Take a Step Back in Time...

If you woke up in the morning from these comfortable quarters and stepped outside your lavish accommodations to this view....

...and walked across these grounds to the baking room...

....and prepared the morning loaves of bread....

...to bake in this outside brick oven...

...and then walked across the grounds to the general store to pick up some necessities....

....and then walked next door to the candle maker to pick a new tallow...

...and then walked back across the compound......to the kitchen to check on lunch preparations...

...and then went to your office to...

...review the applications for the recent job posting you have been advertising for...

....and then went to the weaver's manufacturing plant to check on the special order blanket you are having made.........and then walked across the compound to visit the hardened criminal you have in your basement jail cell..

....you may just be John Sutter, and you may live at...

...Sutter's Fort in Downtown Sacramento. Of course when this was your typical day this was not Downtown Sacramento and you weren't also surrounded by high rises. We stepped back in time today as we toured this historic fort. The day was cold and foggy, a perfect day to step back in time.

As much as I was tempted to leave Michael in the basement jail cell, I showed mercy on his tender soul and allowed him to come home with us.
The best part of the day was finding this little gem tucked behind the fort. Unfortunately they did not allow picture taking inside. This is now my favorite museum. I loved it and highly recommend it. It was chock full of art, history, photos, jewelry, weapons, baskets....I could have spent hours in there. I will definitely be back, it is an incredible place.

Old Cemetery, pondering Life

I have always had a fascination with old graveyards. The mystery draws me in and I find myself stepping back in time while walking through the tombstones. I read each grave stone and imagine what their life was like. How did they die? Were they happy in their life? Did people mourn them?

My mind wanders in time and I try to place myself in their world. What kind of woman would I be in 1870? I am pretty outspoken and independent now, would I be then? Is my personality a part of me, or has it been molded through my environment?

I always think life was simpler in the past, before the electronic age and mass transportation. People lived off the land and families were tightly woven. But was it really simpler? The physical labor was intense. People worked from sun up to sun down. Simple conveniences that we take for granted were non existent. Life was hard....were people happy, or were they just too tired to care?

We found this cemetery in the town of Bodega last weekend. The same town The Birds was filmed in. Thankfully my husband knows of my fascination with old cemeteries and indulges my whims. Newer cemeteries don't hold the same power over me....I like the history.