Over the hills and dales of Los Angeles I’ve been, strolling through winter into spring. I have 6 or 7 routes I take along the tree-canopied arroyo. Plenty of places like this exist in the city, but LA is not a place that rewards casual visitors. One day in the not too distant future, I’ll head north for the coast and leave the urban sprawl behind. By then, I will have spent most of my adult life in the city of angels. I’ll cash out and move to my trailer park by the sea. Spend my golden years watching shore birds, collecting shells, and breathing in salty air. That day draws close, but it’s not here yet. In the meantime I am being here now. On my walks, and porch, and patio.
When I move, I will return to LA to visit a few times a year. Find a little place near Moss Cottage to spend a few days and revisit these walks and gardens that I love so very much.
I’ve been heading north a lot to Santa Barbara on school holidays and unassigned days. Found this little place recently (below) and love the location.
If you want to spend your little-old-ladyhood in a woman’s art camp by the sea, stay tuned. Once I’m happily ensconced in my new digs, I plan to actively recruit more commune members to join me.
Sharron, Syd, and Mary came on different days during my April visit and we had lovely times together. I’m excited to be returning before month’s end for another long weekend of art companionship.
In the early morning after my beach walks, I ramble through the hills in my jalopy with the windows rolled down.
Sometimes I feel anxious about a possible move. Will I find my people? Will there be enough trees and birds around my new home? Will I have enough outdoor spaces? I let Pema Chödrön, my guru, point me in the right direction when it comes to mind training. She has given me so much in these last few years with her books & talks. I’m going to take the leap into the unknown, leave my darling Moss Cottage behind, and trust that I will find kindred spirits, big trees, spacious porches, and all the right stuff.
Somehow.
Will these streets become my forever home? Time will tell.
For now I am here in front of this window. Our gorgeous early summer has blossomed. It’s everything, everywhere, all at once. Or something like that! The trees are shaggy, the shrubs have doubled in size, and the geraniums are exploding.
Tomorrow may never arrive, but the inhabitants of this little cottage & parcel of land are content to be here now breathing in the scent of May.
It’s so good to be here in these indoor and outdoor rooms with my books and cats, and coffee and the occasional visitor.
The orioles have returned. The season of outdoor living has fully arrived.
I was having some sleepless nights thinking about the seasonal brush clearance by the fire department. If you live in a fire zone (which I do being close to a canyon and open hillsides) you have to keep your trees pruned and shrubs tidy or face fines. Mine are wildly overgrown, but help is arriving in the form of an urban lumberjack on Monday.
Here’s some of what’s been happening in the sketchbook. I’ve been on a blind contour kick. I can’t keep track of my photos in the cloud so everything I’ve been up to isn’t here, but you get the idea.
I dream of developing a more robust art practice when I retire. Working life leaves me with so little time for diving deep and following leads and hunches. But I do what I can and it has to be enough.
For now.
Next time I post, summer will have arrived in the form of a long vacation from working life. It’s thrilling to have this to look forward to each year. I have no trips planned abroad and haven’t for some time. I’ll just be in the state of California somewhere, or here at home having my annual paring down sessions. Each year I go through my house and garage and send more and more of my belongings to new people and new homes. In a city this size there is always someone who will want what you don’t.
Keep me posted on your ramblings and retirements. See you for another postcard in June.
