Friday, July 8, 2011

How I LOVE Northern California!


Hi there!
Sorry it's been a while! I keep meaning to post, and then get distracted or forget or something. Anyway...this last weekend I spent in Nevada visiting family, and though I must admit that Nevada has its own sort of beauty I missed my dear California. I had a wonderful time but it is so hot there! Well, actually I don't think it's any hotter than it is here degree-wise, but it's all dry heat AND there are almost no trees! (Which equals almost no shade. :P)

Some of the things that I did while in Nevada:
1) I learned how to dance a Virginia Reel--super fun by the way.
2) I went horseback riding for the first time in like 5 years.
3) And...got a major sunburn from #2.

You can imagine I was hurting just a little by the time we got back to California. Not just from the sunburn but also from horseback riding for almost two hours after having not done it in years. But was it one of the best weekends of my life? Yeah, probably. :)

I think it was a little while after we had passed Penn Valley when I started to get really excited. (Of course, I had been excited ever since we had passed the California border and started seeing multitudes of trees again.) I could smell the lovely green fields and was actually happy to feel the muggy air.

We passed lovely green fields....

...with trees in the background!!



And then--The walnut orchards!

You would not believe what joy these sights gave to my little heart.

As we were driving by all of this, the last two lines of the poem "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud" by William Wordsworth came to me.

"And then my heart with pleasure fills,
and I dance with the daffodils."

Now, obviously I have not been talking about daffodils. But I thought of it more because of the feeling conveyed. Which is more or less how I felt at the time--that I would have danced with the daffodils, had there been any. I don't think there is anything quite so nice as returning home after a vacation (no matter how wonderful the vacation was) and smelling all the familiar smells and seeing all the familiar sights.

And there you have a few of the reasons why I think Northern California is superior to any other place I have yet had the privilege of visiting/residing in.

Now a question for you: What place do you love best?

Until next time!

6 comments:

  1. YES, coming home is wonderful. I felt the same thing last month after I had been in North Carolina for three weeks. Can't wait to read more of your posts:)

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  2. We have made the trip to Utah and back so many times --always passing through Nevada. I actually used to feel so sorry for anyone who had to live there! I have more appreciation now for the solitude and simplicity of the desert. It does me good every now and then -- quiets my mind. Anyway, this post reminds of the 3 yr. old Emily who moved to California from Utah. You are definitely a California Girl now!

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  3. Emily, you won DESIRES of THE DEAD on my blog, Literary Rambles. E-mail me your address so I can send you your book.

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  4. Awesome! Thanks so much! I just finished emailing you a few minutes ago. :)

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