A suitable spot for Salvadoreans

Ahh, the rains started last night. Cris and I had gone out to Mount Tam earlier in the day to scout out locations for the scattering of her mother's ashes. I pointed out a majestic hilltop with a gorgeous view of the city, but she seemed to favor a wooded path. "Cool, dark woods," Cris said. "Anybody from El Salvador would like to be in here, under the trees."

"Really?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. Ask anybody from down there. They hate the heat. This would be like heaven." One of the requirements for a site, however, is a spot reachable by Cris's elderly aunt and by her mother's former caretaker, Francisca. Also, it's going to be wet out there from now on. We're not doing it for at least another week, though, so maybe we'll hit a nice day.

It was nice to be in the woods. We took a short hike, but I had already done my 3 miles on the treadmill in the basement, so I didn't want to go too far. Seven or eight years ago I made it a point to go hiking out there several times a month during the summer; yesterday was the first time I've been out there all year, and maybe the last, given the start of the rains.