Run DMZ

We’d just entered the Tokopah Valley Trail when a young family finishing their hike asked if we were heading to the falls.   “That’s the plan,” my husband said.   “Then I should warn you: There’s a bear about a mile in.”   After that, no one really cared about seeing yet another striking waterfall within Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks. We were on a bear hunt.  This popular trail off the Lodgepole camping grounds, like most parts of the parks, is riddled with active bear area warnings. Don’t leave food or scented products in your car. Don’t wear yummy-smelling bug spray, lotion, or sunscreen walking to a scenic viewpoint. Watch where you eat. Watch where you step. Use those bear-resistant trash bins at all times. Don’t leave the outer public restroom doors open, so bears can get in. Don’t run if you happen to stumble upon one; instead, stand your ground. And above all, respect their space. This is their home, not yours.  All signs showed...

During my blog hiatus I did a 30-day elimination diet.   “We should both do Whole30 ,” my friend suggested one Friday night as we wolfed down chips and dip to counter the quick effects of her lemon martinis.  I’d done only one true elimination diet, back in 1988. It didn’t go well, in part because it called for fancy food, and I lived on an Alaskan island where six red plums cost me $12. The second attempt was about 15 years ago, and I quit after I could only eat the garnish at an office birthday party spread. It wouldn’t have been noticeable were I not among the honored guests.  I also should mention this friend did 50 pushups in pumps and a mini skirt in front of everyone at her 50th birthday party. She’s incredibly athletic [read: disciplined], and I knew she’d hold me accountable.  We talked for all of two minutes, with mouthfuls of Doritos, about the logistics and likelihood we could do this. I declared: “I’m in.”  What is Whole30?  I knew nothing...

After staying dormant all winter and, so it appears, most of spring, I’m returning to Run DMZ.  My love/hate relationship with digital life continues. Other platforms I started and must now maintain exhaust me, especially when algorithms make it hard to find posts from actual followers. This blog has the deepest digital roots, even if its format and platform are long past their prime. So today I will try to breathe a little more life into a dying form.  Poppies along the Dixon Lake shoreline Wild winter = wildflowers extraordinaire  This winter was wild here in California, with waves of wet weather known as atmospheric rivers pelting hillsides, forging new tributaries, drowning wildlife, knocking out bridges, closing roads, flooding beach boardwalks, and providing one of the most beautiful springs on record.  All that rain might have canceled weeks, then months, of outdoor plans, but once the weather pattern changed from cloudy with a chance of rain to just cloudy,...