Birthday Post

It just so happens that this final day of September is the anniversary of Jacob Andre Mariani's birth. We've celebrated with a good deal of eating, the traditional Italian way of recognizing all significant holidays. He's happy to be 24, looking forward to spending his gift money on downhill biking safety gear, and annoyed that Rachel talks so much about birthdays.

Last week was less eventful than usual, for Rachel's immune system was ill equipped to combat the germs of ten preschool monsters, and a common cold left her incapacitated for days. It was a good reminder not to spend too much time with children. By Sunday, though, we needed to get out of the house and enjoy this endlessly beautiful weather. We tackled Grizzly Peak, a relatively low mountain directly north of Ashland (opposite Mt Ashland, on the drier side of the valley). At its summit Grizzly Peak measures 5,922 feet, but thankfully there's a wonderful paved road for about 5,800 of it. The 5-mile hike from the parking lot actually circumnavigates the peak, allowing for exceptional panoramic views in all directions. To the north we could just glimpse the southernmost Cacade Mountains, as well as billowing smoke from the nearest forest fires, still raging about 1.5 hours north of us. The terrain encompassed dense pine forest, open grass meadows, and the sparse, rocky outcroppings at the southern ledges overlooking our town. The haze and distance didn't make for the clearest photos, but we got some beautiful shots. Check out the photos in the Misc. Ashland album in the Photos menu below.

Also note that we've added a photo link to Jacob's music projects, and we'll add one for his art works as soon as he has some projects to share. Art school orientation starts tomorrow (it's hard to remember that that's what we came out here for!) and classes begin Thursday. Check back next week to see what our busy artists are up to!