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When we moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains, I barely noticed the enormous old oak standing beside our driveway. Then I noticed one perfect branch. More than twenty years later, the swing hanging from it has become part of the story of a much bigger swing in my life. When we moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2002, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. The house, the mountains, the view stretching out over Silicon Valley. There was so much to see that I barely noticed

In August 2020, our mountain changed overnight. Three days later we were evacuated with four unhappy cats, two dogs, and no idea what we'd find when we came home. Come walk with me... Nature has a remarkable way of reminding us that what looks like an ending may not be the whole story. After the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, I expected to mourn the loss of one of my favorite places. Instead, I found hope quietly sprouting from blackened trunks. That discovery became the final

More than twenty years ago, I rounded a bend on a little dirt road leading to the Jikoji Zen Buddhist Retreat and met the biggest madrone tree I had ever seen. Come walk with me... Sometimes we don't realize we've made a lifelong friend until we've been visiting them for twenty years. This old madrone has watched me hurry past on countless hikes to the Jikoji Zen Center. Looking through old photographs, I realized she wasn't simply changing. She had quietly been teaching me