The Other Day Among The Live Oaks.

The other day among the live oaks.

One of my favorite fall recipes. Homemade butternut squash soup fresh from the farmers market. Made with sweet onions, heirloom tomatoes, fall spices, broth, and pumpkin seeds!

Touch starved… but it’s for a cool autumn breeze.

It’s a labor of love. I’m sore, I’m a little sunburnt, and I’m so physically tired. But I love it so much. Nothing feels like home more than going out to the marsh bays and catching shrimp with my dad. My sister and I grew up along the muddy bays learning to catch shrimp. I remember us bobbing along as young children in his small metal John Boat. We were happy that my sister felt good enough to join, we did MAKE her wear a life jacket today though. No seizing into that muggy water for her. Lol.

Shrimping for us is different from the big commercial boats you see. Our process includes 10 bamboo poles, some bait balls, a cast net, and a long day. If we’re lucky. We take home the limit: a cooler full.

No matter how exhausting of a day it is, if we get back at a decent time. I make a point to cook a meal with some of that fresh shrimp. You don’t get fresher than that. Tonight’s meal was blackened Carolina shrimp, from-scratch Alfredo sauce, and fettuccine! Y’all… I wish I could share. It was as good as it looks.

On Wednesday, my little sister took this picture of me on the Golden Gate Bridge. She often takes pictures while we’re hiking. We do most things together. In that moment we were excited and exhausted to embark on this amazing trip we had planned to California.

I didn’t know in that moment, but our lives would change. We drove to our hotel and got in late, and I was editing this picture above before I crashed around midnight.

At 3am, I randomly woke up and my sister was convulsing, making choking noises, foaming at the mouth, and she was unresponsive. It was the scariest moment of my life. I’ve never witness a seizure before and she’s never had one. Our first night in California led to an ambulance and the hospital. We were helpless. Across the country all by ourselves. Here we were in a place we didn’t know, in a hospital.

35 hours later. She has been diagnosed with epilepsy, and given medication, and is out of the hospital. I’ve always valued and loved my family. My sister and I have always been advocates for each other through anything and we’ve always been best friends. Experiencing a moment in time where I did not know if she would wake up again was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I am more thankful than ever. We have a very long road ahead as her life has been changed with this diagnosis.

When she started convulsing my instincts kicked in as I thought she may be throwing up in her sleep. I first thought to roll her on her side, and I did. But then I realized she was foaming at the mouth and unresponsive, I knew something different was happening and called 911. I soon find out that I did exactly what you’re supposed to do in this situation.

So here’s my epilepsy PSA. If you ever find yourself in a situation where someone starts having a seizure. Roll them over to their side. Secure their surroundings, and do not put anything in their mouth. Even though the throat noises sound terrifying.

Thankfully, we have worked it out to where our trip has been extended by a few days. We still get to see the redwoods as we were so excited to see. Now, it’s going to mean so so so much more.

Half Dome at Sunset.

Yosemite National Park, CA