Scenes from a recent walk in Mt. Washington – a hillside neighborhood a few miles west of where I live. Home to hillside perches, tree-line streets, sweeping vistas, hidden canyons, and an iconic sense of LA-ness.
The Victorian Box trees are blooming here as they are across the city, filling the air with the fragrance of orange blossom and jasmine. Divine. I break off small branchlets and carry them home to jars of water so that I can breathe in the scent.
Every year since 1989 I have welcomed the blooming of the Victorian Boxes as some would appreciate the start of the Dodger’s opening season. I’m like a bloodhound out on my porch at night. Nose in the air, sniff sniff sniff. Until at last, the night arrives when the scent wafts up to me on a breeze. Usually it happens in late winter or early spring. The olfactory bliss this inspires can’t be overstated.
And in other news, I stumbled across a Thich Nhat Hanh video on Youtube.
“Home is an island. A place. You must row back to the island of SELF”
He may not have said,”row,” but that is how I heard it and it reminded me of all the row boat metaphors I’ve used in my writing and thinking over many years.
When I walk, I am in my rowboat on a kind of sea. Sailing homeward. Sometimes drifting, sometimes actively rowing. Moving through the world, feeling alive and awake. Released from the contents of my too-full head. Unless as it happens I carry them with me. That happens sometimes, but oh what peace when I can leave them behind!
That too is a daily practice. Trying to stay HERE in the moment. Nature is my guidepost. I get lost a lot and the connection unravels. It’s the work of a lifetime I guess.
Spring is especially bright and lovely this year.
I’ve had both doses of the vaccine. 
New paths beckon.
There is so much
to see.
In between ZOOM school breaks I go outside and work in my garden.
I present here a postcard from that place.
My sanctuary.
I completed my last virtual walking adventure and have set out on another. Now I am trodding along the path of St. Francis from Florence to Rome. Everytime I go on a walk, I count those miles logged during exercise with my Apple Watch.
I’m referring to The Conqueror Challenges. You log your miles in the app and can see your location each day move along the route. My first challenge was The Camino de Santiago (480 miles) which took me from last May until late February of this year. They send you postcards along the way and a gorgeous big medal when you finish.
I’ll be spending a week at the coast soon. Enjoying the company of my vaccinated sister. My art practice has fallen by the wayside the last couple of weeks, but there is nothing like an art retreat to reboot the entire system. Looking so forward to that.
Let me know how you’re faring on your own journey of being here now. See you soon.
Thank you for the walk through Mt Washington. My very best friend lived there and your description of it as having that sense of “iconic LA-ness” is perfect. Unfortunately, she passed away a bit more than 10 years ago, so we never got to sit on her deck and knit and weave as old ladies as we planned, only young and middle-aged ones. lol But it holds a special place in my heart and I’m grateful to have some glimpses of it. Plus, always good to go on a walk with you.
Thanks for sharing your walk! Do you know what those purple puffball flowers are? I don’t think we have them here. Actually, I don’t think we have ANY of the flowers you have there, here. ha ha Different coast!
I get my 2nd Moderna vaccine on 4/14. I feel kind of “neither here nor there” about it.
Enjoy your break!
Hi Sandra,
The purple flowers belong to one of the many varieties of California Lilac (Ceanothus)
What a wonderful journey you take in connecting to your self: mentally, physically and digitally via the Conqueror app. Thanks for taking us along and congratulations on completing your vaccines!
Love this post, so very much. Timely and spot on. I think we are all in need of a bit of rowing back to home, to SELF. It’s definitely a daily practice. Thank you for the inspiration. (ps: your garden is wonderful)
hello Nancy!
It helps me quite a lot to think of things in terms of daily PRACTICE versus an arrival.
Your pots of succulents are wonderful. I have tried twice with the string of pearls and they die off, I will enjoy them through you.
That rather small string of pearls took 2 years to get established. When I redid the pot I cut out that piece of soil with roots attached and replanted for fear of ruining them. They do seem unlike other “strings” that i’ve found to be much easier to grow!
Just what I needed to reassure my winter weary soul that, Yes! Spring is coming. It just seems a little lost at the moment. A bit unraveled if I might borrow a phrase. A couple of feet of snow one day, and sunshine and warmth the next. I wonder what intoxicating scent the Victorian Boxes must smell like. And am reminded of the Catalpa trees when they begin to bloom here. How a wander through the neighborhood also has me enjoying the fragrant air and carrying home the fallen blossoms with the memory of the scent lingering for a long time. What gifts nature shares. Congrats on the vaccine, keep rowing!
Abundant Bright Loveliness. You know, I think, that I don’t walk – I move on wheels, + I dream gratefully into the Divinely Beauty-Full glimpses you share, with enthusiasm + Relish! SniffSniffSniff : )
I made/refreshed some choices earlier, around being my own best friend – rowing, + steering the boat. Synchro-Nicety to see your post-name.
Outer news – still overly chilly out there, overhere, though brightening. Your Spring looks like High Summer here, and our Spring still feels like our Winter.
Stitching + unpicking/curating cloth continues, + Spring reshuffling in the playroom. + tackling (or aiming to tackle) further wordpress learnings, for the blog. On We Go! + I’ll soon be sniffing the Sea vicariously with you. x x x
Oh Mary Ann – I’m walking with you – as always! Maybe not the Camino de Santiago – but certainly in your neighborhood and definitely in your divine back yard – what peace – what beauty – your HOME. AT1
Oh, how I would love to be on an art retreat. I used to do scrapbook retreats with friends but have never really been on an art retreat. I am quickly (before the end of the month) trying to rewatch demos from Watercolor Live which was an online conference in January.So far I have painted along with 8 instructors including Joseph Zbukvic, John Saliminen, Thomas Schaller and Brenda Swenson.
Your watercolor escapades sound very nice indeed, Kate. I feel fortunate to have a few people who enjoy retreating away to a lovely spot with me and drawing/painting/arting for an extended period of time.