to live deliberately..

" I went to the woods because I wished

to live deliberately,

to front only the essential facts of life,

and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,

and not, when I came to die, to discover

that I had not lived."

-Henry David Thoreau-

My friend Melanie is the groundskeeper of a 300 acre ranch

up in Northern California, a bit north of San Francisco.

These photos are where she lives - isn't it beautiful!

I have known her and been amazed by her since I was a

teenage girl. She is just one of those amazing women

that has no fear - she lives each day with intention,

always learning and mainly learning by doing.

I lived with her for a short time up in the SF area,

when I was in my early twenties and one day she decided

to knock down a wall to make the living room larger.

She figured out what she needed to do and started

just doing it. She then installed a wood burning stove

after that was done. She has always been a fabulous

cook, sews by making her own patterns, her gifts

have always been handmade and just beautiful.

Talk about an inspiring woman - WOW!

She has come in and out of my life for the past 30+ years,

and it's always fascinating to see what she is up to now.

She has gone back to school, and works on this ranch.

Last week and the week before - they had some really

bad storms and it blew the roof off of her deck, and that

is what would normally keep the water out of her home

In no time at all, she was up on the roof assessing the damage

and her and her fiance got to working on fixing the damage.

And doing it with a wonderful attitude, like it was just

another thing to do in the day.

She has been such an inspiration in my life

and I am so proud to call her my friend.

(photos via Melanie Sereni-Basso)