A Solo Hike, well...maybe.

I found myself drawn to the canyon behind my house mid-morning today. I'm not sure if it was the sun, or possibly even the news forecasting a cold front coming tomorrow, but suddenly I was descending the steps of my town-home, my yellow lab leashed and in hand and headed straight for the trail head.

Comically, I also immediately begin talking, out loud, to myself. Just blabbering about nonesense that had no coherent meaning. It was as if suddenly I needed to express some of these ideas spilling from my mouth and get the energy of these ideas dispersed to the universe. Subconsciously I had been preparing in anticipation, excitement, and disbelief at the recently discovered events in my family. Incoherent of anyone around me on the trail, I let my thoughts fly! I giggled out loud to myself, digested some very deep ideas, and regurgitated past conversations on the trail today.

Considering this is a blog about legacy and my determination to leave one for my children and their children through the exploration of the legacies left to me by my ancestors, it is here that I will release the secret to the universe. The words of excitement, justification, reassurance, and faith that escaped my concsiouness this morning were in reaction to the new baby on the way.

My husband and I will be expecting our second child in August of 2012. The grandness of this moment is just as profound as it was with my first born and although I've "done this before", I still find myself very nervous about similar issues I was nervous over prior. I'm thrilled to bring my second child into this world: to adore and cater, to teach and wonder and allow to live as all creatures live a part of this planet.

This new child will find itself spending hours on the trail, as I spent many an hour on a dusty trek with my first child bundled to my chest or strapped to my back. This new child will fall in love with the hills, the sage, the hawk, as I have and as I have taught my first born to do.

Preparations Have Begun!

How do I not post something to this blog the day before Thanksgiving?

This was the question I asked myself this morning as I was cutting open the pumpkin for our pumpkin pie and reflecting on the brine recipe I conquered last night for the turkey. My excitement for home cooking couldn't have been spared from this blog and therefore, I bring it to you.

Luckily I was able to have the day off work, which only fueled the Holiday To Do list. Before cleaning my house, which for some reason I always save for my days off (sick and twisted, I know), I prepared my pumpkin for the pumpkin pie my daughter and I would be making this afternoon. My daughter has never had pie before and she has been talking about this pumpkin pie we would make and eventually eat together for the last week and a half (let's all keep in mind that she is two). I figured I would get a jump start on the pumpkin pie this morning while she was at daycare, so that later we could easily make our crust, mix the mashed pumpkin with necessary ingredients, bake and voila!

As I was seeding the pumpkin, I figured I would save the seeds, soak them in salt water and eventually bake them as well for a tasty snack tomorrow. Now, when I refer to 'tomorrow', there to two very big events happening for my little family: First, we are going to go cut down our Christmans Tree and second, we are going to pig out on some down home cooking! ....I figured we could snack on pumpkin seeds while we're up hiking in the snow scouring for the 'perfect' tree. What a day of festivities tomorrow will bring for my little family. *If you're interested in the home-made pumpkin pie from scratch recipe I'm using or the apple-cider brine, I have posted it under the Baking, Crochet, Creativity column to the left.

As we speak, my pumpkin is baking, dressed in tin-foil and my house is cleaned! My turkey has been sitting in the Apple-Cider Brine since last night and will continue to soak up the cider-goodness until baking time tomorrow. As I continue prepping for the feast my family will enjoy, my excitement for this small Thanksgiving grows with intensity. This is the first year my daughter will understand what Thanksgiving is and the first Christmas where she knows a Christmas Tree, Christmas Presents, and Santa Clause.

With the baking of my pumpkin pie tonight, the cooking of homemade cranberry sauce tomorrow and the feasting on apple-cider turkey, my family is truly beginning the first of many traditions to follow. I hope for the rest of my life (yes, this is a stretch, I know) my daughter and I can bake pumpkin pies the night before Thanksgiving and enjoy the spirit of the season as we are this year.

I'd like to leave you with one final thought today, before I run out the door to purchase our Christmas Tree Permit. This saying first entered my life when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter two years ago and I often find myself returning to it. I feel it's quite appropriate for the day.

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. ~Native American Proverb.

Down Home

Last night I found myself generating our family's Thanksgiving dinner menu: turkey, stuffing, pie; the usual. And, this year, it will only by my small family celebrating the holiday. My husband, daughter and myself will gather on Thanksgiving to eat the much anticipated meal in celebration of gratefulness.

Originally I was a little disappointed that this Thanksgiving would be small. I'm most accustomed to traveling from one Thanksgiving dinner to another as my parents are divorced and therefore the holiday has been defined by large family gatherings. The thought that this year there would only be two adults and a toddler to feed, disheartened me.

Well, my 'bummed out' feelings have subsided as I've come to realize that this small gathering is the perfect opportunity for me to practice and familiarize myself with traditional turkey dinner home-made style as well as further define traditions I would like to set forth for my own family.

In all my anticipation for this down-home turkey dinner, I've begun researching. I've opened my cookbooks, scoured the internet, returned to the texts that originally set me on this journey (see list of texts under the 'Finding My Truth' column) and have discovered many of the dishes I plan to serve my family on this holiday can be created from scratch with little to know effort and prep - all that is required is curiosity and desire.

My current Thanksgiving menu includes dishes such as homemade pumpkin-pie with homemade whipped cream, hand-made rolls as well as traditional candied yams and mashed potatoes. Most importantly, I will be brining our family's turkey for two days prior to our meal. Knowing that I'm getting back to my roots and acknowledging the holiday cooking traditions of my fore mothers excites me beyond belief. It is with this small gathering that I can practice these early cooking traditions only to perfect and use every Thanksgiving from here on out, fore as I've come to learn, once I create 'down home', it is down home I stay and quickly lose all desire for pre-made.

Fall Decorations

The past three days we woke to a slight dusting of snow on the ground. Clouds mystified the tops of the Sierra Nevadas only allowing glimpses of the accumulation of snow when the clouds would break, briefly cloaking the hills and our valley in sunshine. Somehow this immediate change in weather, sunny fall to windy winter, exhilarates me. I want to bundle up and get outside.

This morning, my family and I went to our local arboretum and tromped around in the brisk morning air. The downed leaves frozen, while patches of snow cover grass we rolled in last summer. In our exploration and morning walk, I collected a handful of acorns and tiny pine cones. The spirit of the approaching holiday season persuaded me to take these natural gifts home and use them in my house. I knew of a busted up and severely damaged holiday wreath in my garage and these goods would do very well in repairing the rejected berry wreath.

Once home, I hunted down my hot glue gone and got busy restoring this old wreath back to life. The wreath turned out marvelously and now hangs, chilled, against my front door.

Looking at this wreath I have such satisfaction in two things: One, that I collected these natural decorations during a moment of discovery with my family. This brings such joy to me, and looking upon these pine cones and the acorns glued to the red berry wreath, I think of those I love and the moments in a lifetime that matter most. Second, I was on the verge of throwing this dejected wreath away, adding to the waste already excessively produced by humans. By finding and creating a new purpose for this wreath, I have recycled and now have new interest in its use; in the joy it brings me.