11 Comments

Lovely writing, Valerie! Another one of your many talents!

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Thank you, Kathy. I’m practicing. It doesn’t come easily, unfortunately. I appreciate the encouragement.

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It makes me think of the phrase “stomping ground” and how an intimate familiarity can inspire, a quality of place that perhaps only nature can do? The balance between knowing a place but also being able to be changed by it decades later is a true marvel. The Romance languages have two verb forms of ‘to know’: ‘to know of’ and ‘to know personally.’ The beautiful way you present the dynamic relationship we can have to our spaces makes me want to live life more fully!

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Beautiful article! Your writing brought the landscape and innerscape to life. Do I smell a custom fragrance in your future, creosote and challah?

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Exquisite descriptions of the environment you grew up in and the impact it had on your awareness! I felt as if I was there with you in that time and space.

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Iris, thank you. You know the power of that landscape, too. I didn't mention the times I looked up to Idylwild at the top of the tram and wished to go to ISOMATA to dance in the summers. I'm so happy to know you're at the helm now. Lucky students!

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I retired from teaching at Idyllwild Arts a few years ago. I am discovering the beauty of the desert every time I go down the mountain!

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Dear Valerie, thank you so much for this gem of writing. What a treat to get this beautiful glimpse into a forming part of your childhood. So poetically described. A magnificent movement in itself! Much love to you!

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Thank you, Dorothea. That means a lot to me, as you yourself understand these forces and relationships I'm trying to express. In words. This was, and still is, a complicated piece for me, one I've been gestating for years. I didn't realize it would birth into written form quite like this. (Maybe a dance, though.) Much love to you all.

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You are such a great writer. Thanks to the mountain ring around LA, navigating that city as a child was obvious, effortless. The feeling of diving down HWY 111 towards your mountain induces instant feelings of anticipation/ joy...and when things get really nuts, I'll head towards the sunset and make a right at the coast that winds its way up to Big Sur. Were it not for these markers, I'd be lost. My inherent sense of direction is not developed. Pathetic. Thank heaven for California.

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Yes, we have so much in California, right? Thanks for the memory of Los Angeles in the ring of mountains, so many valleys. Your drive up to Big Sur with the Pacific at your shoulder is itself a tonic, leaving the city behind in your rear view mirror. I love that. Thanks, Jennifer.

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