...the interface of the natural world at Cort Cottage Bed and Breakfast...
It’s raining! I know for those folks who live on the East Coast, this is really passe. Every year when the first rain returns after the long, hot, and very dry summer, it’s such a relief. The earth is soaking it up. I have hope again that Spring will return once more. I know it’s Autumn, but rain means green to me, and green means breakthrough from the ground up, and wildflowers are not far behind.
The season changes here in just one day. Monday it’s summer with 100 degrees, the next day it’s 85 degrees, then the next day down to the high 70’s. It is always such a relief to have the Fall show up. The weather is so perfect these days. Please excuse the mundane, trite nature of the posting. I am just so glad to feel the change in temperature.
The cottage has several weekends open in October…..call for a reservation.
(photo by Elsah)
Yes, I am always glad when the warmth (really I mean heat) of summer is on its way out. Yet, I do feel a nostalgia coming over me this morning as I sit out early on the deck with bees buzzing, blue jays slurping at the birdbath, ravens squawking from high trees and the muffled loud swish sound of the river across the canyon. The sun is just beginning to pour itself slowly, and then, with a blinding flash over the gently sloped mountain top.
The earth is still moving, turning, spinning at the speed of 1000 miles per hour. Even when we finally allow ourselves to sit still we are not really still.
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[on a planetary note:
early, in the pre-dawn sky, you can see bright Venus smiling down at you outside the cottage window and then later, in the dark night sky, expansive Jupiter shows up to give us a "star" to make a very big wish upon.]
Jupiter via pds.jpl.nasa.gov
Venus via crystalinks.com
Summer is a reflective time, a slowing down for me. I work at chores early in the morning. Then spend time with the outside world online for a while online. Maybe some art-making or “putzing around” in the studio. Of course, a nap, if needed. And swimming in the river in late afternoon, where the breeze is cool from brushing over the melted snow that is called River.
The mountains know a slightly different summer, with high elevation meadows and big trees grinning wide to the glorious big sky.
Cottage meadow summer-style
Big Trees summer-style
We are few days away from the Summer Solstice when the sun is supposed to stand still. I am getting into my summer mode, slowing down, watching the sky, and smelling the river as I walk in the mornings.
The birds seem to be extra busy around here for some reason. It could be that they are just loving the birdbath water I keep fresh for them. When I sit on the deck near the bird bath, they are landing on the clothes lines just a few feet from my head. They are chirping and talking all the time. I saw a hummingbird sit on a branch eight inches away from a phoebee who was flitting his tail. They seemed to be talking away at each other. I longed for a translator.
The cottage has been slow in booking this summer, so there are scattered openings through August. It would be best for you to call or email with your dates and keep your fingers crossed that it is available for you. I have always said that the cottage stays open for the people who are supposed to have it.
That could be you! (PS, this Father’s Day weekend is still open….very unusual.)
I have always known that Cort Cottage Bed and Breakfast is a bridge to nature for its guests. Bridging between city and country, between fast pace and slow pace, between asphalt and mountains, between high tech and low tech, even though the cottage has wireless internet, and between stress and relaxation…
Looking from the Dinely Bridge on my early morning walk today, the Kaweah River has dropped ten feet since last week but it is still rushing by.
upriver 
downriver
We locals wait to swim in the river until late June, all through July and early August. Swimming now would be placing your life in a precarious position. When you come to Cort Cottage in mid-summer, I tell you about one of the best swimming holes in Sequoia National Park, one with granite pools and many waterfalls. I also say that swimming in the river washes your sins away.
I have two wonderful walks near home. One is just down the road, at the road’s end, and goes up the hills and mountains on BLM land. It is a famous place for mountain bikers, horse riding and walking with dogs and friends. But lately, I have been drawn to the river, which is down the road. I drive down to the Veteran’s Memorial Building and walk across the highway to the Dinely Bridge, crossing high over the Kaweah River. I turn left at Kaweah River Drive and walk for a mile or so and back. This little “Drive” is a private road that hugs the river in places and goes higher, with river and mountain vistas in other places. It has shade and wildflowers and creatures. Can you see the little quail perched on the fence? It would not stay still long enough for me to get a close-up view.
I can direct you to both of these walks when you visit Cort Cottage.
The last wildflowers of Spring are blooming in Three Rivers. I hate to see Spring leave. But I know that I can just follow it up the hills as the weeks progress. It finally culminates in a great bloom up in the wild meadows of the Park in late June and early July.
And then there is swimming in the river in the late summer months.
Seasons…the way the earth tells time.
The cottage is some openings still left for the summer. If there is a replay of last summer, when every night was booked, you might need to call soon to make your reservation. The cottage is cool (in more ways that just air conditioning) and comfortable (in all ways you can think of) and it can become your home away from home.
P.S. Farewell to Spring is the name of a wildflower also called Clarkia or Herald to Summer.
(Yes, I know, I could have photo of it here for you…..I will go out and take one later in the week.)
Yes, it has been a while since I reported from the Edge. Spring is extra beautiful this year. I know I say this every year, but it always amazes me how it shows up so glorious each time!
Simply said, April at the Cottage still has several openings before the busy season starts in May. It is your last chance to see the green and watch the wildflowers graciously become seed pods for the next time around.
Rains that come and go, leaving golden light upon the hills. A few days ago it was “snowing” here with huge flakes filling the air but none were exactly sticking to the ground outside my window. They just dusted the hills like a baker sifting confectioners sugar over cupcakes. It was white, white across the canyon. Two hours later the sun powerfully blasted out from all the clouds and the hills burst into brilliant green. I took a nap.
This is the time to come to the cottage to see all this sky-air-earth drama. I think some of my prospective guests have been scared away by weather. Winter only lasts a few hours a day here, so don’t let it keep you away.
