The End of the Year in Mendocino

Don’t you love the end of the year? It is a time of ease and reflection for me. I save my vacation so I can take the last couple of weeks off to maximize vacation at home during the holidays. This year we have decided to hole up in our beloved Mendocino, an artsy, coastal community three hours north of Oakland.

We are staying at the Sweetwater Inn in downtown Mendocino, right in the heart of everything just like I like it. But alas, we opened the door and it was not the Apple Cottage with that great fireplace where I had imagined myself reading and writing. Instead, it was the Flower Cottage with a small gas stove tucked away in the corner. Hmmmmm . . . I went and sat outside for a couple of minutes, prayed a little and found my peace with it.

Now I’m actually happy that all we have to do to do is flip a switch to have a pretty fire. No logs, no mess, no constantly stoking the fire, no going home with all of our clothes, socks, hair and entire suitcases smelling of wood smoke.

We’ve eaten well, soaked in the hot tub with the beautiful stained glass window, napped, read, shopped a little and talked a lot. We’ve taken long walks on the bluffs and climbed rocks high above the water.  We’ve even watched whales! (whale spray to be exact). Oh, God can do amazing things with light, rock, trees and water.

Rob bought me two books for Christmas I’m very excited about; Willin’; by Ben Fong-Torres, the story of my favorite rock and roll band, Little Feat, and A Day to Die For, by Graham Ratcliffe, yet another account of the 1996 disaster on Everest, which holds unending fascination for me. Plus, I have Anna Karenina, my journal, the Daily Word, a book on the saints, the latest Rolling Stone, the Sunday Datebook and a J. Peterman sale catalog for good measure. God, I do love to read!  And there has been a lot of reading in front of the dancing gas fire.

There was also some reading in front of the fire at the Mendocino Hotel. Rob was practicing his chanter, (he is thinking of taking the bagpipes back up) and I brought my journal and books to settle in and write to you in in that great lobby with a breathtaking view. However, there was also an annoying vacuum cleaner and a very loud intellectual Berkeley type sitting at a nearby table trying like mad to impress his date. Wouldn’t the world be just great sometimes if there weren’t any people in it?!?

Moving on, we had the most perfect dinner last night at a new restaurant, (to us) called Flow. Perched high above the street we sat in a warm, well lit room overlooking the ocean and sampled many, (too many!) small plates, including bacon wrapped dates with almond, (sublime!), rock cod with garlicky aioli and frites, a citrusy salad with julienned apple and fennel and goat cheese, home-baked rolls, soft and squishy with matching dipping dishes of butter and garlic oil, crisp Brussels sprouts with bacon and God knows what else, and yes, we even tagged on a sausage and arugula pizza at the end. No, we did not have dessert.

I do believe this was one of the finer meals I’ve had in the Bay Area. There’s nothing like really good food, a festive and elegant atmosphere and great conversation with the one you love.

Today, we found a perfect little clearing, surrounded by tall trees with a bench and a view and ate our picnic lunch as we shared our reflections for the year passing and our hopes and dreams for 2014. We talked about our growth over the past year and places where we have been, (and are still) challenged. We talked about patterns and themes and the big currents pulling us along the ocean of our life together. We talked of hopes and longings and possibilities - - intentions, purpose, meaning, and some small and larger ways of making our lives brighter next year by surrendering ever deeper into our relationship with God and each other.

Dear Friends: What are your hopes, intention and dreams for your New Year?