Second Trip to Schaffer's Mill

What I could see from my car without being too obvious.

From my car window, I could see that the windows were being installed.

Glare from my car window but you can see the roof line and some of the windows.

This is the front of the house with the big glass windows that face the street.

A view of the golf course which is behind the house.

This is the Donner Monument in the town of Truckee. 

A view of Donner Lake from the Old Highway, The mountains behind are in the east.

This is a shot of the bridge on the Old Highway. I hear that it is a pretty famous bridge even though I have never seen it and I have never travelled on the Old Highway before.

Some of the granite that you see everywhere in this area. It is quite impressive!

More of the same granite formations farther up the road.

In this shot you can see the covered train tunnels that protect the train and tracks in the winter when the mountains are covered in snow.

Some wildflowers I saw by the side of the road.

Another shot looking east where you can see the size of the lake. Schaffer's Mill would be at the far end of the lake in the valley before you go over the mountains in the distance.

Another shot of the granite cliffs where you can see how small the automobiles appear at the bottom of the picture.

A wonderful shot of the bridge with Donner Lake in the background. This is some beautiful country and to think that it is only about an hour away from my home! How lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place. Truly spectacular!

"LOOK DEEP INTO NATURE, AND THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BETTER."

                                                        Albert Einstein

NEW BEGINNINGS AND DREAMS

 On June 21st I had the opportunity to attend a retreat in the Lake Tahoe area for the weekend. I had just seen a post regarding the new HGTV home that was being built for 2014 and saw that it was being built in the Tahoe/Truckee area known as Schaffer's Mill. So, being the curious person that I am I thought that I would make a side-trip out of it and see if I could find and photograph the home. I think that I found it based on the drawings that they posted of the floor plan. If I photographed the wrong house, well then...I guess I goofed but I really think this is the one based on what I saw.

 There is a distinct "bridge" in the floor plan and also in this structure so I'm assuming it is "the one". I love this area of California. It is located over the mountain from Donner Lake on one side and on the other side Lake Tahoe is situated. There are many really high-end golf courses really close by this location as well as the towns of Truckee and Reno. Great for flying in and out and also close by is a small airport for small aircraft.

 I loved the street sign I saw when I was leaving. Heartwood: what could be better?

These are a few of the homes that are located in the community. The community sits right on a golf course and it looks like most of the homes have this "woodsy" craftsman-style type of architecture. Very natural looking and the area is very, very quiet. Next time I go there I am going to go to the sales office and ask to see a model. This is really an area that would appeal to everyone. Level roads for bike riding, a golf course right in your backyard, snow in the winter with lots of skiing opportunities at places like Northstar and Squaw Valley (known for the Olympics), and so much more.

I am a firm believer in the premise that there are unlimited possibilities in this world of ours. If you can imagine it, it can happen. We create our own destinies. I am the co-creator of my world and so are you. I lay aside any belief in limitation and realize the truth of abundant life and health. I imagine myself living in this wonderful home, surrounded by close family and friends, sharing many long hours and days with those that I love.

This area in California has a very spiritual feeling to me. I have loved the smells in the air in the Autumn, the smells of the pine in the warm summer sun, the crisp air fresh with a new blanket of snow in the Winter and the glorious wildflowers in the Spring. In my estimation, there is nothing better.

"What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism."   Albert Einstein

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS (PART TWO)

Most of us who like to write our blogs, I assume, have wild imaginations and like to think of all sorts of possibilities and things that we could (and do) post on our blogs. At least that's the way that I am and that's the way that my mind works. There is always something churning in the background and usually, if I don't remember to take my camera along, that is the one time that there is something so incredible that I wish I had remembered it. So now I've just beome accustomed to more often than not, carrying my camera along when I leave home. I don't like to be caught without it. Just in case!

On a typical day, if the weather is clear and not raining, you can find me out for a walk with my granddaughter in the stroller. This is part sanity, part physical exercise, and part just because I need to see something other than the inside of my house. There is so much life outside these four walls. I don't always remember to take my camera with me though. Last week I found something on my walk but I didn't need the camera with me to document it. I just bent over and picked it up.
It was this:

It was a card that someone had sent (or given I suppose) to someone else. It was a Valentine's Day card all about love. It had been rained upon, tossed by the wind and blown into the gutter, and was in very bad shape. And it was upside down so I didn't really know what it was when it caught my eye. I just saw some writing on it and became curious about what the wrtiting said. It could have just been a grocery list. Or a receipt for all I knew. But, when I picked it up and investigated it, I noticed that it was signed and there was something personal that had been written on the inside. This is the inside:

You can just make out what the card says and in fact, I cannot really read who signed it because it is so degraded. It could be from a man to a woman or vice versa. But all the same, it meant something to someone at sometime. And that is where the possibilities begin.

This card got me to thinking about the giver and the recipient. And why the card ended up in the gutter as if it didn't really mean anything. Or did it? Did the card blow out the window of a car and get lost? Did the recipient reject the card and throw it out of the window? Perhaps the giver of the card wrote all these things and then decided that it was in vain and tossed it out the window him(her)self? Imagine the stories that this card could tell if only it could talk. Maybe the person who received it accidentally lost it and is devastated that the card is no longer in his/her possession.  The possiblities are endless and that is where this card took me.

I have had it sitting on my desk for about a week now. It kept calling to me, bekoning me to write about it but the time just has not permitted. Sickness has struck my family this last week or so and frankly, I just have not had the time to sit down and devote the effort to it. I'm sure that some of you have the same thing happen to you occasionally. The intentions are good but time does not allow. We have to do what is important to us at the moment. And frankly, we have all been a bit sad around here after losing a dear friend after forty years. It is not easy to imagine not ever seeing him again but we also have wonderful memories to keep him alive in our hearts. His daughter just got engaged last week too. I'm sure he would have been thrilled with the news. He was very particular though, as to who was good enough for his daughter.

And so, life seems to be on its steady pace despite the loves and the losses. The finder of the card  has imagined many different scenarios about the card and picking it up has added something to the fabric of my life now. I can imagine the possibilities. I hope that it was a happy ending but I also realize that not every story has a happy ending. Sometimes there is hope and sometimes there is not. That is life. That is love. Those are the possibilities.