Chasing Bluebirds

Busy Weekend

I spent a few hours on Saturday at a restoration event for Los Cerritos Wetlands, this is historic because the public has not been allowed to walk around on the 66 acres owned by the city because the surrounding area is privately owned. through some agreements and other special circumstances, we have been allowed to enter and WOW! what a thrill! for anyone who reads this blog and lives in a rural community, i can't tell you how much i dream of the day when i can live in a green, wild, lush and totally nature filled environment. i am literally starving for it and when i get the chance to take a walk in anything remotely open, i get euphoric. seriously. so why am i living in this cement jungle? long story and i can promise you, i won't be here forever. for now though, i am working tirelessly on saving these 500 acres of wetlands that would be a welcome reprieve to us nature loving locals. 












we picked up trash, learned about native and non native plants, seed collected (did you know the southern tar plant is endangered and growing right here in these degraded wetlands??) and then sunday:
we had a little garage sale
that took ALL DAY and left me totally drained but
happy all the same! :)

front page, above the fold

coastal clean up

today was spent cleaning up our local wetlands... first at the colorado lagoon and then at the official Los Cerritos Wetlands grand opening so to speak! there is a small portion of the wetlands called "Zedler Marsh" that has been cleaned up for four years now, it is a small piece of the Los Cerritos Wetlands parcel but the public has not been allowed to participate fully. today we opened the gates, drove in and treaded lightly around a tiny portion of functioning wetlands in the heart of a bustling city... neighbors working together to begin the restoration of something so lovely... so fantastic... so worth saving.

liz is infatuated by the boys who run the events, she is some kind of mascot now, terribly sweet.

after all that, we went to the beauty salon

getting ready for my brothers wedding next weekend... almost ready. tomorrow is another run, another beach clean up and some sewing projects... i hope to post the results here if i can get organized enough. thank goodness i am off monday, need it!

camp fire

camp fire will soon be in session and planning is under way big time (i have a new group starting in october for lizzie). i was happy to be interviewed about my camp fire group on nonchalant mom (someday i will have to post about how i found out nonchalant "dad" is a high school friend of mine! long and very cool story) anyways, please check out the interview and leave a nice comment if you can... hint hint. i am knee deep in planning our camp fire year out and i officially signed on for a position on a newly organized group that will be restoring the tiny bit of los cerritos wetlands available for restoration, so excited!!! lots going on, sewing, crafting, organizing and still training for a half marathon just weeks away, eek! i will try to keep you posted as i make my way through all this chaos.

living in the moment

impromptu stop at the wetlands hanging on to summer

Finally, finally, finally!

Some good news!!

happy 4th of July! I am hopeful that this bit of progress, restoring the central 66 acres currently owned by the public will open up a landslide of public support to acquire and restore the remaining 400-700 acres (i have heard so many different numbers, not sure how much is really out there) how did this grant slip under my radar? who cares, eric zahn made it happen and let the volunteering begin!! 

to be a wetland, or not to be a wetland

(i am interrupting my daycamp week to bring you this whiney rant) so let's see.... i have been a part of the effort to save los cerritos wetlands for about 3 years now, getting pretty much as "in to it" as anyone could get. i have done my own research, i have attended meetings and vigils, rallies and protests. i organized the rummage sale to benefit the cause, i have spoken to lots of people about it, i started the facebook group page to spread the word. so i am thinking, after all this, why is it so HARD to get people on board? i know everyone is busy, i know people have things that are important to them and that they will donate time, money and energy to. but seriously, there is 400 acres of open space,one of the last chunks of wetlands along our entire west coast in need of being saved and i can hardly get residents who LIVE DOWN THE STREET FROM IT to want to save it. i would think people up and down the entire coast would deem it worth saving, let alone the people next door to it. i have heard people say they live in the next county so aren't SURE if they CAN support saving it. what??? i would think if you live in America you can help us save this wetlands. i would be interested in saving any wild open space in the whole WORLD if it needed to be saved. so after an article like this, i get emails and facebook messages asking me if we should still fight the fight if a small chuck has been "proven" not a wetlands? well this is a perfect example of how the "system" works. the developer gets property that cannot be developed, he illegally scrapes off the top 6 inches of soil, he removes all vegetation, kills all the animals living there, disrupts the nesting wildlife in PRIME nesting season, he then brings in soil from somewhere else and puts 6 inches back on the land, THEN he PAYS a biologist to come out and "test" the soil.... which comes back with no wetlands vegetation or wetlands soil....what a surprise! the paper writes an article and all the environmentalists look like jack asses? oh really? it would be a lot easier for some people to be able to say, "well i would have got on board if it HAD been a wetlands, but look at this article, there is your proof so i don't need to feel guilty or worry about it now do i?" 

ok, so there is my rant for now. i will keep chipping away at this, hoping for more passionate people to join me, people who won't let the city "machine" run us all over and develop every square inch of our town. people who think that wildlife needs a place to call their own so they aren't in our chlorinated "ponds" trying to survive or getting hit by cars or forced to live in our flowerbeds. heck, I need a wild place for MY OWN survival!

los cerritos wetlands rummage sale

first glance

set up liz came up with the idea to "barter" pictures for merchandise, she did very well! full swing ok, my dad donated some cool watches and cleaver was assigned to sell them (she has some pictures liz made, remember she bartered for things?) and between my dad and cleaver, that table made 210 dollars!!!! unbelievable!! liz shopped non stop some crafty stuff this baby never fussed once (sweetness, hank!) love jen! life savers (or wetlands savers!!) guerilla art kits (cant believe keri smith gave me a personal ok to make these, so cool!) working the streets chris became the entertainment boy the grunion gazette missed a photo op! (the photographer had already left) liz found (and bought back) many of her "donated" toys (ooops, note to self, dont bring your kid to a rummage sale if you have pilfered things from their room. they will seek them out!) goodwill here we come! the kids had a blast and i was so happy to see new friends and old friends come out to help. thanks to celeste and fred from high school! christine, linda, pete, janet, mary, kathleen (the girls too!) from camp fire, the walkers (for the awning that saved our bake sale in the rain), beth and mark found on facebook!! jen and brent my favorite blog pals, alicia from the gaslamp, all the wetlands folks (elizabeth, ann, pat, many many volunteers who came to help sell).... the list goes on and on... oh and CHRIS who just rocks beyond belief (but he knows it!) so many people saved the day. i tell you my folks were so amazing, cleaver and my dad!! oh man, cleaver, you were the one and only person who came and sold your goods for us, thanks so much!! love you! ok, enough enough, time for bed!!! happy day for the wetlands, tomorrow we rest!

whirlwind

my blog has definitely taken a back seat to this rummage sale (and facebook) but i am still here!! we are doing our guerilla art along the street trying to spread the word, i feel a mad dash feeling with one week left to the sale, hope i can pull this off! lizzies graduation was today, from pre kindergarten (preschool really) which made me tearful. emily went here first, this summer will be the last for liz, she is starting public school in the fall (can't say i will miss the tuition! but this was a very special place for both girls. if you are local i can let you know more about it!) congrats liz! boy was she excited! but the day wasn't over, we still had her dance recital to go to: at her preschool there is a dance school that teaches once a week. emily did this as well and it was such a great idea. you dont have to take your kid anywhere, they come to the school each week and teach. to me, it was the best kind of multi tasking! they run a swim school during the summer which incorporates the same idea, the kids are pulled from class each day for swimming lessons. this kind of thing isnt cheap, but there is zero hassle and i love the variety the girls get with different kinds of lessons. swim lessons are a must to me. i forgot to mention the frantic friendship bracelet making we are up to, we will be selling these at the rummage sale and offering "lessons" and i have to admit this was HARD to learn. as crafty as people may think i am, if i cant learn something fast i usually lose interest. the problem is i COMMITTED to this project BEFORE i learned so i was stuck. this was actually a good thing because i am forcing myself to learn and i am finally getting the hang of it! i found a few books on it (one was in my daughters bookshelf, she remembered getting some kind of kit once) and this post was the original inspiration. here is another link too. i will leave you with this lovely chalk drawing: chalk art on the sidewalk is working really well for us right now. its cheap, easy and the girls can really spread out. not as much bickering. we had a pretty rough day yesterday (an overscheduled day at the end of a busy week with a to-do list a mile long is not something i recommend) at one point i had a major meltdown but somehow we made it through and so far today is much better.

Los Cerritos Wetlands Rummage Sale

working hard on this!

the block i was making yesterday, the goofed up one, will be for some new flyers i am making. if you are local, give me a call, i need you!!