The Curious Housewife

Pardee Reservoir, Calaveras County This is as green as our county gets! This creek was difficult to pass two years ago. Yesterday it was just a hop, skip and a jump! See that little clearing at the top? We were on that ridge! There was a profusion of flowers towards the end of the hike. A real treat! That's me, on Patti's Pt, with the Mokelumne River and Pardee Reservoir in the background. The hillsides were covered with all sorts of orange and yellow flowers. Yesterday, Earth Day, was my birthday. I turned 49 this year, no mean feat! My friends, who are older than me, tell me that I am just a baby still. Let's hope so. I also went on a memorable hike yesterday to celebrate, quietly and inwardly, and to see what I could do for myself physically and mentally. It was a kind of perfect day really: great weather, an abundance of wildflowers, and enjoyable company. In short, a great day for a very long hike. Originally, I ...

Fourth of July Lake (in the distance) looking south from just a little west of Round Top Lake, Carson Pass area, highway 88, CA Are those mountains far away or closer than they look? Is that lake small or big? It depends on your perspective! This post was to be about something else entirely but instead of what I was going to write about, I think I will share my experience from yesterday's visit to the doctor. It's been 6 years since my bypass surgery (9/13/12).   Twice a year, I go for a visit with my cardiologist. In advance of that visit, I do some testing to see if my carotid arteries are still in good shape and I have my blood drawn in order to check my cholesterol levels and the functioning of my liver. When I see my cardiologist, I joke with him that I must be his most boring patient! With the exception of one thing, nothing has changed for me in the last 6 years. My cholesterol levels have remained constant, my overall cholesterol ratio is good, my blo...

Round Top Mountain and The Three Sisters-Carson Pass area, CA This past week I went on a lovely hike up highway 88, near the Carson Pass area of California. There is still plenty of snow though much of it has melted. People are hiking, boating, kayaking, and generally enjoying the cooler weather afforded by the higher altitudes. I had a wonderful time with my hiking buddies walking up and down hills, checking out wildflowers and being rewarded at the top of the ridge with a view all the way to Lake Tahoe! At the end of the day, I was tired, happy to get home, a little keyed up but very peaceful. It was a coincidence then that the next day I happened upon this article in a magazine. The premise of the idea sounds very familiar! H ave you heard of the term ecopsychology ? I hadn't either but the idea of it is probably familiar for many people even though they may not know about the formal field of study. Ecopsychology studies the relationships between humans and the natura...