JBB's Musings ~ ~ Thanks for stopping by!
"listening to the crickets, breathing the sage-scented air, and watching the full moon." I find experiences like that stay with me a long time and nourish something inside me; sometimes it all just seems very special. The city lights are a reminder of the world we live in while we are experiencing something different and special. I enjoy hearing others share so thanks for your blog.
A great thing about our society is this kind of thing where folks voluntarily associate together to make experiences like this possible and so create a greater good which provided this opportunity for you this time.
In this first paragraph above I was trying to say that an experience like you describe is very primeval to me; just look at your description of the impact on your senses: sound of crickets. Smell of Sage. Moon light rather than artifical light.
That sounds like a grand way to spend an evening. I am so glad that even in one of the busiest cities in our country, you can find experiences like that if you only look. Glad you had a good time.
Thanks for the response, Frank. I agree--being outside in the "wild" is very nourishing and vital to our well-being as humans. I started re-reading a beautifully written and intellectually- and soul-satisfying book called the The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by David Abram. At the moment the book is in some pile...but I hope to get back to it and comment on it more fully. Abram explores the significance of that primeval close connection with and experience of "nature" for the development of humans and our language.
Yes, Eaton Canyon is a wonderful example of people volunteering and working together to preserve a wild place so close to the city (no more than a seven minute drive for me).
Susie, you would have enjoyed our guide. Gabi McLean is originally from Germany and still very German in her dedication to and systematic study of the outdoors. She and her family made a four week hike across the Alps a few years ago.
She also has produced a searchable CD describing the plants in Eaton Canyon with photographs documenting what they look like in different seasons. If you click through from the plants page, you can see some of her work.
Okay, maybe it's the weather we've been, but this is the third Pasadena-area blog (including my own) that mentions hiking recently. How about that. 
Hi Kiki, Thanks for stopping by.
The weather has been nice for hiking, although by now it must be really dry in Millard. I went there with some veteran hiker friends two months ago, and they commented how dry it already was back then.
I agree with you that we're lucky to have so many hiking places so close by!
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