Xanthippe, I'm impressed that a non-writer enjoys daily poetry.

I just looked up Boulder Creek on a map, as the name sounded familiar. You're between Santa Cruz and Ano Nuevo, right? -- and since I've been to both quite a few times, I've probably hiked through your stomping grounds, or close enough. Really beautiful area.

Xanthippe, I've been thoroughly enjoying your yammering here. I'm so glad you're yammering with US!

No heat waves here right now...we've had lots of rain lately, including some lovely thunder storms - one of my very favourite sounds in the world is thunder rumbling way off in the distance; I love listening to it creep closer and closer - and then when it's right overhead, it's both scary and exhilarating. I'm in for a scary exhilarating day today, because the weather forecast calls for MANY thunder storms to roll through here today.

Now I'm yammering. Welcome to our 'home away from home'!

Me too...I am enjoying your yammering. I'm a yammer from bammy...I've been yammering for years.

Eagle, I too enjoy the storms. Some say I should have been a storm chaser, I agree. I have been known to jump in my car and follow the rain until I found it. Here in the desert you can see that it is raining off in the distance even though it is dry where you are, and its fun to try to find and catch up to the moving rain. Can't do that anymore with these gas prices though...

'Tis true, I'm not a writer, meredithbead, but I carried a literature/history double major in college, and I've always loved to read from the time I was a little girl. I "fell" for poetry in my senior year of high school, so it's as natural as breathing that I read a bit each day.

You're pretty much spot-on regarding Boulder Creek's location. We're nestled in the redwoods about 15 miles northeast of Santa Cruz, far enough inland that we seldom get fog; I'll bet you've hiked in Big Basin State Park! Ano Nuevo is 45+ miles further up the coast, and yes, I've had the privilege of getting "up close and personal" with the elephant seals during their time ashore. Along that same stretch of Highway 1 is Coastways Ranch, a U-pick farm where I've picked olallieberries each season for nigh on 30 years. A beautiful area to be sure ...

Eagle Heart, jawjaw, and chatty lady, it's wonderful to be here with you committed yammerers! I have seldom felt more embraced and welcomed ...

Mustn't forget to add that I'm a storm lover, too, although we rarely get thunder and lightning in this area. But I've traveled a good deal, experiencing storms in such places as Arizona, North Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, southern Oregon ...

What are olallieberries?

Some of my favorite vacation memories are from rainy times at the beach, but I surely wouldn't say I'm a storm chaser.