What Does a Bear Sound Like / Feeding Elijah

Not outdoors, per se, but something Sonia this summer learned while camping down at Mammoth Pool with Grandpa Sean and Gruncle Casey:




And more recently, helping out her buddy Elijah with some 'Os':

The Many Adventures of the Much Adventurous

[Tsk tsk new parents. So slow with your posting—even worse than last time! We know, we know. Life has been pretty crazy of late.]

Where even to begin? Since shredding way back in February, Sonia has:

1) Surfed again at Linda Mar in Pacifica (3/31/09). This was just last week, while dad was on intersession, helping Matt the surf teacher teach surfing. Mom and SoSo came to the beach one day, and Sonia got to watch her mom catch wave after wave. SoSo very much enjoyed the sand (it was a little bit different than Bolinas—darker). We don't have any pictures of SoSo hanging ten (she also did a few aerials), but we do have a dorky picture of dad trying to turn off the camera on the nose of the huge 11'6" tanker they were using to teach the girls.

2) Hiked in her new hiker backpack (3/29/09). Just a few days before the big surf/beach day, the family took out our fancy Deuter baby backpack (not exactly this model, but the same basic idea), which was a gift from one of dad's student's dad, Frank, who works at REI and can get awesome deals on fancy baby backpacks. In the past we always hiked with SoSo in her Bjorn, which felt very Euro but was not very kind to the old back. The Deuter, true to its price point, was a magical hiking experience, distributing SoSo's weight (which is increasing daily!) across many straps and buckles. Very nice. And SoSo gave the thumbs up both for visibility—she could hang out and see all the sights from up atop dad's back—and comfort, as she did her favorite falling-asleep move. We did our favorite hike out to the Brazilian Room (where mom and dad said 'we do'), but cut it short in the interest of popping over to the Little Farm. There SoSo got up close and personal with her first real-life farm animals, from a big huge cow to rabbits (not the stew kind...) and goats with their weird sideways rectangular pupils. The coolest of all were the brand-new baby piglets. Only a week old—which means only 51 weeks away from weighing 700 pounds! Yikes. It made us appreciate SoSo's more reasonable growth parabola. We all agreed that we should do a family trip up there with Cousin Cobo before he relocates this summer, and when we do we should bring some lettuce for the creatures to munch.

and the big one:

3) Traveled to Tulum, MEXICO (2/14-2/21/09). That's right. Our little wee one is an international baby of mystery. This adventure started way back in December, when mom and dad had to get SoSo outfitted with her very own passport. It struck mom and dad as a little bit ridiculous, since all white babies look the same, that she needs photo ID to travel. But Big Brother requires, and so we do. We were very trepidatious about the whole travelling process—from the flights to the rental car to the drive down the Yucatan peninsula from Cancun to Tulum. SoSo loved the flying—in fact she charmed all of our co-passengers, getting many 'wow your baby is such a good traveller!' comments (which are a little bit like 'hey, thanks for not making the last four hours a nightmare!' comments), and even some random pictures snapped by strangers of her smiling little face. We flew with Grammie Betty and Grauntie Sherry (origin of the infamous peanut butter ball recipe!), and once in Mexico we rendezvoused with Uncle Liam and Auntie Ness, fresh off their 87 hour flight from Dubai. From there with rented a minivan, which was to be SoSo's nemesis for the rest of the trip, and made the hour drive down the post-apocalyptic highway, full of barely-visible (with signs that aren't visible at night, either, for the record) topes, or speed bumps, random road-work in a permanent state of disrepair, and police carrying machine guns, lit (and why not?) by what looked like trash cans on fire. Ah, Mexico. But boy, did SoSo hate that minivan. For the entire week, any time she woke up inside it, or was put inside it, she screamed. Now, our SoSo is no lover of cars—she is not that stereotypical baby that can be sent to dreamland by a quick motor around the block—but never have we seen her hate so openly, and so passionately, a vehicle. Uncle Liam and Auntie Ness agreed that she was lodging an early protest against any suburban-ification of our lifestyle; that, perhaps, and a gentle reminder to reduce our carbon footprint in general. Luckily, however, once we arrived to Tulum, to our brilliant Casa Blanca, which we had rented before in 2006 for April's wedding, there was only minimal driving that needed to be done for the rest of the trip. From there on, it was all relaxing on the beach (the picture above is from our back porch), going for walks, sitting around and reading or playing cards, and generally chilling out. SoSo did dip her toes in the Caribbean (not too shabby for a first ocean experience!), and she loved laying on our bed under the big palapa, watching the fronds as the breezes wafted through the room. It was an amazing vacation—none of us can wait to go back.

Until next time!

Sonia Shreds

[Tsk tsk, new parents-- so slow with your posting! We know, we know-- Sonia had her first beach day a solid two weeks ago now. We apologize. Life intrudes.]

But allow us to set the scene: MLK Jr.'s Bday, a Monday, one of those bizarre California/Global Warming January days, a brilliant 70 degrees. This was two days past Grandma Diane's very moving memorial, and the family decided it was a day for an adventure. We piled into the Rav5000 and drove out over Mount Tam, past the site of Uncle Kyle and Auntie Hannah's wedding, and down to see the breakers breaking out at our beloved Bolinas Beach.

We only brought one board, and mom and dad took turns getting out in the water-- the first time mom had been on a board in more than a year!! The waves were a little on the fast and choppy side (leftovers from a big swell the Friday before), so mostly we rode the wash and just enjoyed the incredible sunshine and that unique feeling of being out in the water.

SoSo rocked her sweet new UV-protectant sunhat (in 'surf' pattern, appropriately enough), bought for our upcoming trip to Mexico. She put her toes in the sand, which seemed to be quite an exciting sensory experience for her. And, as you can see from the picture, she already has her longboard slouch down pat.

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This Sunday past we had a bonus outdoor adventure while we were down in Santa Cruz. In anticipation of much couch-sitting and over-indulging during the Super Bowl, Bubbe, Uncle Ben, Auntie Hannah, Uncle Kyle, Cousin Cobo, and the family went for a mini-hike along a trail that leads away from Grandpa and Bubbe's house and out along the backside of the hill where the UCSC campus is perched. The trail has some named that begins with a 'p'-- Piggiwig or something to that effect.

The Piggiwig trail was beautiful! SoSo slept through most of it, since it was her favorite morning nap time, but those of us who were awake enjoyed tall redwoods, views down to the ocean, a very cute wiener dog, little breaks in the canopy that let the sun down into clearings, an ancient stone water/feeding trough, about fifty couples with babies, an angry old woman who told Uncle Ben to get off his bike, and several little kids who made us wonder about the future versions of Cobo and SoSo, and the many adventures they will have.

More soon!

New Year's Day in the Redwoods

Hello Familia!

This blog is going to be a record, as the title suggests, of the various hikes, camping trips, surfing outings, and other outdoor adventures Ms. Sonia Rowan Glass undertakes.

We began this year, as has lately been a tradition for us, with a nice long New Year's Day hike. (In 2008 we did the Tulle Elk Preserve hike out in Point Reyes, where we saw, among the Tulle Elk, Frances McDormand.)

We decided to head up to the Oakland hills, to the Redwood Regional Park, and to follow a route that would take us on a six-mile loop up across a ridge and then down into the redwoods. Though we didn't see any celebrities, the hike was great fun. A pretty intense first quarter mile to get up on top of the ridge, then a long ambling wander up and down across the ridge, where everything was absolutely bathed in fog. Our East Bay Hiking Guidebook promised us there were wonderful views out to the Bay and to Mt. Diablo the other direction, which seems likely-- lots of canyon fell away on either side of the ridge.

We could see that much, even being 'misted.' ('Misted' is Gabe's term for the state of having had too much Arbor Mist to drink, which we learned NYE at Jesse's fiesta, though there were no examples that night of misted people. And though we were not 'misted' on our hike in the technical sense, the term kept popping into one of our heads, as the clouds made ghosts of all the trees.) Several sections of the ridge offered long corridors of trees, like dream hallways dissipating in the morning. Beautiful stuff.

Two miles in we paused to have some string cheese and crackers-- there was a bench that would've been nice to sit on, but it was occupied. Three miles got us to the parking lot at the other end of the park, where we dipped down and left for a descent into the trees. For the first half mile or so the terrain felt the same-- that mix of eucalyptus and oak plus various foliage that is the standard east bay hills fare. But then suddenly, and it felt sudden, like a light switch, we were surrounded by ferns and redwoods. Moments like those, we agreed, make the Bay Area so magical-- to be in the midst of the city, but feel more than miles away, in a completely different world.

The trail followed a creek/stream, and the air had that dampness to it that you only find in those impossibly lush green spaces hundreds of feet below tall trees. We talked about Grandma Diane, and her ashes buried next to a (smaller) coastal redwood like the ones around us-- feeling very close to her as we began our first year without her physical presence on earth. We also talked about how sad it is that the giant redwoods that were these trees predecessors were all clear cut in the mid-19th century-- our guidebook tells us some of them were more than 20 feet in diameter, and so big that they were used as navigation points for ships entering the Golden Gate, more than 16 miles away. Hard to imagine-- either the trees themselves or the mindset of the people who cut them down.

The trail followed that stream for about two miles, then slowly emerged into a couple different meadows, before leaving us off back at the parking lot, where we shared a mocha brought in a new Xmas-present thermos (thank you Grandma Betty!), and Sonia recharged with the good stuff. A few observations for future versions of the hike:

1) It would be great in the summer. The ridge would be hot hot hot, then you could cool down with the stroll through the trees.

2) There's a great meadow at the end, near to the parking lot, with barbecue spots and a climbing structure for kids-- could be fun for some summer days, play some frisbee, have some food, and run around with the kiddies, maybe even go for a walk in the redwoods. Fun fun.

Ok, until next time!