ranch life

So the next few months I've decided to slow it down a bit and opt for saving over fast-paced job juggling. A few months ago I discovered a distant family member who lives out in the redwoods a few hours North of San Francisco. Upon weighing my options for the winter months, it made more sense to opt out of busy, expensive, stressful urban life for a while to try and figure a few things out. Like many suburban-raised offspring, the hectic, stressful, and demanding lifestyle doesn't seem all too odd. Its the times when I am forced to stop and listen and look critically at myself and my place in this world when it all seems to fall apart. This means I need to work on that skill and what better setting to do that than a quiet ridge full of good food, physical labor, and stimulating company.

At this point I've been here for just going on two weeks and I'm starting to get into "valley time". There's not much danger except when the alcohol and firearms mix, and luckily that doesn't happen here. The biggest problem is the dog getting skunked every once in a while. The woods are full of mushrooms to be found, poked, prodded, and sometimes even grilled up for dinner! The birds are constant and plentiful from ducks, herons, jay, ravens, and tons of little song birds. Once the sun goes down its time to chop some wood, turn off electronics and open a good book. The fire heats pretty much everything and the only entertainment is what you can provide yourselves.