HELLO PHILLY, HELLO 2012.

One of my visions for 2012 is to post something here every week.

So far I'm 4 weeks behind.  But I'm attempting to catch up.  

New Year's weekend meant Philadelphia, PA for me.  

Here are a few moments from it:

Pictured:

Breakfast Bomb @ Honey's (a full out omelet wrapped in a pancake).

The Magic Gardens!

Baklavah, Baba Ghannouj and Turkish coffee @ Manakeesh.

Lots of strolling around and exploring with sort-of new and very new friends.

Desserts on The Continental rooftop for the fancy segment of New Year's Eve.

The Art Museum for a dollar (you pick the price...first Sunday of the Month).

Other amazing places to try, that didn't make it into the photos:

Cafe Lift: went on a brunch date here! Every detail was amazing. Outstanding coffee!

Local 44: the ladies' neighborhood go-to. Tried Great Divide Hibernation Old Ale and split a burger with an egg on it.  Amazing.

Dock Street: Funky brewery.  Great beet and goat cheese salad.  Everyone else loves the pizza.

There isn't a short story that can sum up the joy and refreshment this trip was for me, so I won't attempt to tell one.

NEW ROUTE.

From a new prayer walk route I had started back in December:

OCTOBER INSIDE.

I can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin.  But some friends and I got to scoop guts, saw out hearts and toast seeds this year.  Neither pumpkin ended up being seasonally themed, but I love how they came out!  There's just something about the naturalness, handmade-ness, the fire glowing from within (and that orange stain and pumpkin smell you can't get off your hands for 2 days).  

It's important to note that these two pumpkins were selected by a friend who went out of her way to go to 3 different farms/stores/stands before she decided she had found the right pumpkins.  I'm telling you, the "Perfect Pumpkin Perception" is a strong force indeed.

OCTOBER OUTSIDE.

Last weekend I couldn't help myself from taking a trip to Russell Orchards.  The day was one of those brilliant fall days where the wind and the sunshine are perfect and you can smell both growth and harvest at the same time.  I sat by the pumpkins for a while, catching up on reading and listening to people choose pumpkins together.

Everyone knew exactly what they were looking for in a pumpkin.  I don't think anyone would be able to describe it, but they sure did know it when they saw it.

It was amazing, how sure people could be that they'd found the one.

I picked up a few treats while I was there: apple cider donuts (a fall necessity), mulled apple cider (to fight the brisk wind), a variety of apples grown right there and a bottle of strawberry-rhubarb wine.

It started to rain after about 2 hours, so I left and took a drive.
I felt so grounded and refreshed by the colors of marsh and fall and rain.  

Crane Property, Ipswich, MA

LUGANO: LIVING ON THE EDGE

San Salvatore mountain is right on the edge of Switzerland and Italy.  I had the joy of taking a funicular train up the mountain and hiking back down on a strangely beautiful day.  It was incredible.  To trek through the forest was refreshing and exhausting, and it began to pour near the end of our descent.
When we got to the bottom of the mountain, we were tired and wet and looking at this amazing lake at the base of these mountains, a valley lake.

 

It was calm except for the pouring rain.  And we decided to jump in.  Unplanned, in our hiking clothes.  And it was glorious.  Swimming in that cool, but not cold, water...in a valley, mountains all around...all quiet except for the tinkling, sparkling sound of the pouring rain on the otherwise still water.  It was too much to take in.  Too perfect, too beautiful.  So we treaded water and prayed.  It was the only possible response.  God was speaking to us and we had to speak back, to praise him out loud together for the fullness and glory we were experiencing.  It was a moment you can't plan, you can't prepare for, you can only be lead to.  

And when you're lead there, you have to be ready to jump in. 

CHE BELLA!: CINQUE TERRE AND RISK TAKING

On a day trip from Milano to Manarola this summer, I saw the Mediterranean for the first time.  The whole thing was an adventure, barely figuring out the train, bringing a pack of wandering Americans to a tiny seaside cliff town.  But it was magical.  The sea was amazing.  Stunning and a welcome sight after not seeing a distant horizon for a number of weeks.  I love the horizon.  I've said that.  It connects me to infinity and eternity and things that are bigger and more vast than I can fathom.  I need that in my life.    While I was there, I decided to jump off a cliff.  It was at least 25 feet up.  It was terrifying.  This is the picture to prove it, but I'll just say it took me about 15 minutes of standing on top of the rock and seeing other people not die to convince me.  The whole crowd of onlookers (on the side of the picture taker) were chanting my name by the end of my experience.  I just couldn't jump.  I was so afraid I'd do it wrong and die.  But I wanted to know what it was like.  I wanted to be part of the adventure.  I wanted to be and feel brave.  In the end, I couldn't look.  I couldn't think about it anymore.  I couldn't analyze.  I just had to jump.  I'll never do it again.  But I'm glad I did.

The rock formation in the center is where we jumped from.  The water come in from the right to the other side and the jumping picture was taken from the walkway below where the buildings are.

GOING PLACES.

Every time I see this, it thrills me.  

The spirit of seeing and moving and going and adventuring.  

It gets me every time.

Check out their other videos, EAT and LEARN.

Though this is by far the most inspiring of the three.