There is something about September that signals to me as the end of summer and a transition to a new season. The winter holidays are fast approaching and by the time you know, Christmas is here and then 2027 is just around the corner. The popular phrase, "Time flies when you are having fun" is so true it aches. It aches because while it's fun living your life, we sometimes get caught in the chaos of the world around us. Then another popular phrase immediately sets in when you realize it. "Stop and smell the roses". For if you don't, they will be gone before your next blink. So I remind myself that while I need every hour and every minute dedicated to working on my business, I also need to pay attention to the wonderful people and places around me. To listen, to enjoy the moment and most importantly be present.
Every year for the last several years now, Henry and I have been going camping with my extended family. This year, in early August, we camped in Coldwater Campground near Mammoth Lakes. Approximately 30 of us where there and the cell signal was spotty which forced you to be unplugged. No scrolling, no posting, no planning. Just the kind of quiet that only happens when the mountain decides for you.
It was exactly what a doctor would order you to do.
The People Part
Thirty people. Tents scattered across neighboring campsites, a camp host kind enough to shuffle things around so we could all be close together. Good food, the kind everyone pitches in on. Conversations that only happen around a campfire, when there's nowhere else to be and no reason to rush. Playing games and laughter that is infectious. It makes you forget your daily troubles and just be present in the moment.
We had our share of altitude moments, headaches, restless sleep (partly I think fear of bears visiting our campsite was part of it), getting winded doing almost nothing. The elevation at about 9000 ft is no joke. To top it off, although we had flushing toilets, there were no showers. But you have your own stall so we applied the "punas" system of cleaning ourselves.
The Road Less Travelled
One morning, a few of us slipped out early while most of the camp was still quiet. We had to get down to the parking area by the ranger station at Devil's Postpile, otherwise, you'll need to take the shuttle which adds to the time. And I'm glad we did because that made it not such a hot hike. It was a chilly morning when we started but that was a good choice since it got hotter as the sun rises more. We hiked to Devil's Postpile National Monument and then to Rainbow Falls.
If you've never seen Devil's Postpile, it's one of those places that stops you mid-sentence. Perfectly geometric basalt columns, formed by volcanic activity and shaped by glaciers over thousands of years, standing there like something that shouldn't exist but does. Such a natural phenomena that you can't help but think that this was God's Art project. Nature doing math better than any of us ever could.
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I was taking pictures of not only the spectacular views but also the small things in nature that speak to me the way I always do on trips like these. I wasn't thinking about art or products or what I'd do with the photos later. I was just there, taking it in, noticing the small things, the way the light moved through the columns, and the sound of the water in the distance as we continued our hike to Rainbow Falls. Because of the high altitude that hike wasn't easy for me but I just took my time and my friends just patiently waited because of course, I was the last one to get back to the car. We ended up giving a couple of ladies a ride back to their car at the ranger station and it gave us an opportunity to check out the station and of course, I got my National Park passport stamp. Which, if you know me, you know is its own kind of joy. 🌿 (Lodgepole chipmunk) |
What Comes After
I came back with photos, a passport stamp, and something harder to name. A reminder, maybe, that the work is better when the soul is fed first. We cannot draw from an empty well.
And then I came home and made a puzzle.
The photos I took at Devil's Postpile, the ones I wasn't thinking about when I took them, became the source material for a new jigsaw puzzle in the MyLittleFe collection. That's how it usually works. You stop trying to create and you just live, and the art finds its way in anyway.
A week later, some beloved friends invited Henry and me to Stern Grove for the final concert of the season, Al Green, of all people. I had known about Stern Grove for years but had never actually been. It felt like summer's proper send-off. Music, friends, an open sky, and nowhere else to be. Two weeks of being reminded that life is not just the work, and that the changing of the seasons deserves to be marked, not just noticed.
This season also marks one year of MyLittleFe. I filed my business license in September, so September feels like the real beginning. And one of the commitments I made from the start was to donate $1 for every National Parks-inspired product sold. This August, for the first time, I made that donation under MyLittleFe. It wasn't the $50 I had hoped to reach through sales alone, but I gave $50 as my first official business donation. Every little bit helps. And this will continue, it's part of what MyLittleFe stands for.
Sometimes you have to go to the mountain to remember why you are doing what you are doing. Appreciating the small things that pop out at you. 🌿
The Devil's Postpile puzzle is now in the shop.
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