Cabin Fever

When I was out of work for two years, I didn't sit still all that much. Worked in West Marin for most of a year, stayed with Gabe and Annie for six months and for part of that six months I drove around a bit.  Let me clarify:  I drove around a lot, to Oregon, Texas and parts in between.  Then I went to Texas for a couple of months (in the summer, if you recall and how nasty that was!) and leaving Texas, I drove some more.  I was either on the move or planning to be on the move. It was fine. I like being on the move.

This time, unemployed, I am sedentary, everyday looking for work, finally finding it but with a delayed start-by date.  I have read so, so many books, have watched so, so many movies and taken more walks with the dog than I care to remember. It's all been fine but I have a serious case of cabin fever right now.  Must. Do. Something.

Yesterday, on a whim, I tossed my overnight kit, my pj's, some dog food and a book into a bag and Cooper and I hit the road.  We drove out to Jenner and then north, up Hwy. 1 for a while.  It was a lovely day and it reminded me of how much I like to drive.  The ocean was chocolate-colored, sandy from the storm on Sunday.  The sky was gray but not too ominous.  Cooper continued to pant, as he does in the car but I didn't care. I was happy simply driving.  We drove past Elk then turned around and went back to Gualala and stayed in a cottage on the edge of the ocean. (It's amazing how many great deals on lodging you can get this time of the year, especially if you admit you are in the lodging business. It helps!)  The cottage had a spectacular view and it was quite nice but really, how much time do I need in another small cottage?  Not much.   The ocean was soothing, that part I loved.  But when we woke this morning it was raining and we faced either another day hanging out inside or hitting the road.  We hit the road.

We drove north, through big rain, the coast was gorgeous, up to Mendocino, made a loop around town and then went back south to 128.  That road, from the coast to Boonville, is one of my faves.  The redwood trees are so strong and sturdy, the light is blocked out on days like this. The trees drip, the rain spatters, the air smells like pine needles and heaven.  At other times of the year, when the sun is shining it's like a movie:  shafts of light filter through the trees, you could be anywhere in the world, waiting for the Rapture, if you believed in that sort of thing.  (Hah!)  But today we were simply there, driving along, happily.  Once through Boonville, instead of continuing on 128, we took the road to the left to Ukiah. Oddly, it's a road I have never been on before and it was a good one, less curvy and nice scenery. Fog and rain and green. What more does one need?

That's it.  From there we hooked up to 101 and home.  I toyed with the idea of staying somewhere else but when it's raining and one has a dog, there isn't much to be done but hunker down and I can do that fine in my tiny abode.  Cooper was happy to be out of the car, I dropped some books off at the library (and got a friggin parking ticket, for which I wrote a sad, pleading letter to the city of Santa Rosa), went to the market and now there is a nice pork stew with apples, fennel, onions and yams simmering on my stove.  The house smells delicious, the rain is falling outside and, for a day, my cabin fever, my wanderlust, is put on the back burner.  

 

 

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