Rim Fire aftermath

Clif and I drove through Yosemite via Tioga Pass this morning, the day after it opened post-Rim Fire. It didn't look like a moon-scape until we were nearing the exit of the park on highway 120 toward Groveland. 

Everything appears a bit blurry because we weren't allowed out of our car due to dangers of falling trees etc. So... all photos are taken while on the move. Yey.

These photos are in no particular order (I'm sorry, but we are on a 1-year-anniversary vacay and I am happily failing to spend too much time on the blog posting portion of my life at the moment). 

Enjoy? Natural disasters are pretty amazing in a scary way.

California coastal wanderings (as far as we can get in 4 days)

Finishing a whirlwind day of work in which the Tioga Pass finally opened after the Rim Fire caused its closure for weeks, I have done absolutely NO packing for our trip tomorrow and haven't sleep solidly in four days.

Why? Because cute little Maxdog's month-long miserable rash caused need for puppy steroids, which, turns out, makes dogs thirsty (humans too, I guess), leading to urination. A LOT of urination. Morning and nighttime urination. Carpet, blanket, sidewalk, dirt mounds, pretty much everywhere there is pee. Buckets of it.

Anyway... my point is that we are going to Half Moon Bay tomorrow and I'm going to sleep. I will keep everyone updated with LOTS OF EXCITING FOOD PHOTOS (jk only slightly), scenery and pretty much everything else.

Until tomorrow!

Check it out! A photo that I certainly didn't take, of a place I've yet to go. But I hope it looks like Mono Lake, I mean, this. Yey! Photo courtesy of Josh Cripps

Inspiration

Don't put off your happy life. 

Conundrum

You have one blueberry out of the carton that cost $4.50, intending to savor juuussst one. But it's a really good "just one" so you have another. 

This one tastes too tart. Must have a pallet cleanser. Oooo. That one was too sweet and mushy. Gaack! Another perfect one and lovin' these!

And then you eat the whole carton. Realize post-consumption that you didn't even wash them. 

Story of my morning. 

"The Butler"

Ahh! I did it! I knew that I would have a day this month that I literally fell asleep, forgetting to write a post for the day. From here on out, I am utilizing my iPhone alarm to remind me of my nightly writing assignment. 

My excuse: I sat through an entire movie. In a movie theater. No snoring, no closing my eyes for longer than a blink, no longingly gazing toward the titch of light soaking through the cracks in the theater door. I didn't even think about my bed more than twice.

The reason? "The Butler." It was great. I laughed, I cried, mostly cried. But laughed a fair amount. Generally I felt proud of some American presidents and very ashamed of others. I won't reveal who killed it and who totally sucked (president-wise). 

Additionally, Obama's election made me squirt some more than when I originally saw the election results. In context, it is remarkable that Freedom Bus riders could live to see the first black president elected. Tears. Many tears. 

We live in a remarkable country... one that occasionally makes bad decisions for long periods of time but allows people of influence to eventually pull their heads out of their asses and be decent humans. 

Ahhhheemmm... gay rights. Just sayin'

Love love.

Kale-almond crispers

Gluten and dairy free eating has gotten easier. Sometimes I forget that I am not eating sugar - I've completely stopped craving it. But lately I miss the ease of snacking. Who doesn't love snacking?

Luckily, snacking on kale can be more satisfying than slamming a bag of potato chips. Here's what I've been up to: it only takes 5 minutes of prep and about 10 minutes of broiling. Then get yo' snack on!

Oh, P.S. there are only 4 ingredients. Yup. Perfect.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale

raw almonds

avocado oil

fennel salt

Directions:

In a bowl, lightly cover 1 to 2 cups of almonds (depending on how many you want to make - they keep!) with avocado oil and a few pinches of fennel salt (you can add more later once you add the kale.

Spread almonds on a cookie sheet and broil for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop kale, place in the same bowl, and drizzle avocado oil until kale is covered but not saturated with the oil. Sprinkle fennel salt to taste.

Once almonds are almost toasted completely, sprinkle kale on top of the almonds, then carefully "stir" the almonds and kale.

Place the cookie sheet back under the broiler until kale is crispy.

Serve in a bowl, or just eat straight off of the cookie sheet like me :) 

Scenes from today...