been here a week

i haven't felt like writing lately. i think i'm going through some depression that eventually will work itself out. maybe this always happens when i come to CA. it's hard to remember since i usually only come once a year. i'm glad to be here, don't get me wrong. i'm just transitioning, i guess. maybe in another week or so i'll be feeling more active and motivated. but i haven't been doing much of anything this first week of being here... at first, just visiting with my family, and then when they left, just books and movies mostly.

i did get to visit with my cousin last saturday, a cousin i haven't seen or talked to in something close to ten years. that was neat. she remembered lots of times we had together when we were younger, and then more memories began to come back to me. she remembered us feeding toothpaste to our two year old cousin (we all ate it too) because we were hungry and camping in my grandparents' backyard. the toothpaste didn't really do the trick of making our bellies growl less, so we snuck into the kitchen and snatched some cheese from the fridge. we collaborated in writing a letter to our future selves and all signed it that night (including the two year old who we helped by guiding her hand) and promised to open it in 10 or 15 years. it's been 20 years now, and i still have the letter unopened because we haven't seen each other in so long, all of us at the same time. maybe one day we'll actually get to open it... anyway, it was a good visit, and my grandma seemed to be happy to have three of her granddaughters sitting around the kitchen table, talking and laughing.

i've been taking care of three old cats, one at my parents' place that is close to 19 years old and two at my grandparents' place that are around 15 years old. also, there's the task of watering lawns and gardens and bringing in mail and newspapers while everyone is away. so there's that keeping me doing something...if not something particularly interesting, it is something.

and i actually went for a walk/hike yesterday (can it be called a hike if it's not very hilly?) at benecia state park, which is a multi-grassy sort of place, bordered by freeway on one side and salt marshlands on the other. it was actually pretty nice once i got away from being able to see the freeway. unfortunately, dogs aren't allowed on the pretty trails, so i'm going to have to start searching for some better dog friendly trails to take vdog and snark to when they arrive in a month. incidentally, news from AZ is that vdog is sick and not doing much but sleeping the last few days.

i thought i might try rowing while here; there's a rower's group that meets a few times a week. but once i checked out their web site, i got (a lot) intimidated and thought it'd probably just be better to stick to hiking after all. but... i think hiking is more fun (usually) when i have someone to do it with.

book recommendation: piece of cake by cupcake brown.