October 8, 2008

I am, at this very moment, in Eureka, California. Eureka seems to possibly be the home of the world's largest concentration of Tree Huggers -- yep! My fellow tree huggers -- I can admit it now -- it does my heart good, as you can imagine. I was even able to get a "Nature Defender (with tree in the middle)" sticker, a groovy Peace sign in the form of a turtle for the car PLUS, get this, a travel hammock to hang in between two trees, of course, for a nice nap. AND, tomorrow I am headed to the amazing and awe-inspiring redwood trees, which I dearly love. Maybe I was a tree in another life?? (Do I look a bit like a tree? My skin feels a bit like bark at times, mutter, mutter…)

I just spent almost a week with a friend about an hour from Lake Tahoe. What a difficult visit -- eating decadent chocolates, going on leisurely hikes, seeing Burn after Reading (I love the Coen Brothers) and Mamma Mia (they have the sing-along version and I didn't hold back -- heck, people were getting up and dancing with the movie! I know -- so wild, huh! I'm glad I took all that counseling so that I could stop being so shy for just these kinds of occasions.)

The cats are not as thrilled about my travels as I am -- Skootch, the Ancient One (18 3/4 yrs. old) had no trouble pretending she was a dog -- she adapted to the collar, leash, and hopping out at rest stops. My younger, and more cautious cat, Fugee the Fearful, did not take to this woofish behavior so she starved herself and refused water until we stopped, thinking this would get me to stop my travels.

But, as you can see, I am having a relaxing and enjoyable time and am not to be deterred. I think the Europeans really have something with their 6-8 weeks of vacation each year. Let's see, I have only taken 2-3 weeks off each year of my working life so that entitles me to 140 weeks or so of "make-up vacation" -- marvelous idea, if I could just get Gates or someone to cover the costs…Donations, anyone?