Chigüiri-cosas

Last weekend we did too much, wore ourselves out. I kept having that feeling: I’m pushing them too hard to do too many things, I should stop now, where am I driving this ship, maybe we should turn back, this started as an adventure but now it is a bit scary, maybe we are getting lost . . . but we had a plan, a goal in sight. So we kept on. Later, lying in bed as we recounted the story of the day, my daughter said, “we were like explorers.” She was so right. In the middle of the adventure she was totally absorbed, definitely an explorer. It wasn’t until later, tired and without enough snacks, that my worries came true. But in the moment it was magic.

We adventured to a Pacific Tree Frog Habitat that a friend told us about. It is a small restored creek on the backside of downtown Brisbane — downtown turned out to be a maze of industrial-looking buildings, seemingly abandoned with no one else in sight. An old train tunnel with a pile of ashes where someone with no place to go slept at night. A graveyard of old, dead, machine parts collecting moss and graffiti.

Also, peeping tree frogs singing to each other in the reeds, filling our ears with song. Also, the skirts of San Bruno Mountain’s forest with fog whispering by. And if you look, there, quick!! A long-eared rabbit hopping away into the bushes. And, most importantly of all, puddles. Puddles! Rain boots in, splashing, jumping. Tadpoles!! Tiny black wiggling tadpoles making ponds out of rain puddles. Their Spanish name alone boosts the fun — renacuajos!

Here we are on our walk, looking for those who only come out after the winter rain, finding nature on the creepy also beautiful edges of the city.

There is a frog hidden in this last picture . . . I bet you can’t see him!

This weekend featured another seasonal ritual. As the first peek of spring brought the New Year in many cultures, a time for cleaning, cleansing, and building up protection for our physical spaces and our inner beings. Sam Garcia led us in making Four Thieves vinegar, a recipe for psychic protection and home cleaning. Infusing rosemary, mint, lavender, thyme, white sage and rue into apple cider vinegar, this witches’ brew is magic for our homes and our families. To clean off all those icky bits from our urban exploration and recolonize our bodies with the good stuff. A slug in the bath water, a spray in our cleaning. Bringing the power of the plants into the rhythm of home.