THE WEEK AT A GLANCE

Since my job ended last Friday, things have just been a whirlwind of activity around here. I've had luncheons to attend (thank you Darryl!), retirement parties to attend, and lots of things happening at home too. But, between all these things we managed to take our annual drive up to the Sierras the other day. What a glorious day it was! I could have bathed in the color that was present. It's hard to describe how vibrant the colors really are...photos just do not do them justice.

There are quite a few stone buildings that seem to have been built in the early part of the century along the river. Many are lived in either seasonally or annually. This one looked to have been restored and it even had wire in all the openings so that people could just peer inside.

This is a shot of the South Yuba river along Highway 80 on the way to Truckee. I would think that normally there would be much more water but it is at the end of the season so the rain and snow have yet to fill it up. Soon, it will be gushing, I'm sure.

The sky was filled with contrails from jets. It seemed that they were criss-crossing each other in every direction. I kept thinking of all the ones that were heading east toward many of you. I wish that I could have been on one of those planes heading east. Maybe one day soon.

This was an old barn on Highway 89 heading north. This is part of a huge piece of property that sits all by itself in this nice valley and is for sale. When I expressed interest in it my husband pointed out to me that there were no power lines in site. I think that I've had enough of "no power" this week. Each day this week there has been a power outage. Even today when we came home from errands in town the power was off again. What is going on? Do I get a discount on my monthly bill for being so inconvenienced each day? Sure!!! If you work for PG&E though, you get a discount on your monthly bill. My cousin and his wife both retired from PG&E and he was complaining to me about the huge electric bill that they experienced last winter after moving up here in the mountains. And that was with his discount, he informed me. Things are a bit different here in the mountains I suppose. It gets colder here than in the Bay Area for one thing. And, now that they are home all day, they need to use more electricity. At least they get a discount.

A wonderful old barn along the way. I love old barns with rust and weathered wood. I try and stop to photograph as many as I can because I know that one of these days they might not be there again. Progress happens and things change so quickly.

This is where we had out lunch. We went to the bakery at Blairsden and bought some goodies for dessert and then drove to the Mill Pond in Graeagle and sat and had our picnic lunch. It was such a gorgeous, sunny day and the sun was so warm. Again, I thought how lucky I am to be able to go and have lunch at a place like this in the middle of the week. I feel so lucky and fortunate to be able to do and go wherever I want, whenever I want to. The blessings just never stop! I don't need a huge amount of money; just enough gas and enough time to get me where I want to go.

These are remnants of old logging operations. If I am not mistaken, I think that they used to burn slash in these. Graeagle (and specifically Cal Pine) were old lumber towns. The logging in these areas has died and now the towns have turned towards being more resort in function. Graeagle has two golf courses and beautiful condos and homes. And the town is actually quite cute with an art gallery and many wonderful stores to shop at. One of my favorites is Eco Centric. It has lots of jewelry and clothing, most of which are hand-made and organic. It's a wonderful place to spend some time and it also has lots of children's toys and clothing too. The owner used to live in Dallas, Texas but her husband was transferred with the railroad. I asked her what everyone does there. She replied "work in their gardens". She loves the peace and quiet of this town. I don't blame her.
This is a shot of the hills as we drove back home towards Nevada City and Grass Valley. This road follows the Yuba River all the way and is a gorgeous day-trip. We're expecting rain this weekend so there is the possibility that most of this color will be washed away by the rain and wind. I'm glad that I got to see it the other day. I'm glad that I was able to share it with you all. Thanks for coming along with me.

A BELATED HALLOWEEN

Since our power was out the other night, I was not able to post some of the photos I took of Halloween. The Little Ones were the most fun for me to see. And the dogs! Karen was right: (Maggie's Secret Garden) Halloween really did go to the dogs!! There were the best costumes for dogs this year. Alligators and witches to name a few. There were many more that I didn't photograph. (As I am typing this, our power has gone out again today! It is Thursday at 11:30 AM, clear skies, no rain, no wind...just no power! So, I will now have to wait again to post this.)

IMPORTANT IMAGES

My ever-present crow, as he sits on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a rock I found that someone had written "Peace" on with some charcoal, and a heart of stone that I found fairly close to that rock. If I had walked a different path that day, I might not have seen any of these. It is important to follow your heart. It may lead down a different path but it will never lead you astray.

Last night our power, which is supplied to us by PG&E (for those of you in different parts of the country that stands for Pacific Gas and Electric) went out. We sat around with kerosene lamps and candles until it was time to go to bed. It was not bright enough to read by that kind of light and we were unprepared and didn't have a supply of kerosene on hand. So, on the list of things to pick up and have on hand for the up-coming winter is kerosene. And plenty of candles. The computer was not an option either so I will publish some pictures tomorrow from our latest travels this week. What wonderful colors we saw today.

PG&E has been in our local news the past couple of days in regards to the Smart Meters they have installed on people's homes. There is a special report airing tomorrow night regarding the concerns about radio frequency waves and the health issues that they may pose. Remember how everyone a few years ago carried around plastic bottles, thinking that they were innocuous? And then it was revealed that the risk of cancer became increased from the dioxins in the plastic? Perhaps these Smart Meters are the same. It always seems that there isn't enough being done to study all the possible adverse affects of new items before they are sent main-stream. You can read more about the issues regarding these Smart Meters here: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100902/articles/100909857 It reminds me of the study about cell phones and their use. Still lots of concerns and lots of controversies regarding these. Are they nation-wide or just here on the west coast? I know that we don't have one here but some of our neighbors do. Concerns for higher rates swirl around in regards to these too. People have complained about their bills spiking after they were installed. I always worry about big companies and the services they offer. They have a captive audience. There are no other options here for power other than PG&E. They don't even offer great incentives for solar installation on houses. We checked in to having solar installed on our roof and it wouldn't even pay us to do it. This is so sad. There are limited amounts of fossil fuels in the world. Sun...I don't see it running out in my lifetime. Or in a few hundred lifetimes.

And did we have sun today! It was almost in the 80's today. What a treat for November. What a glorious day we had in the Sierras today. More on that tomorrow. Until then, I hope you all experience the guidance of the crow, find peace in your lives, and have love all around you.