Tennessee Valley Trail – A Summery Sunday in January
··· Jan 27 2011 · By ···
After a ton of rain and many cold gray days in November and December, Mother Nature has been shining some powerful golden rays on us lately. Clear, sunny, warm days in January are food for the soul and we’ve been making it a priority to get Out and soak it up every day. Sunday was especially warm and clear-sky’ed so we grabbed Nicole and Sid and headed out to one of our new favorite hiking spots in Marin: Tennessee Valley. Getting to the beach without the twisty-turny kind-of-long drive out to Point Reyes is pretty cool. And it’s just a beautiful place. As the trail curves around and rolls slightly up and down and that first glimpse of the Pacific comes into view, it’s pretty hard not to feel good about life.
The first time we were there, we saw a really Big slug on the ground. Big like a (brown) banana. We also saw what was probably a bobcat but, even with the zoom lens, the pictures aren’t clear – he/she blends into the background. Cool to see new creatures!
Jeph pointed out that the topography of the beach was totally different than just one week before. The extra strong tide of this full moon probably made the changes more substantial than usual. Last week there was a fairly big ridge of sand over to the left which we climbed up to get around the little stream dividing the beach horizontally. This time there was only a small bit of ridge and it was further left, against the back wall of rock. The stream was wider and crossing it meant wet feet (except for long-legged Jeph who jumped it with ease.) After a few minutes of debate, the rest of us wised up and took our dam* shoes off. And boy did that sand feel good on these feet, so tired of wearing shoes. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
We played on the beach. Sid dug around in the sand. The sand here is super cool. It’s like miniature pebbles and the color palette is pretty hues of gray-blue, rosy-brown-red, and burnt-orange. I could spend hours just marveling at the rocks and pebbles, and getting inspiration for jewelry pieces.
After awhile we dried off our feet, put the shoes back on and hiked up the side of the hill to an overlook. This is whale migration season (nearing the end) and we hoped to maybe see them heading south. No luck this time – we may need go out to Point Reyes next season. But it was still fun to be up that high, where the crows drop in to ocean winds and float. Watching them from below I observed their graceful balance of effort and going-with-the-flow.
They are focused and present. Their muscles are strong and active. And, at the same time, they are harnessing the power of the universe via the flow of wind – being supported and uplifted.
This reminds me of the practices of qigong, where instead of fighting against opposing energies, you move with them and use them to your advantage. This is wise effort and we humans, as usual, can learn a lot from these creatures. And that is one of the things I enjoy about being out amongst nature – learning in a natural, intuitive way.
The concept of qi as a form of pervasive energy is a fundamental pillar of Chinese Philosophy. This energy is considered to exist in all things including the air, water, food, and sunlight. In the body, qi represents the unseen vital force that sustains life. Qigong practice involves the manipulation and balance of the qi within the practitioner’s body and its interaction with the practitioner’s surroundings.
