Connections

"If women remember that once upon a time we sang with the tongues of seals and flew with the wings of swans, that we forged our own paths through the dark forest while creating a community of it's inhabitants, then we will rise up rooted, like trees." - Sharon Blackie

I read this spring that the things that were most important to you as a child are the things that are your core beliefs. I immediately thought of the ocean I ran in, the trees I climbed, and the grandparents who filled me.

Ancestors, Trees, Ocean.

In Ireland we learned that they say Sky, Earth, Water and it felt like a connection I've never felt before. 

And I got to bathe with seaweed.

We stood in an ancient Hawthorne grove in a ring fort. I touched a 500 year old Hawthorne and we sang to her. Now I sing it in my head as I pass the many Hawthorne's in our neighborhood.

"Red juicy berries and sweet white flowers,

red juicy berries and sweet white flowers.

Thorns that protect and connect to your power,

thorns that protect and connect to your power.

How can you teach me of softness and strength, of how to relate with love, with love.

How can you teach me of softness and strength, of how to relate with love, with love."

- Sage

So many portals we traveled to. Meeting ancestors all along the way. 

In a cemetery where some of the graves face west or Tír na nóg (Land of Youth) and the other half face east (the eastern church) overlooking the sea.

In another where in the ruin of a church an older stone from another time is in the window casing. A Sheela na Gig. And ancient visual of the Land and Goddess. Fertility and ancestors.

Truly there are not words for these connections and all I saw and experienced.

Reentering

Slieve Aughty Center

 Here I am. In the desert. But in someways my mind has not come back from Ireland. Mind? Maybe heart would be a better description. I've been using my mind as I get school plans ready, grocery shop and make dinner (no small feat after having personal chefs), and start back into work. Yesterday I spent about half the day at this computer creating a class and a presentation to go with it! 

Reentry. It's an interesting word.

Our third night on our herbal tour was the full moon. After a full day in a remnant of an ancient forest we had eaten and danced the night away at a pub. When we pulled up to our lodgings after dark (sunset was close to 10pm) and so tired we were greeted with this view. We had seen peeks of it along the drive but this. This was fantastic and another notch on a magical day.

Glengarriff, Co. Cork

This was my first experience on a "tour" but I don't think this was anything like what most would experience. A bus full of like minded people, a bus driver in Hawaiian shirts, guides who were more like family by the end, and experiences like no other. We did not go places other tour busses were parked, we went some placed maybe a tour bus should not have parked! We saw more trees than people. We bush peed more than we used public toilets. And may I add what an invigorating experience it is to pee in a nettle patch! Don't worry, no stings.

Burren National Park

I made connections I will never forget. Connections to the land, ancestors, myself, Fern, plants, trees, and new friends. Those connections were unlike any I think I've made before. During our opening circle we each had an opportunity to say our intentions for this trip out loud. Mine were to find peace and connection. Some of the places we stood held more peace than I even thought existed. A lot of friends have joked since I got back that they didn't know if I would come home...yea...

Wild thyme and orchids on the Burren

Each day during my morning time with myself I have been letting something from the trip come back to my mind. There is usually some meaning about it, however small. And there is always something. This morning it was these small shells, Common Limpet. They are in my Irish Seashore field guide under, "Snails, Mussels, and their Relatives" and it says they are characteristic of Irish rocky shores. I brought a couple old washed up ones home. These make me think of how at home I felt on that shore, the same at homeness I actually feel on my Grandma's beach. A place most sacred and special to me. At the time it felt surprising and exciting. I felt alive in a way I haven't. It made me miss home (San Diego) and feel at home all at the same time. It made me think if ancestors who maybe felt that way as they stood in places in the United States. A connection even though it was not home. 

This has been a good daily practice for me. A way to feel and sit while also reentering my life here. No lie it has not been all rosy. I have had some hard conversations with myself and have felt melancholy too. 

Leili just came in and said, "if you got half way to Ireland (Dan is on the east coast) I think you would just go and then tell us after you got there"! Ha Ha!

So here I am. Reentering. 💛

Feeling the Change

Beach near Lahinch Co. Clare, Ireland

 

This morning I put on a sweater for my walk. I felt it the other morning...Friday I believe. The change. Which was funny because just the day before Ashley English had written about the "Dog Days of Summer" ending on August 11th. She is thousands of miles away from where I live, and often the high Sierra desert is its own strange thing. But here we are like a switch was flipped.

I mentioned it to a friend, and her reply was, "oh there is plenty of warm weather to come still". That is true but not what I was saying. Of course this slide down really started on the Summer Solstice when the days cease growing longer and pause before slowly changing. But this feels different. School in our town started today. Not us, but for the last year.

I have a senior and an 8th grader, one in the last year of "prescribed" learning, one who has chosen public school for high school (here in Nevada its all or no high school, no switching between home and public).

So what did I do this summer? Gosh it flew by. I was so busy with new families and work at the beginning and then I left everything and spent nearly the whole month of July in Ireland. I still can not quite believe it. It was wonderful. Maybe I'll post about it. Since coming home there has been lots of catching up, lake trips, walks, and wanderings. No lie, the reentry has had some bumps. But it's been good too.

Spring

I went to the farmers market this morning.

It's been hard to get myself there recently. Nothing really, just the desire to do absolutely nothing, and talk to no one once Saturday morning comes. Maybe when it moves to Thursday evenings again...

Today I am watering my very large yard. By hand. My timer goes off every 20 min and I move my four hoses. We need to get the sprinkler system fixed. Or do a rain dance. But spring has sprung. The fruit trees are blooming, the dandelions are up, and my garden is covered in weeds.

I've been listening to THIS and THIS. I'm not a person who listens to every episode of a podcast but I've actually listened to a fair amount of We Can Do Hard Things lately. Maybe because life is fine but feels hard right now.

I've been reading If Women Rose Rooted, also The Diary of a Provincial Lady, and I recently finished Summer Kitchens. 

I've been watching Call the Midwife from the beginning. Predictable, easy, and not as stressful as watching the news.

I am also avoiding most news but still trying to stay informed on Ukraine and its people. I enjoyed this interview on the author of Summer Kitchens, Olia Hercules on BBC The Food Chain. And also donated to her #cookforukraine and World Central Kitchen.

 

Music

 

Well I guess I missed February. Really there was a lot. It was survival. Nothing earth shattering just lots of things that made a rather large hill.

This morning I was reading the NYT weekender article about pandemic playlists. 

I read THIS one and THIS one.

A couple lines that stuck out for me were, "I label my playlists by month and use them like a diary, to keep a record of a particular moment."

I think this hopped out at me because of my lifelong propensity to journal in one way or another, a written journal, a nature journal, blogging, instagram...the list goes on. And I do associate music with memories. But I've never been big on making playlists, I tend to listen to albums. Maybe a journal of albums.

Which brings me to the second quote, "I wonder what will become of our pandemic playlists years from now. Will we be inclined to revisit them?...Or will we leave them to history, fossils from a time we'd prefer to forget?"

Which made me think of earlier this week, I have found myself in the car a lot in this season of life. Practices and lessons, work and support...I have a lot of time in there. And I pulled up the second She & Him album on Spotify (yes I stuck with Spotify) because it has always reminded me of a simple time in my life. Four small kids, living with my dad after losing our house, beach days with homeschool friends, and driving along the coast to La Leche League meetings. But this time it was not simplicity and sunshine that shown though. It made me uneasy. My anxiety and sadness rising. My heart hurting. I was rather surprised. 

So back to that question, "Will we be inclined to revisit them?" I guess we will have to wait and find out. And them maybe wait some more and feel it again. 

Old Fashioned

 Blogs are so old fashioned. I think they are only used to link to from social media when you have an audience...

Oh well here I am blogging away like its the 2010's. The good thing is no one reads it anymore, I am mostly blogging to talk to myself in a less crazy way. If that's at all possible. Or maybe for nostalgia? Maybe not, there are no cute baby pictures or adventure pictures or even any crafting pictures. It's just words now. Words. There are already too many of those in the world. And if you were going to read words you would read a book.

I am currently reading The King Must Die. I just finished She of The Sea, next is If Women Rose Rooted. This year I made a list of books for friends, hand written, as a holiday gift. I thought it was a little silly but those I gave it to really loved it. And now I want my friends to write book lists. Or really any kind of list. Favorite recipes of the year (the really tried and true type you turn to again and again), most listened to music, favorite hikes, binge worthy tv, favorite gardening gloves...anything really! 

Slow and old fashioned are just right for right now I think.

Steam

Steam. Healing in all its ways. A warm mug, a warm bath, a dreamed of sauna, soup steaming up into my face, a just finished dishwasher "facial" as we call it here...

In times past we would have to work harder for that steam. Now it's not very hard. Hot water heater, stoves you don't have to light and tend (though I do cook on a 1930's gas stove with pilot lights), a dishwasher vs washing all by hand. With all of life "eases" have we made life harder? 

I was chopping veggies last night for dinner. I've grown to enjoy that time. Standing there, maybe with music, maybe in blessed silence. Maybe with a kombucha or a warm cup of tea. But just there. Rhythmically chopping. You can't hurry too much or you might loose a finger, you can't go too slow or whiney, hungry people might show up. It is, I think a good thing. The slowing down and doing something the way my grandmothers have done for eons.

Eons. Can you imagine it? Can you feel those before you when you do everyday tasks that have been done for generations? Inviting those who have come before us into our minds is a beautiful thing. There is much to learn, they have much to teach. Ancestors are there if we slow down just a little.

Last night I made THIS - Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup but over rice.

And THIS Shakshuka With Feta (but we use goat chèvre) has been an easy but wonderful recipe on repeat in my kitchen. 

I usually treat myself to one cooking like subscription, I am really enjoying the NYT Cooking app right now, Bon Appétit, and Vegetarian Times have all been favorites in the past. I also checkout an insane amount of cookbooks from the library (especially in January and September). Fern and I have been getting some off the NYT Best Cookbooks of 2021 list. Most recently À Table by Rebekah Peppler.

 

Broth

 Its 2022.

I've pulled out some broth to defrost.

Life is unexpected. Occasionally I'd like it to be boring. Mundane. Predictable in its ease. Right now it feels like it is always demanding. Always changing. One fire to the next flood. 

I worry about the levels of stress we live with. The baseline level of trauma that is always there. And what we do with that trauma.

Sometimes I am caught in the inability to act because of life. Sometimes I can not sit still. But if we are all living this new level of stress and trauma is it an excuse anymore? Does it change our collective baseline? Does it change what is appropriate action or inaction?

We just finished watching possibly the most popular dystopian epic of my generation on film. Star Wars. The whole thing. I know we call it sci fi or fantasy but really its dystopian. They are our favorite tales. They make us feel like we are stable in our lives because of their chaotic lives. THIS NPR article was a great article from years ago. I don't think it is only for teens either, we are all trying to make reason of this world.

Are our lives really that different from these tales? No we are not flying at light speed. We don't have cruisers to hop on and fly away. But are we not all fighting battles between our own light and dark? The light and dark of this world? I don't know. It seems we are living our own dystopian novel, or at least the beginning of one.

Maybe our goals should be the same as the characters we watch though out the films. Connection, family of choice, letting people change, and tapping into that life force that runs through every tree, rock, and person. 

Weird

 All of October has past and we are nearing the end of November.

I am disillusioned with social media. 

I am tired of being sold something. Anything really.

Anxiety makes scrolling feel good but does the scrolling actually make it worse? It is shortening our already short attention span? 

Sometimes having book to reach for helps. Sometimes breathing helps. Sometimes going outside helps. But sometimes I still find myself scrolling. Or missing the good things on social media. Friends, great ideas, beauty...

It is a weird season, in a weird time, in a weird culture. And social media has made it no less weird.

Is simplicity the answer?

 

Late stage capitalism.

I've heard this term more than once recently. And makes me think I should research it.

It first makes me think of fear. I think it is used to instill fear. Fear can be good, but fearful words used to make you feel something sends up a red flag for me. That does not mean that it isn't true, usually there is truth in fearful words. I just don't like when others try to get people to react or feel something because of their words.

And truthfully, I'm not a fan of capitalism. As I sit here there is a poster in my line of sight that says, "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings." - Ursula K. Le Guin

Do we need capitalism? Yes. Should it be the basis of our society? I'm not too sure about that. I am inclined to say no. Am I just a jaded gen x? Yes. Am I an expert on all of this? No. But it seems to me that if we relied a little less on capitalism and a little more on using less we'd all be better off.

Yes I am overly simplifying it I am sure. But why can't simplicity be the answer? 

Why can't simplicity be the answer?

1992

It is strange isn't it how the calendar keeps on going by? This picture was taken back in March while I got to sit next to my sister after not seeing her for a year. Now it's already nearing the end of August. 

I saw a tweet the other day that said 1981 is as far away from today as 1931 was in 1981...

How did that happen? How did my childhood become something so far off? We use to wear poodle skirts and have a sock hop... that would be like my gals having a NKOTB party while wearing florescent bike shorts with LA Gear high tops! So less iconic.

I was also thinking about how much has changed in my life since 2015. Seven years I've been saying, when I find the new normal then...

I guess stress and trauma after trauma is the new normal. Generally speaking I am happy. I miss my mom achingly. I miss my pre-mom's-death dad. I miss long slow summers. I miss traveling as a pack with my kids. I miss simplicity and less commitments. I miss ignorance. I miss not having to care.

But I don't miss plenty other things. I don't miss ignorance (I know, I know). I don't miss square boxes. I don't miss shallow friendships. I don't miss making myself smaller to fit in or not rock the boat.

Life is different. Thats ok. Maybe I'll throw a NKOTB party...without the bike shorts...

 

Radical

 Life has been being lived completely indoors lately. It's hard, not going to lie. Our region is on fire and the smoke is suffocating. I heard this morning they were burning part of Lassen Volcanic National Park to try to save it. That sentence just hurts my heart. 2016 found us at Lassen a few times, it was part of my healing after mom's death and all that 2016 brought. 

The heaviness that this years climate changes have brought are numbing. We are here. I have always clung to the notion that you teach our children to love our outdoor spaces before they can become stewards and activists...obviously this model works, for some, but maybe we should have been taking a more radical approach! Maybe my teachers, instead of helping us form an environmental club and doing beach clean ups should have been teaching us about the loss of Hetch Hatchy and the UNSUSTAINABLE harnessing of the Colorado! Maybe they should have taught us about infrastructure and the building of homes in the western part of our country at unsustainable levels! Maybe we should have had true indigenous teachings in school so that we would have learned early to listen to our elders about their knowledge of land stewardship and wild fires!

Do I blame my teachers? No. I had some radical teachers for the time and place. My 7th grade science teacher did help us form that environmental club. She was radicle in many ways. I had another science teacher, Mr. Jacobs my senior year of HS who took us through the eastern Sierras and Death Valley creating awe inspiring nature experiences. He also pulled us over just outside of Lone Pine CA, to what looked like an abandoned town with a derelict building. It was. It was Manzanar. And we sat there as he told us what had happened there. And that it was wrong. That was 1997, it was the first time I had heard of Japanese Internment camps. But I digress.

Is this our new August weather? The season of hiding inside just so that I can breathe a little? I don't know the answers. I don't know what we should do. For today I am turning off the news. My heart hurts for so many around the world. So many women. So many trees. So many.

Read THIS today and yes.

* Donnor Lake last night at sunset after we had to break out of the house from cabin fever.

Today

This morning I pulled out my garlic. I love how it fills the air with it's pungent smell. My harvest was not as robust as I had hoped. I planted more cloves than what I pulled. So either some didn't grow, or I will find they grow next year. Who knew garlic could be a late bloomer!

In past years if you read a post around this time there would be kids holding sparklers, maybe a firework shot, and definitely a parade picture or twelve. We spent nearly every 4th in my mom's small town from when Riley was in my belly until he was 14. Now? Well I would totally be ok skipping the day. Mom's keep somethings going for their kids and I tried the first couple of years but it's also ok for my kids to see that grief changes life.

So I pulled my garlic this morning, we will go to a neighbor's for bbq later, Dan will take the kids to see fireworks if they want to, and another 4th will pass.

I read THIS essay this morning. I listened to THIS song. And I am finishing THIS book today. 

 

Sheet-pan Dinner Heatwave Bust.

We are descending into the dreaded Western US heatwave that has been making the news after a short reprieve from our high 90's in June weather...that is to say its been HOT and it will continue to be HOT!

Before it got crazy hot Fern and I became sheet-pan dinner junkies. It started with the NYTimes Cooking recipe for sheet-pan Bibimbap. We love Bibimbap and any excuse to eat kimchi so that was a hit and is still in fairly heavy rotation. Then Samin Nosrat (she's amazing!!!) on the Home Cooking podcast mentioned oven roasted frozen veggies (episode 1) and then it got crazy over here. We were literally making large amounts of brown rice in the instant pot that would last several days and then roasting whatever veggies we had on hand or had picked up between classes, appointments, and work plus a protein. We then threw different condiments and/or fermented veggies on top (there is a joke that 1/3 of our fridge space is taken up with this menagerie...). This was happening for every dinner!

But now this Great Western Heatwave...my inability to run the AC very low, and the oven.

I think the next step is to figure out sheet-pan dinners on the bbq...

 

Yesterday was my big planting day. I often do it in the late evening when it has cooled off but I had so many seedlings I knew I would never get it done in an evening. So after another trip to the vet Fern and I dug in, literally! 

By three pm we were melting but only about half way through...like I said I had a lot of seedlings! So we stopped for the night and showered our very dirty and sore bodies. We had some little people over for the evening so that was it for yesterday. 

So now here I sit on my back patio, in the shade, knowing I need to get back at it. But oh man am I sore! Hopefully we get the rest in (minus a few that are just not quite ready to go out). I am so glad for Fern's help. She has great ideas and is a great companion to work with.

Hopefully next post I'll share a picture of all the seedlings in, looking small and neat, before a mid to late summer photo of the jungle it turns into! 

*Instead of all my seedlings living in the kitchen and caring them in and out every day I put my cold frame on the ground and filled it! Then I only had to open and close it everyday, and when the frost warning happened I only had to throw a couple blankets over it.

Here is Zinnia out exploring inside the cold frame early one morning.

 

Hello May 28th 2021!

Leili took this picture of the front yard Hawthorne tree in bloom. I like the angle and that the blossoms are not in focus. You can see the main part of the tree behind these up-close blooms too. 

I know I know, a blog post? Those have been sparse these last years. The kids have grown, four kids is more than a handful (one I have not gracefully managed most of the time), social media in the form of instagram took off (pictures and words is kind of what I did here), I became less self assured (that whole growing up bit), and the grief I've waded through the last 5 years and 8 months left me in a fog and a shadow of myself. 

So why tonight? Well for one I bought myself a new computer! My last one was 10 years old and a desktop which lived in the kitchen (great for homework and kids not great for a cohesive thought string). This new one is a laptop so I can hide in my office/sewing room or in a dark corner in a comfy chair (the current place). Second, it was just Fern and I tonight so we got our favorite Indian takeout (Thali) and we watched Julia and Julia. We did a Julia Childs unit (seriously so amazingly fun) but this movie was a little old for Leili so we waited until she was busy (first sleepover since the pandemic, no worries its outside in the backyard, no tent even). Julie and Julia and its 2000's technology is when I first started this blog. Writing it all in html (not sure I could remember how to do that anymore) and uploading cute pictures of my three small children so friends and family out of state could see them. Third I've actually been thinking about this space and really instagram is not my favorite, but I like the connection and the journal of sorts.

So I'm not sure what will end up here. I've changed, my life has changed, my kids are all so tall (Fern is still the petite one), and I'm busy. Maybe some herbal things will show up, maybe some nature, art maybe even? I'll keep the breastfeeding side of my life to a minimum, and homeschooling. I might share some of my writing.  Maybe some food/nutrition/recipe will appear. Or maybe nothing at all

I am currently cutting out inflammatory foods to see if I can get my ever upset digestion to smooth out. And because what I want more than anything is to not develop Alzheimers. I will gladly give up a lot to avoid that. 

So hello May 28th 2021 (how is it already nearly June?)!

 

Hollyhocks

This was the photo I shared on instagram today, its some hollyhock leaves and flowers. I am making a cold infusion with them to help with all of the irritation from our smoky air. It is that season, fire season. I've lived in the west most of my life and have endured fire season for all that time. Every year I hide indoors, seeking air conditioning and wishing the fires and smoke away.

I had not ever thought of enjoying my hollyhocks for anything other then their beauty but then yesterday a friend and herbalist stoped by to drop off a couple herbal preparations I bought from her and she said, "you are so lucky to have all this hollyhock to support you and your family right now". It turns out holly hock is in the marshmallow family (nope not those kind of marshmallows)! It is soothing and helps create a barrier to protect you from the irritation of mucus.

When we bought our house the backyard had been bulldozed to put in new septic lines so it was mostly dirt, and lots of it. But in one corner, just outside my bedroom window there were the tallest, prettiest hollyhocks growing. The kids all immediately stated this must be the right house because it had hollyhocks just like Grandma's house. Every year I smile when they grow tall thinking about my kids and how their minds work and who they hold dear.

HERE is a great primer on hollyhock as an herb. 

Is it odd that it was exactly two years ago today that I posted last? I think I might have a quarantine inspired blog revival... 

 

Last night I painted my toe nails. 

Three years ago today I flew to SLC to take care of my mom. During those two weeks I spent with her one of the things she asked me to do was to paint her toe nails. She felt unattractive and not very girly. Only one other time I my life do I remember her saying she did not feel girly, one time when we were broke and she could not afford to keep her hair as she liked it so she had cut it all off. 

So we went to the store, I pushed her wheel chair around and we picked out a nice hot pink. Her favorite. 

And then one of the last evenings I was there I painted her toe nails bright pink. She smiled. 

For the last three years I have not painted any other nails. I’ve not even had my nails painted. I’ve just had no desire to. It felt like a bit of a block but I did not know why. 

So last night as I sat and painted my toes that look just like hers I thought about it. And through the fog came this memory. The memory of painting my mom’s nails. 

And I smiled. 

A February Monday...

Oh Mondays...I don't even think it is anything except the thought of not weekend. So I am remembering a little Mary Oliver today, she is a wise one.

So to break up the Monday blues I thought I'd share a little of what is on my mind:

I am enjoying our short break in weather this weekend but also noticing that our weather is changing from that crazy January of snow to a February of (crazy) rain. Spring is coming! I think I need to go get some daffodils at TJ's! 

I keep sending the newish podcast Mindfulness + to everyone! It is super great and who does not need a little more mindfulness in their week! 

Along with podcasts I listened to a new to me podcast last night because of who was interviewed! On the new podcast Healthy MoJo they had Kevin Rahm (Mad Men and everything in between) on talking about growing up Mormon and his faith transition. It was really really good with some great insights if you or a family member has a faith transition and why to stay connected.

I have been trying to be better about writing my representatives, for praise or concern. I found this great "action list" that is mailed out each Sunday night, I can choose which things I want to act on and all the info I need is right there. I really don't like calling but I am a pretty good letter writer!! Along with that I came across this neat blog post at Alpha Mom about getting your kids involved with writing our representatives, and they provide a couple cute, printable postcards!

To provide a little creativity and color in my winter I have been knitting with a couple balls of Liberty Wool. It is so pretty and colorful! Just last night I cast off on a new hat for myself! But most of it has been for baby hats, easy take-anywhere-knitting for me.

Being a bit of a Shakespeare nerd, this week when discussing someone who became very offended at a statement the first thing I could come up with to say was, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." from Hamlet. Which got me to thinking about how you could really find a Shakespeare quote for nearly anything.

Hopefully today will be kind to everyone! 

Woman's March on Washington!

I choose to participate in the Woman's March yesterday, I have received some direct and indirect criticism about it. I am a patriotic person, I come from patriotic parents. I pray nightly for our national leaders and hope for good for our country, but that does not mean that I have to agree or stay quiet when those national leaders do things I don't agree with. And so I choose to stand up. I feel it is my patriotic duty to use my constitutional rights to speak out about preserving other's rights. 

I knitted and sent three pussy hats to Washington D.C. for the main march. One each in my mom, sister, and my name. It would have been amazing to have been there with them, the two most important women in my life.
* I received an email today from someone who received and wore one of my hats in D.C.! You can read about their adventure at the march HERE thank you Bonnie & David! 

It is always fun and rallying to make protest posters! It was wonderful to find so much beautiful art on the internet! Here and here.

I was able to make two more hats before I ran out of pink yarn and could find no more!

I met up with some of my lovely friends here and braved the cold! Burrr!

Poster watching was great! There were so many great ones. I liked this one. It was truly how this march felt. We were one big community, the conversation was like that of old friends among strangers! 

We were told they were expecting 3,000 marchers, a good number for the biggest little city...but the police estimated it to over 10,000! WOW! So much amazing energy.

After crossing the new Virginia St. bridge the plaza quickly filled up! It was amazing! The speakers were great!

My boys were at a scout campout and it was early for my girls but it was fun to have a few young souls with us! 

My back was in the photo gallery on the Reno Gazette Journal's page along with Amabell in the tree!

One friend snapped this photo of me with my pocket marchers! Some of the women in my family!

Another friend snap chatted me! 

And down south in warmer weather my daddy and sister Mary marched too! What a beautiful event, bringing together so much love and inspiration for change!