Saturday Evening I Love You :):) (back from Aliso) (land)

Hi, Sweet Baby,

I'm writing from Pearl's cause I am gonna meet Grim up at Aliso right after I leave Pearl's. We are gonna do the usual end-to-end walk through the park, so I should be back between 8:30 and 9 at the latest. Today was all afternoon shopping with Vickie. I hope your day was good. I will check in when I get home.

I Love You, Elizabeth!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back in a bit)

9pm : I am back. Had a nice walk with Grimsley. It's getting dark just a little earlier in the canyon now, though, so we went all the way to the end, about a mile in, and then it was getting very shadowy in the groves on the way back. Next time I will turn back a few minutes earlier. You start hearing frog noises and weird scuttling sounds, lol. Nighttime is critter time.  :)

Now I'm gonna take my shoes off for a little while and relax, then I will finish my mileage up a little later with a short CSUN walk. I hope you had a nice Saturday evening, my Darling.

I will write more at the usual time.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:40pm : I saw your post this morning about the UW environmental online courses. Are you going to enroll in any? I clicked the link and read a little bit, and I loved the quote from Aldo Leopold, whose legacy is being honored : "There are two things that interest me, the relationship of people to each other, and the relationship of people to the land".

You know, when I was out at Santa Susana on Wednesday, I came across a site in which some rock looked like it had been broken up or even blasted. It wasn't the quarry site, but looked like some old structure, because concrete was mixed in. Anyhow, there were all these interesting rocks there, small rocks of different colors.

I wanted to take one, or even a few, but in the end I didn't, because a sign at the trailhead asks that geological and archaeological features in the park not be disturbed. I thought, well, I guess that includes even small rocks that are on the ground. The rules posted on the sign inspired me not to take even a small rock, but what convinced me even more so is kind of what Mr. Leopold was talking about : the relationship of people to the land. In this case, of course I was thinking about the Indians and the sacredness of the place, to them.

But I was also thinking of myself and my own relationship to that particular piece of land, which I only just discovered last Fall (even though the area has interested me my whole life).

Everytime I have gone there, I have been alone, either totally or close to it, and it's a huge place. And I think, you know, one day I would like to be a caretaker of this place, in a manner of speaking. And so, to reference Mr. Leopold again, that is my relationship to the land. I would like it to remain untouched, and in that sense I would like to be a caretaker, spiritually for now, and perhaps hands-on in the future.

I know you are interested in the land and the wildlife near you as well, so you know that feeling of being pulled in by the land itself, and by it's creatures and spirits. It makes you want to watch over it.

Well, my Darling, today was a busy one, lots of shopping, then Aliso. I didn't take any pictures tonight cause I didn't bring my cam. But by Tuesday I'll be looking for a new trail.

Sweet Dreams, and I will see you in the morning.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)