Wednesday, June 24, 2009

mt. shasta


i woke up on sunday morning thinking that it would be our first non-sunny solstice in 15 years of life in northeastern california... i decided that it'd have to be a day for a BIG campfire instead. but late in the morning the sun started to peek through here and there, so we decided to go to mt. shasta, hopeful for the presence of sunshine. the pic above was taken about half way there. incredibly beautiful clouds and sky stretching to the horizon... sun was visible!!


at the far end of the road is where mt. shasta sits, but it's still hidden in clouds. i'm hopeful though...

usually we stop at the 'seven suns cafe' for coffee and the worlds best scones when we get into town, but they'd closed early for father's day (what?!). so onward we went to the food co-op, where we bought enough treats to last us the rest of the day. the main delicacies were a piece of chocolate cake from the deli, a pint of ice cream, veggie rice rolls, and a micro brew -- they had so many!!


a gorgeous label wins every time, right?

after further messing around in town doing stuff like buying prayer flags and listening to the quartz bowls at the crystal shop, we headed up the mountain with our portable feast.


we can almost see the top!


the road is still closed at 'bunny flats', so we walked from there.


oh what a view this home has...


we got off the road at panther meadows, which was under a couple feet of snow in most places. the snow melts in patches, and in places you can see streams of snow melt racing to the bottom of the mountain. the gurgling of the water echoes under the snow (the water is under the snow in the upper part of the pic) and sounds loud... panther meadows is a lovely, lovely place, sacred to several native american tribes in northern california. it's a place where one walks very quietly.


i left a flag near the meadows... that's the silhouette that karin sent me, in action again.


now we're headed back down... this is the very top of the mountain and it's completely clear. sooooo quiet and beautiful.


we drove a ways down the mountain where we'd have a view of the sun while we ate our supper (the ale was damn good). we sat in the car because it was getting cold -- i took this a little after 8 p.m. and the light was brilliant. i'd gotten out of the car to take a pic of the light on the trees, but this pic of the car turned out best!


now we're back in town getting gas -- no clouds in sight!

of all of the wonders of the day, drawing the lid of the ice cream container provided the greatest revelation. first i drew the rim of the lid and then started on the writing. well, duh, the writing's not gonna fit in that space, but i kept going. afterwards i thought about how crazy it is to start a contour drawing by drawing in the boundary first -- good grief! you limit yourself right off the bat! this was followed by the even greater realization that this is what we do when we define our lives by the boundaries that we already know, or what we think we want, instead of living each day from the present moment -- from the center...

to the beautiful mount shasta, i give my heartfelt thanks...

XO

21 comments:

  1. Wow. Nice trip and I love the stenciling and the way u've blended it in with your prayer flags. :o)

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  2. Lovely little epiphanies, spread throughout the day. :D

    -Rose

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  3. thanks for the ride to Shasta - I enjoyed myself immensely :)

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  4. That flag is insanely cool. It's amazing. Graphic Perfection.

    I love the entire post, but THAT FLAG!

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  5. Fantastic - what a really perfect solstice in such a beautiful place - thanks for sharing your lovely day!

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  6. Love your insight about boundaries and how you arrived at it!

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  7. you are so right , i need to go to mt shasta . I don't know how I missed it all these years . i guess we always go on 101 when headed north .i love that there is still snow . makes me think of hurricane ridge .
    thanks for your photo share . it always feels like i am right with you.
    xxoo

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  8. Loving your trip to Shasta, the label, that FLAG, your contour drawing. What fun!

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  9. I love your posts of Mt. Shasta and your prayer flags...thank you for letting us be part of this lovely day celebrating the Soltice. Enjoyed the journey and the food!
    Isnt it funny how your drawing related to life...an ice-cream lid, boundaries, what a revelation.
    Your latest tree flag is wonderful and I love how you have used Karins stencil.

    Jacky xox

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  10. Lynne--never realized that you were in my neighborhood basically. We went there last month and enjoyed the trip so much. Have you ever heard of the crystal skulls? Shasta is such a spiritual place. We came through there on Sunday too on our way home from Orcas Island. The clouds were just starting to lift when we went through in the AM. Wished I would have seen you placing the flags! I want one to place here at home.

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  11. thank you, kate... i'm very glad you could come along. : )

    hey rosemoo ... so right you are. : D

    you're welcome jeane -- loved having you!

    thank you, lisa! love those stencils...

    hi rosie, it *was* a lovely day and thank you for coming along!

    yeah, i liked that too, kate. : )

    kathy, i would LOVE IT if you were right here with me. we would have such a good time on mt. shasta...

    thanks, leslie! yeah, it *was* fun!!

    jacky, i thought about you... the last time i was on mt. shasta was when i was putting our tree flags up... you always go with me now -- you and grrl... xo

    hi teri, yeah, i've heard about crystal skulls and know some about them -- i'm interested in anything crystal related! i agree that mt. shasta is a spiritual place. so very powerful...

    i will send you a flag for your home!

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  12. Hi Lynne,
    What a day that was...stunning, stunning images
    Mt Shasta looks "sacred"...it really does. Love your flag too.
    A picnic...it sounded great :)

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  13. So good to see another flag adorning the area. Mt Shasta is such a poerful place..

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  14. Oh, I what a great ride along to Mt. Shasta! the pictures are beautiful and your flag is simply lovely.

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  15. Ooooooh - what a wonderful trip turned journey. Joyous and fully present, awake and engaged. It doesn't get any better than that. And all the bits along the way, my favorites - the flag, awesome! and the quality of light, exquisite, and your eloquent narration, perfect.
    sending a giant squoze!
    kvk

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  16. hey jo, smiling here at 'seeing' you. yes, mt. shasta IS sacred. a powerful and beautiful mountain...

    grrl, you and jacky were with me for sure.... the last time i was there was when i put our tree flags up. xo

    thank you, leanne! so glad you could come!

    kathy, yeah, trip turned into journey for sure. every 'trip' to mt. shasta is... love to you, my friend...

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  17. what a beautiful place, and story (story: the inward place of you--which made the mountain's sacredness alive to me)..

    love this line, "it's a place where one walks very quietly." You made me remember walking around in the woods, slanted slopes of mountains in Vermont with family as the upper snows melted and the water rambled down the creek beds.

    Its going to be 94 and humid here; you know that heat! :) the snow looks like ice cream to me.

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  18. The magic of your writing is beautiful here, and the prayer flag and your drawing and thoughts about boundaries. Today I will paint from my center. Thank you for the lovely day yesterday. My heart is filled with the sounds of drumming in the garden and the soft smiles of creating. Roxanne

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  19. Sooo thanks dear lynne of your comment.you made my day!
    These pics are so great!!!I specially love the first one,with lots of clouds!I love cloudsssssss so much!Thanks dear! :)

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  20. Moving! Fun. You know what to frame, baby!

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  21. a little bird told me she heard drums... heart beats... : )

    hope you're catching the rays of peace over there.

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