Santa Cruz is Amazing

That last post was a bit of a departure from my month of amazing, but at the same time, that seemed like an important part of my amazing story that I needed to tell. When I talk about living in Santa Cruz and how amazing it is I am referring to the county. It is a fairly diverse area and it is a pleasure to have it all as part of my backyard. For starters, here is a picture that I took during my morning sit and do nothing routine.

I don't always stay up on the cliffs, we often go down to the beach if the tide is out and play in the tide pools, like on days like this.

 The ocean is a 10 minute drive from where we live. One of the treasures that is closer to us is something that Jared takes better advantage of but I hope to spend more time there in the coming months. Henry Cowell Redwood State Park is truly amazing. This is a picture from the side of the road, being inside it is just more than a photo can explain, so you will have to do with this.

 To round out my love of being close to the ocean and the forest is our proximity to our farm. Yes, I wrote that correctly, "our" farm. For the last few years we have belonged to a CSA for Live Earth Farm. It is such a gift to be able to pick up a box of veggies every week that were just picked and feed my family with them. It is as equally good for the soul as it is for the body and something that I don't know how I ever lived without it. This picture was taken last Sept. at the farm when we picked a years worth of tomatoes. I just opened a jar of them tonight and I swear that you can almost smell the warm sunny air when it popped open.

So there you have it, Santa Cruz is amazing. I am so thankful that I am aware of that now. If you had asked me five and a half years ago if I would ever visit Santa Cruz much less live there, I would have laughed and cringed at the thought of all the weirdos. Now that I am getting closer to being one of them, man am I glad that we lost our minds and moved here. Living here is a gift that I cherish every day.