Vacation at Home

Point Reyes National Seashore with Alexandra

Photographs by Alexandra Bruehl

  

Pont Reyes National Seashore is a vacation-at-home destination extraordinaire. It is only about an hour from Oakland­, but it is truly another world, full of wildness and great beauty.  

Although I often go out there on my own, this time I wanted to share it with my friend Alexandra. We headed out to Point Tomales, one of my favorite places on this earth, especially when covered in a blanket of wildflowers. Pink, white, purple, yellow, I love those wildflowers!   

I love that they are there every spring/summer. I can count on it. I love knowing that Notre Dame stands tall in Paris and the meadow pool remains unchanged at Breitenbush Hot Springs high in the Oregon cascades. I am comforted by the solid, eternal rhythm of the seasons and the eternity of place. 

I wanted a nice, easy morning so we didn’t even get started until noon. No worries. It’s never too late to go have fun. We grabbed a couple of apples and bags of macadamia nuts, supplemented by a maple walnut scone we picked up from the Busy Bee bakery on our way out. We threw the top down on the Rockette and motored under the big sky, passing rugged hills (imagine the moors of England), and dairy fields on our way out to the end of the world, also known as the Point Tomales trail.   

Point Tomales is a relatively flat trail, situated high on a rim between the ocean and the bay. It provides safe shelter for hundreds of Tule elk and if you walk far enough you can spot them near the watering holes; herds of beautiful creatures moving gracefully over the brush. I get very excited about seeing wild animals in their habitat. It makes me feel connected and an integral part of the universe. 

Half the fun was sharing it with my friend. She loved it and I loved it with her. We walked for miles, watching the hawks soaring high above the vast blue world of water on either side.  

 Everywhere we looked was beauty. We were immersed in beauty. We listened to the quiet. We talked of many things. She is a true soul sister to me. We share many common values and similar things are important to us that give us meaning. After a while, we stopped for lunch, spreading our jackets in a sheltered, sweet area off the trail where we had a gorgeous view of the craggy hills and the quiet bay.   

We gazed silently, taking alternative heavenly bites of the scone and crisp apple. It was pretty near perfect . . .the essence of vacation at home is about savoring and marking those achingly beautiful moments indelibly in your imagination where you can return again and again. They stay with you forever.

 We drove slowly back through the dairy fields and the sleepy cows. She said that the craggy green hills reminded her of Ireland. We drove in that comfortable silence only possible between dear friends. 

  

We drove back through the tiny town of Inverness and of course had to stop at the Busy Bee to pick up two plump peanut butter cookies that looked irresistible the first time around. We were going to save them for later but the baker encouraged us not to wait.  

That first bite was warm bliss…oh, how glorious it is to live fully in the senses! We each ate our entire cookie and skipped the late lunch we had planned. Why not? We’re on vacation at home! 

Next stop on our outing was my very favorite, girly clothing boutique in the tiny town of Point Reyes Station. The Epicenter is always a part of the Point Reyes expedition day. Over the years I have become friends with the owner, Dana Davidson, a beautiful woman, blessed with the gifts of creative sewing and exquisite taste. 

We lost track of time for an hour plus in that sweet little shop, trying on cool spinner rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces, eventually working our way toward the clothes. Two girls having lots of fun, tried on several form fitting, whimsical outfits.  

Alexandra spotted a colorful, sparkly, tiny pair of earrings that I would have never even seen. I trusted her taste and bought them. (I’m wearing them this very moment). She bought an exquisite Balinese silver necklace that lay perfectly, gleaming on her neck. She talked of her dream of going to Bali one day, traveling completely unencumbered, bringing nothing but a small bag of essentials. I excitedly declared I would join her!  

We drove home back to Oakland, taking a different route, along the Nicasio reservoir with dreamy late afternoon light illuminating the spring green hills.  We passed through the town of Nicasio proper, greeted by the sweet white steeple of an old church and wide-open fields with horses running free. 

We motored through the back way forest of Marin County on our way to San Rafael. She pulled out her I-phone and started playing this beautiful, sweet, rich, soothing Kirtan music, a form of Hindu chant. It was soulful and restful all the way home; through busy I-80 to the very moment I dropped her off in front of her darling little house in the hills of Oakland. My gratitude surged for a day well lived. 

Recipe for a Nourishing Day

God, you know how I love retreat!  Last week we had our staff retreat in Point Reyes; combining three of my favorite things in life; Point Reyes, retreat and the chaplains, joined together for a holy day. 

CJ, bless her, created a reflection for us to develop a recipe for nourishment.  We were encouraged to design a recipe for a nourishing day, a good day’s work or even a recipe for sanity!  The possibilities are endless.  (I have included it at the end of this posting). 

I was inspired to choose essential ingredients I love; being mindful of what I need in that moment, keeping it simple and balancing the flavors.  (I recognized that the balance for me is almost always between reflection-solitude and activity-connection with others.)

I was blessed not only with a care-free day with the chaplains, but also with an opportunity to stay overnight in the cottage and enjoy the whole next day in my beloved Point Reyes.

My sweetie came up to join me for the evening and left in the early morning, leaving a pretty wine glass with three sprigs of lavender in a pool of sunlight on the kitchen table, plus a loving note to start my day.  I nestled in with my coffee, blankets and pillows on the couch in front of the fire, (it was cold, even in August!), and sat for a long time gazing at the fire and the treetops out the surrounding windows.  After a while, I was inspired to develop my own recipe for a nourishing day.

Ingredients for a Nourishing Day
Morning

T   I   M   E

Fireplace or candles

Books, journal

Rich coffee

Baked good

Picture of me and my sweetie and the cat family

Windows – flowers – tree tops

Hot tub

Fluffy robe

Memories and reflections of a sweet day with the chaplains

Noonish

T   I   M   E

Movement!

                   

Hiking boots

Water

Camera!

Trail map

Amber lens prescription sunglasses (brings out the greens)

            Wildlife!

       Hike through the trees and meadows of Point Reyes

Lunch in my pack to be savored in a pretty place

Afternoon

T   I   M   E

Drive back through the golden hills of Marin County

Red Miata – Rockette – Little Red with her top down!

Rock and roll!

East Bay frontage road by the water to avoid traffic

Later Afternoon

Lots of pets for Pablo and Toby

Cool shower – take my time

Grooming ritual - get cleaned up for the girls at the Restaurant Ramble

Evening

T   I   M   E

Good friends

Good food

Laughter

Stories

Getting real

Affection bubbling from my heart

Later Evening

T   I   M   E

Being home in our sanctuary with my sweetie

Loving and knowing that I am loved

Pablo, Toby, safety, sweetness, savoring home.

High, semi-firm pillow top mattress

Clean cotton sheets

Four posters

Lots of pillows

Good novel or rock biography or Paris history

My sweetie lying next to me

Meeting him in my dreams.

I realized after reading over my recipe that except for the hot tub and the cow, that I didn’t have to be on retreat or in a special place to “make” this recipe.  I could have a day like this right at home, creating the very spirit of Vacation at Home.   (And I don’t need a hot tub!  There’s always a lavender scented bath.)

I also realized that T  I  M  E  is the most essential ingredient for true nourishment for me.  That is why it is included at the first of list of ingredients for a nourishing day, any time of day, any activity.


And here dear reader, is CJ Hast's Recipe for Nourishment. 
Design your own!

Recipe for Nourishment

~ Designing Your Recipe ~

Below are some suggested steps in creating your own personal Recipe for Nourishment. Please feel free to adapt these in any way that you like in order to make this inquiry most useful (and fun!) for you. Some recipes contain sub-recipes. You may find this to be true for yours. You may also like to develop other recipes in different categories. For example, your Recipe for Sanity, or Recipe for a Good Day’s Work, or Recipe for ???. The possibilities are endless!

On the reverse side of this page you will find some Springboards to help you kindle your nourishment recipe thinking.

NAME- Give your recipe a descriptive title that inspires you.

INGREDIENTS- What are the essential ingredients in your nourishment recipe?  Include measurements- amount and/or duration and how often.

           PREPARATION STEPS- Clearly describe how the ingredients should be
            utilized.

TEST & REVISE- Recipes are rarely perfect on the first draft. Test & revise, test and revise, test & revise as an on-going nourishment practice.

TIPS:

Don’t use any more ingredients than necessary.

Go for a balance of “flavors.”

Allow for substitutions wherever possible.

Consider what is “in season” during the different seasons and cycles of your nourishment practice.

Experiment. Explore. Enjoy.

© 2012 www.contemPLAYtions.com

Nourishment Recipe Springboards

SEASONS & CYCLES

  Might you have some season specific nourishment ingredients?

Summer-

Fall-

Winter-

Spring-

 Time specific? Morning-Mid-Day-Mid-Afternoon-Evening-Night

THE FIVE SENSES

Hearing - Sight - Touch - Smell - Taste

How do you nourish your senses? How do your senses nourish you?

PEOPLE

Who do you feel nourished with/by? Think here of specific people and also in  general of the types of people you are nourished by. What qualities do they possess?

SANCTUARY
In what settings do you feel nourished? (Both interiorly and exteriorly.)

PLAY

What makes you laugh?

MEDIA
What form/s of media are nourishing to you? Books/Television/Music/Internet

What specific types and/or conditions within these are most nourishing?

IMAGES
What theological or metaphorical images come to mind when you think of  nourishment?

HEROES
Who are your nourishment heroes? What about them inspires you in the area of

nourishment?

Experiment. Explore. Enjoy.

© 2012 www.contemPLAYtions.com

YOSEMITE

Morning in the Hammock

It’s taken me awhile, but I now have my pillows, books, coffee, pen, reading glasses and long body arranged just so and now I’m ready to write to you and now . . . the early sun is in my eyes.

Yesterday with Elise (Rob’s sister) and her husband, Haywood, was a very special day, and just about as different from Paris as you can get.  It’s marvelous to behold all this variety in our world, isn’t it?  Even the drive to Yosemite from the Bay Area perfectly illustrates the contrast; I mean most of it really is butt-ugly, is it not?  Miles and miles of California summer brown with a strip mall thrown in now and then for color.  But then, all of the sudden, it changes . . .you hit . . .Groveland!  Groveland!  I want to live in Groveland!  What a sweet, well-tended little town where you can get a good cup of coffee and a book.

Evergreen Lodge is perfect for a family reunion type vacation, thank you to Rabbi Bennett for this excellent suggestion.  Comfortable, upscale cabins with lots of room, (unlike Paris), a pool, hammocks everywhere, a restaurant with really good food and lots of places to just sit and be and look at the trees and sky.  Last night after dinner, we saw a mere sliver of an orange moon, setting in a golden lit sky against the dark background of the night.

I will work on my night photography.  For now, dear reader, use your imagination.

The contrast from Paris is really quite remarkable.  It’s just so . . . American here.  I can spread out, physically and spiritually.  I can breathe.  I am an American girl.  As much as I adore Europe, this is my roots, and I love it here.  I have to confine myself in Paris; certainly physically and even emotionally.  Even while eating I have to be careful not to elbow my fellow diner, sitting two feet away at the next table, knock over my water, hurl my fork, or do something equally gauche.  We had to take two trips up this elevator to successfully carry Rob, myself and our luggage to our room.

But I am in Yosemite now.  And people are loud and American and most definitely not contained and I am here, too, with my ebullient personality fanned out wide.

Yesterday was really all that.  We rented bikes and rode all over the valley, stopping for a wonderful lunch perched high on the deck at the Ahwahnee, overlooking the magnificent rock of Yosemite.  Yes, it’s the rock that makes this place so special, that unique, Yosemite grey, infused with light rock, soaring into the sky.  There is nothing else like it in the world. 

Countless writers and photographers have tried to capture it and here is my humble attempt.

But you never can quite capture that spiritual state with an image or string of words, can you?  You can only hope that rereading your words and looking at the pictures can move you back into that feeling.  I like to think that for that brief moment in time, riding our bikes through that golden meadow on our way to the Ahwahnee, we all felt it; we were joined for that brief moment in the Kingdom.

We are creating memories together with this trip and that is eternal.  Thank their good hearts for coming all of the way out here from South Carolina.  It is part of the joy in human relationship and it is of ultimate value to me.  We have a limited amount of resources yes, but this is how Rob and I want to spend our money; travelling and connecting.  Don’t wait, we say.  DON’T WAIT!

The Cluny

Last Day

Unfortunately, I’m not feeling so well today.  I’m afraid that the combination of Angelina’s hot chocolate, several croissant amande du chocolates and all the rich food in Paris in general has just about finished me.  It is the last day, and darn it, I don’t want to miss anything, but I can’t seem to get out of bed.  I admit to you, this is being written from the plane.  I am feeling somewhat human again.  Somewhat.

I get the heebie jeebies even thinking about that hot chocolate.  I will never, ever have hot chocolate again!

I did make it over to The Cluny because I was going to see that tapestry room if it killed me.  I love the Cluny museum.  It is small and manageable and very, very old.  I know, all the museums are old here, but I believe this is the oldest, built in the 12^th century.  It is positively medieval and it fascinates me, especially the tapestry room.

I actually drafted this post sitting in the dimly lit, magical cavern type room.  There are six tapestries in total, each depicting a beautiful woman with a unicorn.  I love unicorns, they make me feel mystical.  In fact, this whole room makes me feel mystical.  I’m particularly taken with this huge tapestry in front of me.  (If the truth be known, it happens to be the one I can see from my bench, I’d rather sit today thank you.)  

I would not dare take a picture in here, I just heard someone get yelled at, (yes, an American), but let me attempt to describe it for you.  The woman is playing a harp, exuding calm and gentility.  There is a young girl with her; I am imagining it is her daughter.  The unicorn is in prancing flight off to her right, and there is a creature with a cat’s tail and strong haunches, but has almost a human face.  There are several small animals as well; rabbits, dogs and what appears to be another feline type creature.  It is soothing to me to be in here.  Just what the doctor ordered.

Paris is enchanting in its indoor spaces, too. This is an ideal place for creating time.  Rob is on the other side of the room sketching what turned out to be a gorgeous tree in one of the tapestries.

This is our last day and I’m so happy that we actually did what we said we were going to do.  We came to Paris, and I like to think we added to it in our own small way.  We each created something that emerged from deep inside ourselves.  We each have something tangible to bring back that we will have forever.  And dear readers, I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me that you’ve taken the time to share it with me.  I thought about each and every one of you as I explored my beloved Paris.  It was like you were here with me.

This writing about my experiences and fitting pictures to the words has opened up a whole new world for me.  I experience it all again.  Writing about it captures enough of the detail so that I can really feel it again. It creates a memory for me that I can’t get any other way.  It also allows me to actually participate in my experience by putting my personal stamp on it. I’m so grateful that I have found this form of expression.

I thought that I might get really sad on my last day.  Instead I feel renewed, re-created somehow.  I’m different as a result of coming here.  That’s why I travel.  But I’m looking forward to being back home with all of you, the dear chaplains I love so much, and of course, Pablo and Toby.  I thank you Lindsey and Katie so very, very much for caring for them!  You made the trip actually possible. (Never would we board Pablo and Toby!)

Paris is the most beautiful place in the world to me.  Coming here inspires me to create beauty wherever I am.  Living well is an art worth cultivating.  It takes some money, no doubt, but mostly it takes curiosity, imagination and the willingness to take the time to make things just a little nicer.  Everything is beautiful here.  They care about beauty.  They inspire me to care about it, too.

The Loot! 

The Covered Passages of Paris - Part 2

I’m back to show you the covered passages after hurrying out of Saint-Sulpice, quite chagrined to see Rob waiting for me by the fountain.

These covered passages are like nothing I have ever seen.  There are several of them in Paris, mostly in the 2^nd and 8^th arrondissements and we hit six of them.  Most of them were built between 1820 and 1850, mainly for buying and selling, but also as places for flậneurs (idle strollers) to see and be seen. They fascinate me because they are so breathtakingly beautiful.  Thank you God, for the good people of Paris who had the foresight to restore most of them in the 1970’s.  If only our malls could be like them!  I like to imagine myself with a long, fancy dress, complete with lace parasol, idly strolling through Galerie Vivienne . . .

There were a few that were disappointing, due to the cheap baubles they were selling.  But Passage des Panoramas, Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert were particularly beautiful.

Galerie de la Madeleine

Passage des Princes

Passage des Panoramas

We enjoyed a wonderful two hour lunch here at the L’Arbre a Cannelle brasserie in Passage des Panoramas, tucked into a small table where we could see everything, but feel sheltered, (I love that feeling.)  See the lovely white lilies on the tables?

L’Arbre a Cannelle

And here is the lovely, lovely Galerie Vivienne; even the floor is splendid.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of Rob’s totem, Taurus the Bull.

Created by Emilio Robba.

And finally, we finished with the quiet and gorgeous Galerie Colbert, which has been fully restored and houses an art institute. 

Galerie Colbert

This was Rob’s favorite.  He said that it made him feel like he was in a great university setting; nicely kept; beautifully restored; like the great buildings of Stanford and Berkeley.  There is something very special about restoring an old building to where its old beauty is enhanced, but it feels fresh; the air is crisp and clean.

Since we were so close, we couldn’t resist a hot chocolate at Angelinas, no doubt very touristy, but nothing in the Bay Area tastes like this, and believe me, I’ve tried!  (Bittersweet Chocolate, Café Clem, etc.)

Everyone, and I mean everyone was sipping a hot chocolate.  They came out of the kitchen fast and furious.  We couldn’t stop laughing, imagining it being delivered every morning by a big burly Frenchman spraying it from a large hose into an enormous industrial vat.

Like I said before, we’ve laughed so much on this trip.  I love to laugh and share humor.  It’s so intimate.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this fabulous dress on our way back.  Yes, I’ve decided we are renewing our vows in the Place des Vosges and I am wearing this dress.

The Covered Passages of Paris - Part 1

Saint- Sulpice

How wonderful is this?  It’s blowing and windy outside, so I’m writing to you inside Saint-Sulpice, yes the church.  I am sitting on a very comfortable velvet pew, looking at an incredible gold statue.  It’s quiet and it smells like incense.  Rob is sitting in the small chapel with Delacroix’s depiction of Jacob wresting with the angel.  I think it’s ok to take pictures in here, everyone else is.  I realized that you can barely see it, I did not have my flash on.

I believe that I am being very indiscreet in the second row of pews, on a red velvet seat, quietly typing.  I don’t think anyone has taken notice of me at all.  You can’t see the bottom half of me, (or Little Pink), because there is a big carved pew in front of me.  I’m quite pleased with myself.

Today was dedicated to exploring the covered passages of Paris.  We thought it was going to rain, so we thought we had better be inside, but thank you, God, it never did.  I have wanted to see more of these passages ever since we saw Galerie Vivienne . . .

Why is that man yelling?  How irritating.  Maybe he’s one of those weird, angry people.  He’s yelling again.  I’ll just ignore him.  Now he’s yelling louder.  Maybe I better get up and see what’s happening.  Oh, dear, they’ve locked up and look quite irate.  So much for being so pleased with myself.  I need to shut down and get out of here!