The Day My Mom Died

These pictures were taken just outside of San Francisco on the morning of August 25th. Later that day, my Mom died. She had been ill for a long time without knowing it, and once she found out, it went fast. We flew to her and spent her final days together. I was there, holding her foot, when she passed. 

Her illness was one of the reasons I stopped writing here. I found it hard to concentrate, hard to write about the beauty in each day. 

I don't know if I will continue this blog. Lately I find it hard to share personal things. 

I can tell you this: Rafael is blossoming, healthy, hilarious, and the most amazing person I've ever met. He is doing very well. 

The woods are still my sanctuary, the dogs are still my comfort, and my husband is still my best friend. 

I miss my Mom every day. It is unfair, and cruel, that she is gone. The past couple of years have been difficult, and I have had to be very strong. 

Fortunately, my life is also sparkling with blessings, wonders, and miracles.

Love, Dawn

Vacation In the Salzburg Mountains

We've just returned from 10 days in the beautiful Grossarl area of Salzburg. I can tell you with certainty that Austria is one of the more underrated countries when it comes to natural beauty. 

We traveled with our friends who have children Rafael's age, and stayed at a wonderful family hotel. We ate much too much, rode bicycles under the strong summer sun, swam, splashed, walked through dewy forests, fed goats and rabbits, and kept our eyes on our funny, wild boy as he explored playgrounds and wooded paths. 

It seems that, remarkably often, cats find Rafael. This black and white cat found us while we fed the ponies, and even joined us for a walk through the forest. It also appeared in the garden on our final evening, as if to say goodbye. I have quite a few photographs of Raffi with cats. He loves them. I guess some day he will have one his own. 

We enjoyed ourselves fully on our vacation, and it was hard choosing photos for this post, as I took so many. I hope these give you a taste of the beauty to be experienced in this country that I now call my home. Maybe you will even be inspired to come and see for yourself!

I found the first tiny yellow leaf on our walk this morning. Come midsummer there are always these little yellow leaves strewn along the path, and even though I know autumn is still a ways ahead, and I will enjoy the remaining warmth, I do love finding them each year. 

xoxoxo

P.S. Past posts with the first yellow leaves in summer here , here , and here .

A Farm in Odenwald

Rafael and I took a journey to the lovely countryside in the neighboring country Germany. We stayed with my father and his family in an area called Odenwald, where they have renovated a small farmhouse. Raffi spent the days there wandering between tractors, horses, kittens and cows. The air was so clear, and the forests and grasses lush and green. I was surprised by how dark and quiet the nights are in the countryside. It was very cold for the time of year, and rained almost every day. But the landscape was beautiful, and it was good to spend time with family. 

Traveling alone with a toddler was difficult for me, even though he was very well behaved and patient. I had a panic attack on the flight there, and broke out into cold sweats dealing with luggage, car seat, baby, schedule, crowds, long airport halls....

I don't want to frighten anyone who is planning on traveling with their child alone. But many people told me it would be easy, and I want to be honest and tell you it wasn't, not for me. Rafael handled it all very well, only screaming and crying a little bit on the plane, but for me it was incredibly exhausting and overwhelming. I suppose I won't be doing it again until he is older. I am still glad I tried it, though. Because now I know, and I can say with confidence that it is not something I want to repeat. 

Having a home you love and miss is so fortunate. It seems that every time I take a trip, I lie awake at night seeing my home and my life from the outside, thinking of all the things I love, and realizing all the things I want to change. I decided that I want to hang up more photos and art in our home; that I want to build on to our terrace and turn it into a little walled garden; and that I want to start buying bouquets for our rooms again. You see, I've been fantasizing about buying a house lately, and now I decided I need to stop that, and begin putting more energy into the wonderful home we already have. 

When we got back, I spent the first few hours milling happily around, cleaning, unpacking, watering plants, putting this here and that there, settling back into HOME. The next day I bought two large bouquets at the farmer's market, and burned a candle at dinner time. I also bought two tins of luxurious Kusmi Tea, which not only tastes delicious, but fill your kitchen with it's sweet, warm fragrance while it seeps. I felt so cozy and content that I took a photo of our living room, adoring all the little details that make it mine.

The world is so big and beautiful; if you are lucky you can enjoy all of it's splendor and adventure. And if you are even more lucky, you have a safe, warm, comfortable home that you love and adore to come back to afterwards.

xoxo

Discovered: Island of Rügen

My husband will be working on a television show this summer and will be shooting it for 2 weeks in coastal northern Germany. He told me that he was getting a vacation rental for both of us (and Kiki), and I was very happy to have been invited to join him. I had never heard of the area, so I decided to look online to get an idea of what it's like.


It's so funny, because I have always loved New England, and every year I dream about going on vacation there. And now, I've discovered a place that is so near, and so lovely, and it really reminded me that I need to open my mind to all the beautiful places on this earth, especially those closest to me!


The place is called Rügen, or Rugia. Read about it by clicking here. I am going to share photos I found on google images with you....but I really look forward to sharing my own pictures once I've been there myself! We will be travelling there end of July. I can hardly wait. 

Rügen is known for it's white chalky cliffs.

Aren't they magical?

There are old churches and cemetaries.

Lighthouses, of course. I just love lighthouses.

The classic northern Germany homes have reed roofs.

Of course, my favorite photographs were of Rügen in autumn...

You can imagine how much I am looking forward to this July.

If it's as wonderful as I hope, I think it will become a regular vacation spot. 

Especially in autumn.

This discovery made me very aware that there are so many beautiful places on this earth that I have never even heard of.

Doesn't it make you happy and sad all at once?

Here's to discovering as many places of peace and beauty as one lifetime can possibly allow...

Happy June,

xoxo country girl

a tiny magical island

we spent the last day of 2009 on this tiny island in the bavarian lake chiemsee.

it was magical.

tranquil and mysterious.

distant mountains swathed in mist.

no cars, just boats.

a benedictine nunnery built in 782 where nuns live and practice today, and make their famous kloster liquor.

a gravestone with the beautiful name apollonia...who was she? what was her life like on the island? i only know she lived in the 1800s.

sea birds dipping in the air and gliding over calm waters. ducks picking around frosty gardens. there were foxgloves and dahlias here in summer. I can see their frozen stalks against weathered picket fences.

we warmed ourselves with rich food and looked at hand-painted pottery in a local shop. 

and when we left, the ferry pulling away from the dock, i hoped i would come back again. to this tiny, quiet piece of magic.

xo country girl