spunky little fighter: 3-year-old pyro has battled
the all-too-real monster called Cancer for a year now
I first learned about adorable, inspiring Pyro from my blogger friends Jet and Toni. And when I visited his Aunt Mec’s In Times of Pain blog, my heart just went out to him.
According to his Aunt Mec, Pyro has had at least 8 chemo treatments, 2 major chest surgeries and 30 days of radiation treatments, all within the last year. I’ve seen pain and illness first-hand, but when it happens to someone so young, it just really tugs at my heart.
Pyro likes stuffed toys, mocha cake, Sponge Bob, wrestling, Spiderman. Right now, one of his biggest dreams is to see his hero, wrestler Dave Batista.
If there is any way you can help make Pyro’s wish come true, I’m sure he and his family will be very grateful. I think the easiest way to get in touch with his family is by emailing his Aunt Mec at delisyus[at]gmail.com.
If, like me, you’ve no idea how to get in touch with Batista or his agents, but would like to help, you can do so by blogging about Pyro, or forwarding an email about him to your friends. And then too, you can pray for him - for strength, for hope, for healing, for his dreams to come true.
Posted under Helping
the tall, tall trees of muir woods
Imagine walking under the dark green canopy of towering redwoods, some of the oldest and tallest trees in the world. Imagine the sunlight filtering in through the topmost branches, touching your upturned face as you try to peek through the trees to get a glimpse of the brilliant blue sky. Imagine the soft sound of leaves falling all around you like orange-and-brown-colored snowflakes, of leaves crunching under your feet. Can you hear the sound of the creek as it murmurs its morning greeting to the forest? Or the wind as it whispers through the foliage?
There. Now you know how it feels to walk through The Muir Woods National Monument.
a perspective photo
Muir Woods is located 12 miles north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Coast redwoods used to grow all over the California coast, until they were cut down indiscriminately during the Gold Rush. The canyon where Muir Woods is located escaped this fate because the area was practically inaccessible.
After spending the morning at the Muir Woods, we headed about 10 miles north, to the beautiful Sonoma Valley, considered the birthplace of California’s wine industry.
Our first stop was the Larson Family Winery, which was one of my most favorite parts of the trip. This relatively small and unassuming winery is home to the 2006 winner of the Best Cabernet in California award, the 2003 estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon.
the larson family winery grapevines
Here, we learned the proper technique of tasting wine. Our host and ‘teacher’, Tina, walked us through the tasting process with humorous quips and juicy bits of information about the winery and winemaker Tom Larson. Afterwards, we went to the barn-turned-tasting room, where we got ourselves a bottle of the award-winning Cab to take home.
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Posted under Travel
