The Yuba River. Wild. Scenic. Majestic. Powerful. Spirited.

Living in the Sierra Foothills offers consistent reminders of life’s blessings. I am surrounded by exquisite, simple, natural beauty: trees, flowers, birds, cool sweet air in the morning, dazzling stars at night, and the Yuba River…the jewel of the Sierras. Yesterday morning found me at Hoyt’s Crossing, on my well established summer river schedule–my car is parked by 9, I’m at the beach by 9:30, I luxuriate in relative solitude until 11:30-ish, and I am hiking back to my car before noon, just as the crowd begins to amass. Grace is by my side, thrilled to be on the trail, and she knows exactly what side trail to take to our beach.

The roar of the river was impressive as I hiked to Hoyt’s. Glimpses of the water through the trees brought views of high, fast flow. Our beach was not covered by water as several along the trail had been, but there was much less beach available. I’ve chosen this beach over and over again for its fabulous deep, calm swimming hole and the perfectly shaped rocks at the upper end of the hole are inviting to scramble up onto for warming up in the sun.

Not yesterday. The rocks were not only completely underwater, but had created a sort of break point for the flow so that the river crashed into the rocks then split in two as it aggressively flowed downstream. The current was so strong up to the shoreline, that I knew immediately that tossing Grace’s ball into the flow would carry it away and into the next set of rapids at the bottom of the hole. She sensed too, the intensity of the river flow, choosing to stay at the water’s edge instead of jumping right in to swim with delight.

So we ended up hanging out on the beach, barely dipping in our toes, watching the trees and bushes sway in the wind, and simply enjoying the gorgeous river without getting wet. A divine morning.

Next time, we’ll swim.

You’ve heard of a roof-top garden–here’s our version–a hot tub-top garden! We’ve given up the hot tub to ecologize as well as economize, and ended up with a perfect space for a small garden.  John and I are growing our own for the second summer season and having learned from last year’s first attempt garden, we planted this week, after June 1st, as the “old-timers” suggest.

Living in the Sierra Foothills brings all sorts of blessings: four stunning seasons to enjoy, fresh air, clean water from the ground, and plenty of sunshine. There is also a lot of wildlife, many of which would eat up a traditional garden. Not to mention that we just don’t have a flat, sunny piece of dirt that would support a garden. Getting the veggie boxes off the ground and high enough up in the air to minimize having to bend over was desirous. Wanting to enhance our sense of self-sustainability, our garden is an effective and very pleasant way to supplement the fabulous organic produce I can bring home from Briarpatch Co-op or the grower’s markets in town.

John and I were more ambitious this year than last, now that we have some experience–we are looking forward to harvesting a variety of tomatoes, 2 types of lettuce, rainbow chard, cucumber, purple long beans, 2 types of eggplant, zucchini (I know, not easy on a hot tub-top garden), 3 types of peppers, celery, and a variety of herbs. Yum!

Increasingly, we are all hearing about the surge in home gardens–not only are people interested in eating more healthfully, but many aspire to maximize their self-sufficiency. Besides, there is that rich, relaxed, and connected-to-the-earth feeling that comes from digging in the dirt, tenderly placing seedlings and seeds into the planter boxes and pots, followed by the gentle watering that takes place in the first few days.

I bestow gratitude on our little plants that will soon be sustaining us at the table.