California, You Stole My Heart

I must say for many years I had some very preconceived notions about California. That is until I moved there and never wanted to leave. They say everything is in perfect timing and all things happen the way they're supposed to, I believe that wholeheartedly. I also believe with all that I am, that I will once again return and place my roots down permanently. I'm sure I'll be that little MerryMaid that swims away to Carmel, to never return. There are so many delightful things about Carmel, I'm not quite sure where to begin, but I will be superlative in the likelihood you're encouraged to take a trip to the land of fruit and honey. 

 I grew up on the coast of Florida, so I was made presently aware that California has bounteous oranges as well. These are the trees in my yard, and I have never tasted of such a delicious fruit in all my days. I kept a constant supply of freshly squeezed orange juice in the icebox. 

Upon moving to California, I once again just as in my youth would preserve fruits and make all sorts of canned particulars. There isn't anything quite like the view of a cupboard filled to the brim of all things one has canned himself/herself. I sometimes would just stand there admiring the beauty of nature in a bottle. 

 Being married to a Gardener sure is an encouraging aptitude to have. I have often told him that one day I will have an entire rose garden, and I am jolly that they grow with profuseness in California. It surely must be because of the dry heat, and the breeze from the ocean. Tickling the air with just enough salt and dewy mist to create such wonderment. I love that you can cut basket upon basket fulls of roses daily, and did you know they grow all year round in California. I remember driving the shoreline of Pebble Beach and the Big Sur and I saw roses growing like wild. There was so much beauty, I could barely take it all in. I felt like I was at Disney World. 

You know in order to see everything, it'll take at least a week to see an allotted portion. I didn't even mention the breathtakingly sweet scent of Lavender. It grows like a weed in California. I had bushels hanging from an iron copper pot rack and would bury my nose in them daily. Each day I'd leave the windows open. With a screen door, it feels like you can just step outside and you're at the ocean. The smell of the salty ocean breeze consumes one's, soul. And I do declare once you've been bitten by the whimsical, MerryMaid bliss of California, I don't think one's capable of a reappearance of being indistinguishable. 

In town they have so many art galleries, I think I was told that Carmel has the most of any city in the US. I believe all the artists go to Carmel, as a way to live a fairytale life. It surely is a tiny piece of heaven and bliss all rolled into one. They even have a Cottage of Sweets. My favorite was the delectable fudge and the rock candy. Doesn't this image look like it isn't real? It is, I assure you I took the photo myself. The thatched roof with dewy moss growing, and the people are so kind and friendly. They wore the most charming clothes in the Cottage of Sweets too. Imagine a Norman Rockwell picture, and there you have it. 

 I'll share more about this little gem in the coming months, as of now... mums the word. But is it dreamy, or what?!!!

 I love that people will just stack rocks, I stopped and just mediated by the water, thinking of how the Universe created such a majestic place as Carmel. 

 It's completely time- honored to drive past oodles of these little-thatched cottages in Carmel. 

 The land is full of sycamores, willows, pines, and blackberries. 

Me in my back yard in California, collecting roses. Oh, and did I mention confederate jasmine and creeping fig grows on every door way, cottage and fence that it can attach to. 

                    I filled an entire box of beach-combed particulars, and that was just in one day. 

 My dream home...

Driving along this shoreline you think it's the road to heaven, and it surely is in my eyes. 

Yours til my next swim, Raquel