Afternoon Shadow

Afternoon shadow on the dining room wall

Nearly 2013 - the world didn't end.  I didn't end, so far.  I woke early and began to jot here on this blog, waking it up for the next adventure after more than a year.  Packing to go to Berkeley for three months.  Berkeley not my first choice, but there was a cottage on Craigslist, a simple fit, we both had friends in common and I went with it.  Berkeley is a vibrant city, youthful, intellectual, politically confident, but I will not wear Berkenstocks in winter even though I own a pair.  I may sneak in a few outlawed plastic spoons to eat yogurt or soup on picnics up in the hilly parks or at the marina.  Having mastered the art of using cloth grocery bags, I'll fit in well enough.

All around us snow on Christmas, but not at Zen Center.  I'll meet snow on the sides of the road in Central Oregon and Northern California.  Mercifully, I'll be between storms and can cruise over the Siskiyou Pass without having to chain up.  Last time I came through, it had snowed the previous night.  At the summit, I thought I had driven into heaven.  Miraculous white landscape in winter.  Then Mt. Shasta and into the Central Valley before the hustle of cars sucked into the Bay Area like a vacuum swallowing metal and spitting it into bumper to bumper madness on I-80, 580, 680, 780, 880, 980.  On some of these confusing freeways, you are going north and south at the same time.  I-80 north for a portion of the road is the same as 680 south.  The East Bay still confounds, but I manage to find my way.  I'll leave Olympia early Friday morning, December 28th, and stop overnight halfway in Southern Oregon.  Very nice to be back on this page and to locate myself here while I wander.