I did a girl thing this week—a mother/daughter/cousin thing. And we had so much fun! My daughter and I flew to Oakland, California and stayed at my cousin’s daughter’s (would she be a cousin or second cousin?) house and then drove to Sonoma, California for wine tasting. We had a darling Airbnb and shopped, tasted wine, and ate fabulous food. The youngest of the bunch did the driving in California and we saw San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge from a distance. We toured the Jack London home/museum and his surrounding ranch. We sampled wine from exquisite cellars. My cousin and daughter might or might not have gotten lost in a hedge maze. (We could hear them giggling so we knew they would eventually come back.)
I was amazed at the smells of the eucalyptus trees, the long straight lines of grapevines, and equally straight redwood trees. I love the tall cypress trees that remind me of paintings around the Mediterranean. Since I’ll probably never be able to travel there, this was wonderful.
We had a designated driver who knew her way around. We had a couple of wine tastings but never got a tour of a winery. Next time.
From Enid to Oakland is halfway across the United States and requires a lot of running through airports and dragging bags. I’m glad I had my daughter to help with that. We were on planes for 12 hours. I am in awe of people who fly for a living. This old body was showing its age.
We ate some extraordinary food and crashed at night in a bed that felt like a cloud. That might have had something to do with how tired I was.
We’re already talking about seeing San Francisco next time. Or they could come here, and we’d introduce them to Oklahoma. I may see a story here.
What are you reading/writing this week?
When my first child was two years old, I enrolled in a yoga class at the local church. They had continuing education classes and that seemed like a good idea for a stressed-out mother of a two-year-old. And I loved it. It gave me stress relief and I soon found out it also enhanced my strength. I had never been an athlete, but I soon learned how much better I felt when I exercised.
The air went from crisp to heat again this week. Thursday is the first day of fall and someone needs to tell the Oklahoma weather. I wrote about how cool it was last week, and of course we’re back to heat again.
On October 15, in Enid, Oklahoma, the Enid Writers Club will host 100 Years of Writing a day-long workshop held at St. Matthews Episcopal Church featuring three very different writers. There will be something for everyone.
Today is a somber day, 9/11 or September 11, Patriots Day. I thought about reminiscing about that horrible day but decided to go with something a little more upbeat.
I told you last week that my writing club will soon be celebrating 100 years of writing. And we’re doing a few things leading up to that day.
My oldest granddaughter flew in from Colorado this week to visit family. We’re thrilled to see her. My daughter’s side of the family will meet for dinner at her house, and I was asked to bring my mother-in-law’s Cream Cake. It is a favorite of the granddaughter’s.
It’s Sunday and time for another blog! I thought we might talk a little about writing this morning. There are many aspects of storytelling, but one that stands out is always the perfect first line.
I attended Enid’s Fly Film Festival 
It’s raining in Oklahoma! And finally cooling down those intense temperatures. I looked out the front door and saw a large garter snake on the sidewalk trying to get out of the flooded flowerbeds that were cracked and dry last week. Hard to blame him. But rainy weather is a good time to write, and I’ve been working on my third novel on Sandhill Island. I’ll work some more on that today.
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 