'Taricha Granulosa'

My trip to snowy Sunol ends in the morning traffic to San Jose.
Maarten is at school and this morning is so lovely I don’t want to give that up too quickly. Comforting myself that Sunol is in the clouds anyway I go back to Las Trampas and climb the Rocky Ridge which I’ve already planned to do last Friday. The streams are all full again and bubble cheerful around the trail. It is silly but I have to think how Maarten would enjoy playing with the water.
Although we already walked here before there was never any water in this small stream bed.

Now there is even a small waterfall along the Elderberry trail.
This is the nice side of hiking after so many rainy days. Less pleasant however are the drenched muddy paths. It is so slippery, I guess I’m very lucky not to fall straight into the mud. At last I decide to take a grassy but very steep cow path directly to the ridge.

The view of Mount Diablo is always nice and today the top is even sprinkled with snow.

The bay and the San Francisco skyline are good visible but unfortunately my camera is not that advanced to capture how beautiful the views from the ridge really are.

I have to go back since I don’t want to be late to pick up Maarten.

I almost step on this little guy ( I know I would feel horrible if I did). I can’t identify him but he seems very friendly and continues slow over the muddy path.
(I learn later that day that he belongs to the newt
family and if he feels threatened he would secrete a very toxic substance from his rough skin.)

'Luck of the Pot’ at Lee's

I’ve heard about potlucks before but yesterday was actually the very first time I went to one.

I wondered about the origin of the word 'potluck' since we also use a similar word in Czech, 'potlach'.
As I remember in Czech 'potlach' means a kind of tramping celebration, an evening of a good time (and a nice chat) with friends often around the campfire.
On the other hand I remember my first stay in Holland when a friend of mine organized an American Party. According to him this means everyone needs to bring his own alcohol ;-)
It looks like there is some reason why he calls 'bringing your own alcohol' to be an American Party way since I understand that the roots of the 'potlatch' (literally translated as ‘giving’) are indeed a Native American custom dating back to the 16th century. Then it used to be a complete ceremony of traditions, spirituality and also a conspicuous consumption of food.

Though some historians suggest that the true origin of 'potlatch' lies already in Medieval Europe! The etymology of the word 'potlatch' would originate from the ‘luck of the pot’. The meal leftovers were put into a pot, kept warm and were used to feed the poor.

No matter what origin this practice may have the present-day Americans adopted this custom which evolved into a meaning of bringing dishes to share and having a nice time together.

Last night we were a part of such a potluck.

It was a nice opportunity to meet all of Rob’s (expatriate) colleagues and their wive’s and children. Though there were no (Native) Americans, people from all kinds of places around the world joined the party.

The host asked all of us to bring one or two meals.
If invited to an international potluck what dish would you bring?
Of course something of your own traditional dishes! And I guess no one disliked any of the fine food we shared.

Sacrificing Open Spaces

Rob met one of our new neighbors today. Among other things he learned more about the plan for the open space area next to our home. We have already heard some rumors from other worried neighbors. Though we will probably (and hopefully) not experience the construction itself we are also quite concerned about ruining such a beautiful highlands area.

I can not imagine that the planned 800 homes and facilities will not influence the adjacent wilderness area of Las Trampas. The construction plans actually encompass grading and leveling the hills and even moving a creek.

I understand the concerns of the homeowners in the adjacent area. The construction and the future residential area may affect the quality of living in our community. Luckily for us (if we still live here then) there will be only a pedestrian access to the new neighborhood from our street so the court will probably stay calm and safe for playing children as it is at present.
According to the planning, there will also be a buffer zone between our hillside and the development area and they promise to plant a row of trees to break the view.

Though I try to understand the necessity of such residential building projects I’m never really pleased by sacrificing peaceful open spaces to ‘more utilitarian ends’.

Speaking of maintaining our open spaces there is also another issue that upsets most of the nature lovers in California. Our state needs more money and therefore proposes to shut down 48 state parks and decrease the number of seasonal lifeguards at state beaches.

The only thing I hope for is that these natural areas will not suffer under this regulation.

Walking in the Rain

With small breaks it has been raining the whole week. I don’t mind the rain but it is also quite cold. This is our third winter in California and also the coldest one.
I’m looking forward to our first CW hike on Thursday morning but unfortunately it is cancelled. Due to the rain of course. I guess the other ladies don’t own such wonderful Dutch waterproofs like I do ;-)

There is snow at the top of the Sunol hills again. Even though the weather is really not inviting, I feel I can’t stay inside anymore. I can’t stand to look at the tempting hillsides all around our place. At least for a while I have to go out.
I don’t expect anyone will join me so I plan to take a challenging hike to the mountain ridge and maybe enjoy the view of snowy Mount Diablo.
But there go my plans! The men actually decide to join me.

We end up at the running creek close to our home. Maarten soon looks like a mud ball. He is so exited to be in his favorite hills again.

No problem that he falls several times in the rain drenched mud. Due to the dirt,soon, you can’t see much of his shoes and you would understand that keeping him away from the puddles is complete impossible. Never mind as long as he is happy.

We have got the company of a lonely bull. He mooes so loudly! He watches us with an unfriendly expression that seemes to say: Keep your distance! Maarten is aware and I’m not comfortable either since I’ve learned recently that the bulls can be quite a danger to the hikers. Luckily we are not captivating enough to this big fellow and he continues to graze.

PS:...and... by the way, we have a student in the family again! No, not me unfortunately. Rob has actually started his study at Arizona State University.
And besides that he just gained a CSOC Supreme Certificate this week. We are proud of him.

'CZ Mecheche'

Some people may wait for us to be unpacked and settled in our new home. Come on, no need to wait! We are not going to unpack all of our stuff anyway. Who knows we are going to move again soon. Just kidding! Hopefully...

Our house is pretty childproof so why not to invite my Czech friends and their children to enjoy Maarten’s toys (and practice our mother tongue of course ;-)). Even though there are ‘only’ six kids, it seems like they are all over. Though I’m not that fond of playdates I believe all of us enjoyed ourselves today.
At last we all sit at our far too small table to eat lunch.
No dumplings, pork or sauerkraut?
Sorry, girls, time to meet a different culture. This is the ‘Dutch way’: bread and cheeeees!!!

Radishes - 'Grateful Mom' - Lukášek’s Birthday

I know it’s only January. But I found my old paper box with seeds in the garage lately and considering the temperature never drops bellow zero Celsius in this area I’ve decided it is warm enough to sow some radishes. Though I’m not sure the seedlings will ever come out because Maarten turned out to be an ‘eager’ gardener. He uses his rake everyday to loosen the soil in the container...


Saturday Rob and Maarten head to the nearby Lafayette Reservoir for a father and son outing. And...I become a ‘grateful mom’ for half a day!

They both return thrilled about their outdoor trip with a group hiking dad’s and children.

I guess it was a very exciting hike since Maarten is full of impressions and he keeps talking about their adventures at the lake...

...a lot of fun, but also pretty tiring as we notice around dinnertime...


On Sunday we celebrate Lukášek’s 10th birthday in the San Francisco ZOO.

I expect Maarten to be difficult today as he is still tired from Saturday’s hike. But he behaves quite well except for when we have to leave the ZOO.

It’s a good-sized gathering of Czechs and ‘Czech-alike’s’. We meet some newcomers and make new friends. We have a lot of fun together even though the weather is not very cooperative today. The ZOO is actually right next to the ocean so the freezing cold wind chills the party.

But being optimistic and even sharing the clothes, we are able to cope with that and we still get some pleasant sunshine around lunchtime.

San Mateo

Instead of enjoying my favorite Crow Canyon Road I get tailgated by an annoying platinum blond woman in a huge SUV. I still maintain the speed limit. You never know if there is a hidden police officer with his laser speed gun. And the fines are here painfully high.
Anyway, the lady finally gets her own lane and passes at race tempo. I’m relieved and can enjoy the scenery again...
But there is a motorcyclist behind a tree along the way. It could indeed be a police officer but I don’t see any radar gun. Slowly he puts his helmet on. He seems to be very relaxed. I’m relieved it’s not the police since I may also drive a little above the required speed thanks to the lady that was behind me. I see him again speeding next to me and I see those two red and blue lights turning on along with the siren.
At first it looks like it’s me who has to pull over. But the blond lady is the less lucky one for today. And she was in such hurry...

I guess this is my lucky day anyway. I'am supposes to get my passport within 3 weeks! The lady at the consulate is not as unfriendly as the rumors go. It’s true her manners are quite ‘special’ but even we had a nice chat afterwards and she took Maarten to explore ‘the secrets’ behind the next office door.
By the way, she reminds me a lot of my favorite professor Lis in Brussels. Also Prof. Lis was not beloved but rather frightened most of her students yet I never had problems getting along with her.
Speaking of that, how I do miss my studies!!!

PS: The house has been shaking already since the afternoon and we hear the Melusina crying again. There is another stormy night ahead (60 mph, locally even 80 mph).

Bad Start to 2008? / Preschool 'Promotion'

The year 2008 hasn’t started very optimistic for me. I hope I have already collected all this year's troubles in advance.
My car was broken down and it looked pretty innocent. At first they had to replace some quite important part. And the importance equals the price, huh?
There was another much more significant issue which made this year’s first weeks to be almost unbearable to me...uhmm...I hope this was the last pregnancy test in my life.

I was planning to visit Europe in February. Unfortunately my passport is expiring soon. I was pleased to hear I do not need to travel all the way to the Dutch Embassy in Los Angeles. There is actually a Consular Office in San Mateo just across the bridge. But here in San Mateo there may be another problem, I've already been warned about. The manners of the executive lady at this office are not particularly friendly. No questions were allowed on the phone and she simply refuses to add Maarten into my passport. And will she like my passport pictures?!

O.K. Enough of my pathetic and self-involved whining.


Maarten is doing so wonderful in the prep class (which means children ages 2 through 3.5 years old). He has been recently recommended to be ‘promoted’ to the ‘real’ preschool. The preschool is for children ages 3 through 5. I was really surprised that the teachers consider him able to move up even before his 3rd birthday. Not that I do have so little confidence in Maarten but rather considering his English language needs. That's why I would never expect they would made this suggestion so soon.
According to the teacher he is ready to be more stimulated and to do more-advanced activities. Great!
I’m sure he will miss his beloved Miss Robin and Miss Irma but it’s time to move on for our little boy.
And we are very proud of him!

The Storm Over?

There is something wrong with my precious car. I hope it will be fixed as quickly as possible. You see, someone who hated to have her own car can’t actually be a day without it. I guess, Rob has to take his bike to get to his office tomorrow.
Anyway…



The weather is pretty calm today.
Thanks to the storm and heavy rains there is finally some water in Bollinger Creek. Time to toss the sticks and pebbles!

And the riparian valley along the creek is lovely fresh and green again.

Just Kind of Dutch Weather

Being temporarily Californians we enjoy the great location and the wonderful weather. Even the winters in the San Francisco Bay Area are mostly pleasant and the day temperature drops rarely bellow 50°. And still if we’d like to go skiing we can travel a few hours east to the Tahoe area or drive down south if we like it even warmer than here.

Though the new year has started with a big blast of showers and heavy thunderstorms.
Even the first day of this year we had sun with kitschy blue sky we had to hurry back down from our trip to the Rocky Ridge. We could hardly breathe up there because of the strong wind and sudden squalls.
Since yesterday (Friday) a strong storm with heavily rain and howling winds tease the whole West Coast. And the weather men expect even more powerful storm into the Northwest Monday night into Tuesday.

Despite the soaking rain and strong blowing wind yesterday I didn't think there is something more serious going on. Just kind of Dutch weather. Why not to take Maarten for a walk in our waterproofs and rainboots? No one at the streets of course and the water is flowing so fast. The whole neighborhood has changed into a big water play area. We even found a hidden playground very close to our home. Maarten was excited of course. I was less happy seeing him now and then going down on his knees and drinking the rainwater straight from the street! Is our outdoorsy way of upbringing going too far???
Later the day I hear from my friends in the South Bay that the storm is really something serious down there with power outage, tree and structural damage and even with flying patio furniture…

Tonight when the wind calmed down and it stopped raining for a while the fog still hanged on the top of the hills but you could see it quite clearly: there is snow up there!!!
(Sorry for the bad quality since the picture is taken through our window.)