Now Exhale

Song - Dark-Eyed (Oregon) Junco with a Mirror Fixation


What began as going to a wedding in the Sierra's, became adding a few extra days to the weekend to celebrate my birthday, which became two weeks of bliss in Lake Tahoe!

Here is my escape partner in crime.....

Mr. B came up on weekends and I had a friend come up for a couple of days but other than that it was just Mika and me.

Painting.....beach......meditating.....reading.......music......journaling.....wildflowers......bird watching......star gazing......walks.......ahhhh.....

The fresh young leaves on the Aspen trees against Tahoe's amazing blue sky took my breath away.

And every morning about 4:15 the birds would start singing their little hearts out.  They were busy finding food, a mate and designing nests.

I had one bird (a Junco) that loved his reflection so much that he would not leave my back bumper alone.  All day long and day after day, he would admire himself.  Until the last day when he brought a friend along to check out how beautiful he was as well!

I came home on Monday with about 4 inches of bird poop on my bumper!

Mr. B took me to Sunnyside for my birthday dinner.  We had one of our favorite tables right by the lake so we could watch the sunset.  Good food, great wine and wonderful company - what more could a girl ask for?

Well maybe a clean bumper????


"Perfectly ordered disorder designed with a helter-skelter magnificence." --Emily Carr when looking at a forest

The Sierra's

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Maybe it just

 wasn't

 meant to be a "traditional" vacation.

Playing Indians with my brothers & cousins

Every year since I was about five years old, I have always spent part of my summer in beautiful Lake Tahoe.

There is something so familiar and relaxing in those magnificent mountains, bright blue sky and clear lake.

But this year something was.....well.....amiss.

For starters, Mr. B developed an abscessed tooth and sinus infection and had to return to the Bay Area for a root canal and antibiotics.

But near the end of our vacation he was in fine form and even swimming his annual laps in the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe!

While Mr. B was gone there was a spectacular lightening storm with nonstop rolling thunder, a little rain & even some hail

Friends who were going to visit had to change their plans at the last minute but others came to visit and play.

Andy & Ashley

Some others were uninvited guests and tried to sneak off with our dinner!

Oh yeah, and there was the tragic Rim Fire near Yosemite that sent all of it's smoke our way.

 

Some days the smoke stayed over in the Carson Valley.

So for over two weeks we had little visibility not to mention ash falling on everything.

But the smoke did make for beautiful sunsets! 

And an eerie light most days.

You know the kind of light that happens when there is a eclipse?  

Well sort of like that only orange.

So not too many days were spent on the beach or taking hikes but I did manage to do a lot of painting, reading and even got in some Canasta hands!

Mr. B and I also happily celebrated our 34th Anniversary on the outdoor deck at Sunnyside!

One evening we went to the Ranger Station's Amphitheater to see McAvoy Layne do his incredible interpretation of Mark Twain. 

And there were more Bald Eagles than I have ever seen flying over the water, searching for fish in Lake Tahoe and then returning to their nesting grounds high in the trees near the beach.

All in all, we made the best of the situation and are glad to be breathing fresh air again!

 "At last the lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords." -- Mark Twain

Make a Wish and Blow

 Song - Birthday by Paul McCartney

My 60th birthday was on Sunday, June 9th! I reminded Mr. B that I didn't like big parties and at the last minute I decided we would head up to Tahoe which is the place I go to fill my soul. It was the best decision ever!

Thank you to my two cousins, Patty & Kari who now own the family cabin for sharing it with us! They recently had a beautiful new deck added and it was lovely to sit out there in the early morning and late afternoons.

I went up on Thursday with our two pups and the rest of the family came up on Friday night. I left a little later than I had planned.....you know how that goes.....just one more plant to water, one more load of laundry, oh yeah I should pay a few bills, got to pick up the dogs Rx before we leave, empty the garbage, and paintings needed to be dropped of at the gallery, etc.

But as soon as I smelled the pines in the Sierras, I was ready to relax and play.

I did my meditation out in the forest early Friday morning while listening to the various song birds and the breeze gently fluttering the Aspen trees around the cabin. There were millions of Spring wildflowers sprouting up all around.

At 9 am it was already warming up, which is unusual for Tahoe. I did some sketching and walked the dogs and did a little reading.  By 3 I headed for the beach and stayed until 6. I brought some wine in an empty water bottle, which leaked out in my bag.  The wine was floating around in a supermarket plastic bag and for one sec I thought about re-pouring it back into the bottle (as it was a rather expensive wine and one of my favorites - Frank Family), but as my son said later that that would of just felt desperate!! So I settled on reading and swimming.

The "boys of summer" were there to great me.

I headed home and cooked dinner for the family who arrived safely at around 8.

Saturday we spent the entire day at the beach and most of us returned to the cabin that night looking and feeling like red lobsters.  Even those that used sunscreen, missed a few choice spots!

Ashley, Andy & Tyler with Mt. Tallac in the background

 Some guys next to us had buried a large beach ball and were doing flips off of it. So fun to watch and I was glad no one broke anything - like their neck!!!

Mr. B had make lakeside reservations at Sunnyside for dinner.  It was an incredible evening of food, wine, family and glorious weather.

Andy & Ashley at Sunnyside dock

Tyler hamming it for the camera

When we returned to the cabin late that night we walked out to a clearing to look at the stars.  Tyler and I saw a shooting star within a few minutes! Then we headed inside for a friendly game of Canasta that lasted until 2am!

Sunday we were all too "beached out" so we drove to the ranger station where they were having a festival around what is native to the Lake Tahoe area.

Apparently bats are native......

Then we drove up to Fallen Leaf Lake Lodge for lunch out on the deck.

But see that one little cloud up there?



Looks pretty innocent huh?

Just you wait!

After a yummy lunch we drove up to the falls and Lilly Lake.

The only photo I have of all of us together on my birthday and it came out blurry - sorry.

Can you see that a few more clouds are gathering?

Lilly Lake

St. Francis of the Mountains

The kids all headed back to the Bay Area from there while Mr. B and I went back to the cabin to read & paint and snuggle the pups.

Mr. B poured me a nice glass of Chianti Classico while I stared a new painting.  To see the progress click HERE


While on the deck, the weather had turned to large dark clouds even though it was still warm outside.  The rolling thunder was continuous through the afternoon and evening.

That evening we had a lovely dinner at Scusa, a wonderful Italian restaurant nearby.

Monday I set up on the deck to paint and got in a few hours before the rains came.  We had a cozy day inside the cabin and around 3 decided to head home.

I always have a hard time saying goodbye to Tahoe but I am hoping we will be back in September!

Before the rains

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." - Frederick Keonig