you can usually see me getting off work,
and walking down the maple-shaded steps which lead out of the office.
I can look across the B.A.R.T. (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tracks and see pretty tree-covered hills dressed in golden summer grass.
I twist and strain to squeeze myself into the small crack of my car door. My car is so tightly packed into one of the narrow parking spaces the door can't open very wide, and it is a miracle my back still functions at all.Driving down the steep driveway, I look up and see the huge monstrosity of the multi-laned freeway overpass blotting out the sky above me. If you look closely, you can see a strange thing sticking out, which I've decided is the backside of a poor unfortunate pigeon that got stuck last spring trying to fit into a too-small hole.
One of my favorite parts of the short journey home is a secret road I pass on the left. It is inviting, and practically begs me to just brazenly get out of the car and walk down it's oak and willow strewn path. I never have, because I have a feeling it is someone's private driveway to their home along the creekside.
Further down along the right side of the road is a lovely assortment of cactus and agave just sprouting out next to the row of mailboxes. I find them beautiful with their different textures and shades of green.
Finally, I pull onto my street to my driveway. It is lined with huge valley oaks which in the fall, litter the ground with loads of giant acorns to be crushed under the car tires. The squirrels are busy with their gathering and storing labors, and appear to have lost their playful attitude.
After parking the car, I walk out of the old detached carport/garage along the red brick patio off the back lawn, where more often than not there are jays frolicking on the grass, digging up peanuts which they hid that morning...
Up the wooden porch stairs past the potted cactus and clematis vining around the rail....
22 comments:
You have a great way home - I love the picture with the cactus and agave, the pic with the concrete brigde reminds me of work :-(. Why doesn´t the crow surprise me? :-) Wish you a nice weekend! I´ll have one - my husband comes for a 8 day visit.
I enjoyed your trip home.
Does your grandson not know that fort-building is a grave and somber duty?
How far are you from Half-Moon Bay? Your road looks familiar.
Wow, way cool scenery. Thanks for sharing.
i thoroughly enjoyed every step of that journey, Terry. and burst out laughing when i scrolled down and saw the deliciously adorable face peeking out from beneath those cushions. that was wonderful.
Life is Good, my friend, Very Good, indeed. ; )
lovely tour of beautiful surroundings. the most beautiful sight are theose eyes of love shining up at you.
Terry, What a neat idea to share your trip home from work! I love your view from work of the hills, and your office building is actually very nice compared to many. Of course that private drive is inviting!!! You really should just take a little walk up there......you can always turn around the second you see a house, or maybe it won't be a driveway afterall! And best of all, how fun to find a little hunter (aka Hunter) waiting for you at the end of the drive home! I love my drive home too!!! Have a great day, and a Wonderful Weekend!!!!
Does such a munchkin come with the beautiful blanket? I used to build forts as a kid all over the house. One time, I lacked enough material for an especially big fort I was erecting and used the curtains from the living room windows...I had to cut them, of course...I remember a rather longish lecture and house arrest for a week.
That is a lovely drive home, you got there!
SOe - Whoopie! Your husband is away much of the time? Bummer. (8 days is good, but it sounds like it won't be enough ;)) Not much cactus over there in Island - just rocks and moss.
Nessa - The way home (it is the back way, not the through-town way...) has lots of spots for butterflies to hang out. Peaceful places to pull off the road and use that nifty little typing machine you have too :)
Doug - But of course he most certainly knows! Upon completion however, is when you glimpse the broad smile of pride (before he decides to make some drastic architectural tweaks and levels the whole thing).
Walnut Creek to Half Moon Bay? 43.2 miles, or roughly 58 minutes drive (without traffic) You know those quaint little backroads... they all look the same.
SoCal Sal - yes, I find it beautiful too. Now if I could just get rid of the surrounding city... I'd be a happy girl. (how do I turn off the freeway sound at night?)
Neva - Any chance your middle name is Pollyanna? That's the puppy - never a discouraging word :) Yes, that little kiddo which all too rarely frequents my livingroom is one of the things in life that just lights up every dark corner with his smile. Life IS good.
Lime - Eyes of love - I'm sure mine are just as fanatically filled with dewy drippy melted love as his whenever I see him :)
Kelly - HA HA - little hunter is right! He leaps out at me from behind doorways, from around the corner... with a big RAAAAAHHHHHH!!! (Sometimes, he really DOES scare me!)
Minka - My Sweetie's Mama made the pretty blanket/table wear framing Hunter's face... she is the most talented seamstress ever. She knits entire Lopapeysas, she sews, she darns, she is fabulous.
I say, if you haven't built a fort out of mounds of blankets and chairs, card tables etc, then you haven't lived. Ha ha ha- you are as ingenious as ever, using the materials at hand. You should have been applauded rather than scolded, for your resourcefulness!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this post.
You've made my day.
terry this is such an enjoyable post. I enjoyed your description of your way home after work and the photos..
thank you
tc
Lovely pics, good journey!
Oh you must go down your secret road one day! I'd have to! Could be an amazing story to tell to the fort building munchkin!!
Oh and us!!
BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved your journey home and the little munchkin at the end was just such a joyful finish!
Faboo!
You are RIGHT about the pigeon! I enjoyed your trip home and DARE you to go down that 'secret road'!
Ariel - you are the queen of pictorals... I'm honored.
TC - so cool to have you visit and see my path each day. We all have one, even if it is from our front door to the mailbox. :)
Ebezp: You know I will - one day I'll walk home, and then innocently become a trespasser. Heck, I'll take the kiddo fort builder with me for protection LOL :)
Miz B: I know you understand munchkins like noone else!! We shall meet, one day in that famous city in which you live. It won't be so odd, you'll see. I think you folks are quite cool.
Bird Annonymous - Yes, I'm doomed, can't handle the curiousity. One day I shall venture down the secret road, and I shall bring you all along. I'm not sure-sure about the luckless pigeon, but that is my best guess after countless observations... :(
Great news! I'll be counting the days before 'one day' happens! Might even remind you how long I have been waiting eventually
};-} I agree with your observation, although odd maggots aren't falling onto windscreens by now ;)
Seems like such a beautiful place to live.
Wow, he's grown so big since the last photo that you posted of him. Sweet cherubic face. :-)
Annonymous - LOL! I think the pigeon has become a bird mummy by now... no more maggots to speak of. It has been there since late spring, and it is the end of summer now, so I think it has become feather art. It does drive me nuts every single day as I pastt below it, wondering...
Tom and Icy - Ohio is beautiful too. My Grandfather was born there (in Cleves) where his parents ran a general store. You have an awful lot of cats around there though...
Autumn - I've missed you. Hunter is growing bigger every day as little guys do. I'm sure M is bigger and oh so much more mature than when I last saw her :) Nothing is more to be treasured than those laughing eyes of our dear sweet youngsters.
What an adorable face to come home to! I think all the craziness of the day would just disappear.
Very nice journey home ;o)
I've been on the B.A.R.T.! It's a great way to travel and not to have to deal with the traffic that's for sure.
;o)
I love your views and wow, what a welcome home!
That poor pigeon, I hope that's not really what it is, I think its a piece of paper, yeah, that's the ticket.
wow is he ever a cutie.
Doug is a funny man.
and your office, i kept thinking
big record company,
highrises big biz
towering office tower....
i forgot its all laid back
nice easy going relaxed
low rises there.
man, thats so less stressful
than these huge people filled
towering towers.
and you can see trees even.
Neat photos.
Post a Comment