank We All Our God" is not a particularly stellar idea. In case any of you were wondering.

So Mark and Sarah and I headed off to Marin. Drove through the hills listening to the Indigo Girls. Usually when I sing with the Indigo Girls, I'm a switch-hitter and take whatever part interests me. But Sarah goes high, so I went low, and all was well. Muir Woods was crowded, but not so much that it was noisy, or so that we couldn't enjoy ourselves.

Sarah was impressed with the redwoods. As were we all. The scale is almost impossible to convey.

But of course we try, by putting a couple of people inside the trunk. Mark and Sarah, in this case, of course.

On this one, we liked the spikiness of the branches, and the way the bark twists all the way up the trunk.

Sometimes the fallen ones are almost as impressive as the ones that still stand. This was in Cathedral Grove, where the U.N. met after signing their Human Rights charter.

Last time Mark and Timprov and I went to Muir Woods, we discovered the bay laurel. It's a fascinating tree. It'll grow up as high as it can manage under current conditions, and then fall over. But the roots stay in the ground, and then new trunk-branches come out of the fallen trunk, growing straight up until they can't manage, and then falling. It's our favorite.

Mark likes standing under the big one that arches over the pathway. He's hard to see clearly here.

Here I am in native dress, with a bay laurel. I really was there. It isn't a digital composite. It just looks that way because, well, I glow.

I really hope your computer is showing you the colors on the above laurel.

Sometimes strange things just show themselves. And there we are to see them.

We drove over to Muir Beach after that.

Sarah had never been to the Pacific Ocean before.

It wasn't as cold as we expected -- I wouldn't have needed the hat, and I might have gotten by with my checked wool jacket. But we'd had a very chilly afternoon at Stinson Beach a year ago April, and Point Reyes last Thanksgiving was certainly no better. Anyway, we climbed up the southern hill, hanging on to the chapparal part of the way, and looked down at the sea and the beach and the dogs. There were very many fine dogs, and it was warm enough for them to bodysurf with great doggish glee.

One of the reasons I love dogs is that being around them helps me get into a dog mindset: "Oh boy oh boy oh boy! We're at the beach! Isn't that great? Isn't that the niftiest thing you've ever seen? There's a rock! There's some chapparal! And now we get to climb a big hill? Oh boy!" Dogs enjoy practically everything. It's good to enjoy everything, some days.

I also enjoy Zachary's spinach and mushroom pizza, which we picked up half-baked and ate for dinner with Timprov. Yum. We watched "Bull Durham" and hung out. Today we're trying to decide whether to go up Mount Diablo. Our alternative was heading to the Tech Museum down in San Jose, but it's closed on Mondays, so we shall see.

In writing news, not much; I got a request for rewrites on "Dark Thread" from a semipro we all like, so that's a good thing. I think I understand how to rewrite it, so that's good. Now we'll just see if my understanding and the editor's understanding are the same, hmm? Other than that, I'm working on an article that's due Friday. Came up with some more edits for Reprogramming, so I'll have to add at least one scene to do those, possibly more. I've done some work this weekend, but not a lot, with company and such. But we drop Sarah at her hotel this late afternoon/early evening, so I'll probably head straight to work tonight. Take care of yourselves.

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