Big and Small—All Good

                                                           “Love is the food of life. Travel is dessert.” Anonymous                                                             

We just returned home from a fun trip to Southern California.  It was a time of new sights, sounds, and experiences. There were the…

…big events like the opening days of the Indian Wells Open Tennis Tournament and little events like eating a gelato called Agostino, my father’s name!

…fun Margarita times with long-time friends and conversations with new folks sitting next to us at the Tac/Quila Restaurant in Palm Springs

… busy colorful Farmers’ Market in Little Italy, San Diego and quiet walks on high desert trails behind a monastery

…little seal pups and their moms resting on the beach at the “Children’s Pool” in La Jolla and pelicans perched on the nearby rocky shore

.. single flower vases on restaurant tables and fields of poppies in the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

And then there were the new-to-me culinary treats that I’d like to find or recreate on the home front like…

     Cornbread croutons

     A salad “wrapped” in long cucumber strips

     Open-faced mushroom tamales

     A Silician bread dip made with olive oil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and anchovies 

     Twice-baked almond-chocolate croissants and

     Chocolate cherry panettone

And so many quotes along the way…

I loved feeling the different “vibes” that seeing new places and lifestyles provides. My world got rocked a bit and that’s good.

And when we returned home and looked out our porch windows, we were greeted by our plum tree in full white blossom glory.  How lucky we are to have experienced new vistas on a trip away and to have a beautiful homestead to return to for its many gifts, big and small.