Gold's Country

Two Peas...

2012-02-09T17:38:00.000-08:00

...no, we don't live in the same pod. Not for the last 44 years, anyway. And there are significant differences between us, for sure. But it certainly feels like we are more alike than not when we get together, which we did for a couple of days last week.

Terry drove up from Fresno (four hours, or so, south of here) last Thursday and stayed til Saturday. It's rare that we get to share that kind of time. She has a very busy life, what with her full-time work caring for, and enabling others to care for, medically fragile children distributed between three different homey residential facilities. And then there are her 10 grandchildren, all of whom live nearby. Of course, she juggles even more than that, but I'm too tired to think about it...

We're happy just sitting with our knitting and chatting away. Yeah, I know. Let me also quickly add, however, that, although we haven't done it in quite awhile, we could also be happy hopping from roller coaster to roller coaster at Six Flags. But this time we took the slower road. Munching chocolate chip bar cookies along the way. We laugh a lot.

Wrenching ourselves from the frenzy of flying yarn, we took strolls in both Nevada City and Grass Valley for excitement on Friday afternoon. Whew!

I forgot to take any pictures until she was ready to leave on Saturday. This was the only one in which we both had our eyes open.

Usually, about every six weeks, or so, when I drive to Fresno, Terry can join mom and I for lunch. But it really is great to have more time to just hang out like we just did. It had been about three years since we'd last done it. The problem is that we're very alike in our lack of urgency about such things and we let time roll by and roll by...

But I'll try harder to make it happen more often from now on, I really will. I'm serious. Because, for one thing, she remembers stuff better than I do. I can do a brain-sync with her and, voila, I can remember stuff, too!

Am I a lucky girl, or what?

January

2012-02-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

My favorite month. Usually quiet, laid--back. Cold. A good time to regroup.

This January, however, we hit the ground after the holidays by spending several days in LaVerne (east of LA) helping to move Tom's mom, Ruth, into an assisted-living apartment at her retirement community. Diana had done a great deal to prepare, already, but we all, then, spent three busy days sorting, packing, unpacking and arranging everything in her new place. I took only one photo--that of the kids and their mom in her cute, bright living room.

By the time we had driven back home, however, we learned that Ruth had been stricken by a stomach flu (ack), which quarantined the whole facility for the next week. Nice welcome. Tom, meanwhile brought a bit of it home in his system. My simple cold cranked up to sinus infection, so most of the second week of January was spent shaking it all off. It really felt as the New Year for us began around the 15th.

Oh, yeah, and my birthday is in January. Near the end. Last Saturday, specifically.

After a lovely Thai meal Friday evening, Saturday morning we drove to SF to connect with the kids. We found Dylan and Emi, first, and we all headed over to the Saturday farmer's market held at the Ferry Building. Wow. A mind-boggling array of fresh produce, and other foods, prepared and otherwise. Did I mention that it was a fabulous day to be outside?

We (predictably, since it was my birthday, after all) ended up inside at Cowgirl Creamery to stuff ourselves with lovely cheeses of many sorts. I had a melted-cheese sandwich of their Wagon Wheel cheese, melted while the cheese was still a part of the big cheese wheel, then scraped off onto the bread (see the poor pic of the process). Well. We shared several other tasty dishes, as well. See how happy we are?

Afterward, we made our way over to Golden Gate Park (one of my favorite places on earth). Rachel and Mike had biked over from their place. We chatted in the sunshine, for awhile, then checked out the view from the tower of the DeYoung. Did I mention that it was a superlative day?

Upon leaving the DeYoung, we crossed paths with Kanga-guy. He was hopping around on this interesting footwear. Special pants, too. We intersected with him twice more in our short time in the park. He might have been showing off just a little. Still, I have to admit that I would love to try those things...

Over at the Conservatory (which had, alas, just closed as we arrived), Rachel and I showed off our own footwear, which happened to match perfectly. That's because I had admired her boots at Christmas and she bought me a pair for my birthday. Cute, or what?

Mike had to peel off from the group to do some "stuff", but the rest of us made our way back to Emi's to eat more cheese. And Dylan's famous guacamole, at which he is hard at work here.

Here are a few cute people enjoying the fruits of his labors. And then, there's a pic of the 5 of us, taken by Amber, who was visiting Rachel from Boston and of whom I somehow neglected to snap a shot. But she's cute, too, take my word.

What comes after cheese? Chocolate, of course. Emi had made a wonderful layer cake for my birthday!! So rich and moist!! Candles, even.

We drove home, full and happy. Lucky lucky me!!!

Next day (Sunday), we topped off the weekend by driving to Modesto with the endlessly entertaining Browns (Karen and Terry) to see The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan). Why? Because our choral director, Ryan Murphy, is the principal director and we wanted to support him. It was fabulous fun! The long drive (2 1/2 hours, one way) felt short because of the great company. The production was amazing. It included singers on Segways, a motor scooter and a golf cart. The Gallo Center for the Arts is a wonderful facility! We wrapped up the trip with Pho in Sacramento on the way back home.

So. That's plenty for now. My sister arrives today for a short visit. More soon...

A Tale of Two Christmases...

2012-01-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

I am not keeping up any more. And I have only 20 minutes to write this...here goes:

Starting with the fact that we found the prettiest Christmas tree (I think) of all time and space, though I think I'm about done with evil unreliable incandescent mini lights (did I mention unreliable and EVIL?), Dylan and Emi flew to Colorado to spend some quality Christmas time with her family, though Dylan flew back to Sacramento on Christmas Eve because he wanted to get started with us (mostly Tom) who were going to help him with his website for a few days so we had a nice fish taco Christmas Eve dinner with just the three of us--can you see our traditional miniature leg lamp on the table?--and Christmas morning we had fruit and sweet bread and such though I was somehow and inexplicably out of eggs (it had been a crazy week) after which we opened fun gifts one of which was another gorgeous teapot for my collection from Tom--it's a traditional Japanese iron kind--and both Tom and Dylan got waffle irons, don't ask me why, well, actually, Tom is always hinting about waffles and, well, we have one, but, well, too many words, and I'm pretty sure there were things Dylan needed more, but oh well, and we spent the rest of the day dodging the little RC helicopter we also gave to Dylan for fun and of course I'm always giving socks to everyone, as well, and, even though I have a standing rule for, lo, these many years, of no cooking on Christmas, I decided to break it just this once to prepare make-your-own pizzas for us, and Dylan's was actually four pizzas in one and I had made a Chocolate pecan pie, among other things, and have since come to the conclusion, albeit a shocking one, that the chocolate in this case is a bridge too far so we took refuge in the plain shortbread cookies, which are Tom's fave and, oh, I made peppermint bark for the first time, too, which, well, take my advice and don't eat some after chocolate pecan pie, and since there were so few of us, I didn't fuss about a bit of football going on in the background and for the next couple of days or so we tried to help Dylan revamp his website so as to be a better marketing tool for him and fortunately, Tom is becoming an absolute wizard of websites and "we" (including myself in just the smallest of advisory positions) made quite a lot of progress (and hope to unveil it in this next week sometime) after which, Wed afternoon, we took him to the train station in Sacto to get back home then we had a day (Thurs) when I had to spend most of the day at the shelter because lots of folks are gone (after doing regular shift on Monday), but Rachel and Mike, who spent Christmas with his family in Chicago this year, had flown home by now and, around 9am Friday, started out for our house, but the Jeep broke down in Vallejo, and, in a goofy, confusing and crazy train of events, had to leave the car in Rodeo, California, where it is at this very moment, at the fourth garage they visited after which, around 3:30pm, they still wanted to come on out to Grass Valley, so they took a bus to Richmond and hopped an eastbound train and we picked them up that evening in Sacramento and by the time we got them to our house (and some seafood stew) they had been "on their way" to our house for about 12 hours--quite a commitment--and still had some energy for a gift exchange, and, whoa, another RC helicopter flying randomly around and some other really fun gifts like a sweatshirt dress (cool!) and super-high-tech hair dryer as well as a very stylin' straw hat for Tom, which he will wear a little more later in the year, then we all collapsed and they took one of our cars the next day (New Year's Eve) back to SF because the Jeep won't be ready for a few days and that's the end of the Christmas of 2011 which was one of the best of course and now, here are the photos in more or less chronological order:

The Fungus Among-us (sorry, couldn't help it)

2011-12-04T15:49:00.001-08:00

This is yet another category of "things that fascinate me". All these photos (except one, taken a week earlier) were snapped on the day after Thanksgiving when the kids and I went hunting on our property for mushrooms. It had rained on T-Day, so conditions were perfect.

Some are so tiny (like pinheads so I couldn't get good shots) and then you'll see one of the monster mushes we found with Rachel's hand in the picture for scale. Those grow next to the house every year under an oak. It's great fun to go looking for them all. So many kinds!! I didn't count the number of varieties, but there were more than a dozen, for sure. There are new discoveries each season, so far.

As I mentioned in the T-Day post, we have a big mushroom-ID book, but it's still almost impossible to be sure which are which--too much similarity. There are some that, we were pretty sure, were edible, even delicious ("choice" in the book), but were not brave (or dumb) enough to put them to the ultimate test. The huge ones were labeled as "choice", we think. A few days later, they were completely gone--eaten by deer. My guess is that they were, indeed, quite delicious, since I found not one sick deer anywhere in the yard.

The winds have dried many of them out, now, and the big season is over until late spring, when it warms up enough. Still, I walk slowly, eyes to the ground, scanning for more more more. I think it will take a big snow event to break my little obsession.

Wish I was a better photographer, but here's the best I could do with these marvelous little fungi (mag up on these to get the best view)...

December

2011-12-02T16:38:00.001-08:00

Seriously? It's like I blinked in August and suddenly it was Thanksgiving.

The bright reds, oranges and yellows are fading, now. We've had quite the wind storms this week, which are nature's way of separating the leaves from the trees so that the snow doesn't break the branches onto our power lines and make Tom grumpy. Only somewhat effective, I must say.

By way of hanging on to the awesome colors just a little longer, I'm just going to post some pics I took of our patio last month.

Since we moved here, I've been planting some fall color both near the house and a little farther away so as to get some of our own fall festival each year. I know--most of the trees are still quite little, but they're showing great future potential if the deer don't eat them. The patio is coming along nicely with the American Tulip tree (already here when we arrived) as the sunshine-yellow centerpiece. The Japanese maples (I can't ever have enough of them), turn different colors, depending on the variety. We have a bit of each--red, orange and golden yellow. The Japanese barberry is the flaming shrub in the corner of the patio. I didn't care for it and almost pulled it when we moved in, but it shows an amazing range of color from spring to fall. So, in spite of the stickers, I let it stay.

One of the things I love about the color up here is how it all shows against the dark green of the pines, firs and cedars. The shock of it!

Anyway, the photos:

T-Day Fun

2011-11-27T17:22:00.003-08:00

Hm. I just can't seem to get back into the rhythm of blogging like I used to. Part of the reason, is that I've been extra busy with one thing and another--Hospitality House activities (making signs, etc.), pre-winter yard work (more on that in another post), a little re-decorating, bit of travel, blah blah and more blah. We'll catch up later. For now, we'll pick it up with our Thanksgiving time with the kids:

The plan was for Rachel, Mike, Dylan, Emi and Emi's parents, Doug and Michelle Hofmeister (who live in Boulder, CO) to come up for the weekend. But life (or, in this case, death) gets in the way of the best plans, sometimes. Sadly, Doug's father passed away Wednesday evening in Kansas, so Doug and Michelle had to change their plans on the spur of the moment (they had planned to fly into SF Thurs. morning).

So, we were a little band of six (Emi will fly back for the memorial service at a later time).

It was a wonderful weekend, none the less, and we'll look forward to another time to get together with the Hofmeisters.

Rachel and Mike arrived early Wed evening. My best intentions to go to choir practice no-matter-what quickly melted away. Tom drove to Sacramento to pick Dylan and Emi up at the Amtrak station the next day.

The weekend had some distinctive texture, besides the activity around a fancy meal. For one thing, Mike and Rachel were one week into a boot-camp-type fitness program and commandeered various locations in the house or deck to work their tushes off for an hour plus every day (including Wed evening). This program makes Jane Fonda's routines (OK, I heard that) look like lolling on the beach. It's called P90, or something, and it's serious. Video trainer, Tony-the-hulk, is forever screeching "bring it!". So I tried to. Actually, I was afraid not to, even though I'm not in the program. You can see that Dylan couldn't escape Tony's reach, either.

Food talk: Turkey (all 22 pounds) was moist through and through. The method this year: no stuffing inside (first time for me); let it sit 24 hours in the fridge all naked to let the skin dry out; took it out to bring to room temp with ice packs on the breast (so white meat would cook more slowly than the dark meat); started at 425 deg for first half-hour; and cooked it upside down (always do that).

In addition, Rachel prepared delicata squash in a fabulous recipe using white miso and sriracha sauce. Incredibly tasty. And who eats delicata? We do, now. Emi, anticipating her parents' presence with us, made wonderful cookies. They are traditions for her family: tiny (diam. of a nickel) cream-filled sandwich cookies and peanut butter blossoms. We couldn't keep our hands off of them, even before the meal, their being such a nice bite-size and all. Other dishes included part-cornbread dressing made with pecans and mushrooms, roasted-garlic mashed potatoes 'n' gravy, roasted green beans w/almonds (squeaky to chew), fresh herbed rolls, homemade cranberry sauce and roasted sweet potato cheesecake.

Crazy meal that six adults can keep eating all weekend with no more cooking. Our leftovers had leftovers.

Another fun thing was a mushroom tour we took on our property. Spring and autumn always produce quite a few kinds of fungal activity around here, but this is a bumper crop. I'll post photos of our faves in the next entry. Anyway, different subsets of us at different times went mushroom hunting and found upwards to twelve to fifteen distinct varieties. Even consulting my comprehensive mushroom manual, we couldn't be sure which were edible, and which not. Mike had a gut-level eat-o-meter pronouncement for most of them, but was not willing to back it up with action. Neither were we.

On Friday evening, we drove over to Grass Valley for the first (of five) Cornish Christmas Fair. Nevada City starts their Victorian Christmas celebrations this week on Wednesday. That's one photo of us (taken by Tom) taken in GV.

Otherwise, we amused ourselves around the house by playing cards, watching TV, and eating, sometimes all three at once.

They all left Saturday evening to drive back to SF together. On Sunday, they had tickets for the Chicago/SF football game (Chicago is home town for both Emi and Mike). Christmas schedules look a little crazier, this year, so this time together was savored as the nice, laid back (well, with the exception of Tony), retreat from the every-day routines that it was.

Sunday Drivers, pt.Whatever

2011-11-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yup, I'm lazier about blogging these days partially because I'm busier than I used to be with outside activities. I have to remind myself about why I've been doing it.

Blogging serves a few different purposes for me, one of which is to post enough information about our lives here to make it a little easier to keep loved ones far away somewhat up to date with us, should they so wish. I'm so bad with the phone calls. And though I wouldn't elevate this to "journal" status, it still serves to help me and my lame memory from losing so much of our passing lives in the thick fog of forgetfulness.

So more in the spirit of the second reason, we did take another drive into the back country weekend before last and hit the aspens just about right, this time (as opposed to two weeks previously when it was merely gorgeous without the yellow of the aspens). This time, we drove a beautiful and familiar loop, heading east up 20 to 80 and over to Truckee for the first leg.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before (that fog I'm talking about), but I've taken hundreds of photos of Colfax, a town on the railroad about 1/2 hour south of us for a friend of my dad's who, with an amazing group of model-railroad enthusiasts, needed the pictures to create a perfect recreation of that town for their enormous construction.

They're about finished with Colfax and now need the same treatment for Truckee. In July, Tom and I drove up there and took photos until my memory card was full, about 250 pics. This latest trip to Truckee served to help me continue with that project. After roughly 450 pictures, I'm still only about 2/3 through the buildings they need. I'll try to get up there one more time before the snow gets too deep.

Anyway, from Truckee, we hopped onto 89 North through the huge and majestic Sierra Valley to 49, which brought us back to Grass Valley through Sierra City and Downieville along the north fork of the Yuba.

Yeah, it's a beautiful drive. Here are some of the views. The last picture is that of our front patio area where our American tulip tree is an astonishing yellow at the moment.

Sunday Drivers

2011-10-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Friday was fun! Kathy (nee Swanson) and John Waters joined us for lunch at our house. Kathy and Tom knew each other from college but hadn't seen each other since. She and John have had fascinating careers with Wycliffe Translators in Africa, mostly. They've lived in Dallas for eight years working for Headquarters, but still travel extensively for their various duties. It was great fun visiting with them. Of course, we only scratched the surface of all the amazing stories they have to tell!

Sunday, we felt like getting out for a drive. It had been a couple of years since we'd followed Hwy 49 north-ish very far. Thought we might see some fall color (hinted at by an article in the Bee that day), since it's just beginning at our altitude. Alas, it was only gorgeous in greens. We'll have to check back for yellows and oranges in a couple of weeks.

Driving 49 (which ambles alongside the North Fork Yuba), we come to Downieville in a little over an hour. Tiny, quaint. It's nestled beside the Yuba at the junction of Downie Creek. We hopped out for a little stroll. Downieville is a mountain-biking mecca.

About a half-hour farther, we gain a bit of altitude and end up in Sierra City, where there's a cute little restaurant we like that has a multi-level patio with a creek running through. You can see it on the left side of the street in the last photo. We sat at the table made of a flat rock next to the water (there under a yellow umbrella in the photo). It would be very difficult to beat the setting anywhere.

Thinking we'll do this drive and on beyond later in the month, we decided to turn around and head for home.

Hm. Bonsai or art next time. And where's the Blotter been?

Celtic Bubble

2011-10-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

It's raining outside. Ahh. First real rain in four months up here. A good time to cycle through the 180-or-so photos I took (!) at one of my favorite events of the year--our local Celtic Festival, held at the Fairgrounds this last weekend.

I attended on Saturday as Tom preferred to hang out at home doing Tom Stuff. It's OK. He did the home tour with me on Sunday.

I love it all. There's the theater of it all--a morning processional with all the crazy-elaborate costumes and bag pipes, little guild tent villages set up and occupied by reenactors, and the folks, like me, who just come to enjoy, but, unlike me, are decked out nearly as well as the professionals, but with a heavy preference for wood-sprite outfits. The royal encampment busies itself all day knighting people and sword fighting and such. The apothecary guild is busy apothing, or whatever they do. And so on.

Then there's the music. I flit around, listening to umpteen groups performing beautiful Celtic fare from any of, oh six stages set up all over the place (more than one audible at any one time). Some is raucous and jiggy, others are soft and melodic. I often lurk near the large, always-changing group of musicians who jam all day playing the classics.

I peruse the crafters and other booths selling anything from hand-hewn wooden kitchen tools or tea to Celtic garb or a massage. I watched a stone carver awhile, and then tried it out for myself on both sandstone and marble. Big "aha". A bit of insight into sculpture I've seen all my life. Love the tools!

In one of the guild areas, I chatted with a guy who makes (and, indeed, was busy fabricating) chain mail (ring by ring) and plate armor. Armor made completely of mail can weigh up to 200 pounds. There's a workout for both the soldier and the horse, I think--and that's without picking up shield and weapon and trying to wave them around a bit. Plate armor weighs less, but, of course, not so flexible. Just one of the trade-offs in the armor game: Comfort or life.

Lots for kids to do. Blowing monster bubbles was a hit. Hopping on hay bales, climbing through a plywood castle and making art in under the canopy were popular, as well. I watched as several little winged girls walked the labyrinth to write their wishes on Post-its and slide them under the elastic band wrapped around the tree in the center.

Enormous Irish Wolfhounds. In this picture, the larger (two years old) stands over 36 inches at the shoulder. The smaller one is only 6 months old and on track to be taller than his companion. The Wildlife Rehab and Release folks brought some of their gorgeous critters to show off. Great horned owls, kestrels, a harris hawk, and Tecumseh, this red-tailed hawk I've seen several times before. I think he likes me.

I watched giant men and some impressive women participate in Highland games, heaving 22# blue stones (think shot put), hammers (ball-on-a-chain) and cabers (think telephone pole), among other weighty objects. There's a group on a constructed ship's deck (with sails and rigging) and, naturally, sailors shouting stuff like, "six bells and all's well" and that sort of thing.

Lots of food. Dancing, spontaneous and otherwise, everywhere.

A huge percentage of attenders, as mentioned earlier, come in costumes of all sorts. The women seem partial to the fairy-queen or pub-wench look. Men sport kilts of traditional tartan as well as the popular, more contemporary, khaki. Utilikilts are often in evidence in this area, Celtic Festival or no, but they're ubiquitous at this event. I think they are catching on. Kinda cute, I think. Think cargo kilts.

It was an all-engrossing day's wallow in a Celtic bubble and I loved every minute. Perhaps next year, I could don a monk's cowl and bring my pens and some ink...

Mostly Furniture

2011-09-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

This entry is mostly about Dylan's furniture, but first...

We attended the annual Draft Horse Classic opening competition last Thursday evening again (we get free tickets every year). We recognize most of the competitors, by now and we even have our faves. It's always fun to watch the contestants drive their beautiful, giant horses and carts/wagons around in singles, pairs, threes, fours and sixes ("six-up"). But it's also just so interesting to get a peak into another subculture--and this is a subculture of a subculture. Then, as usual, I go over to the Fairgrounds the next day to pet the horses, watch the blacksmiths, look at draft horse art, etc. This year, the only picture I'll post is that of a Clydesdale, freshly bathed, being walked back to the barn. If you mag in, you can see the little boy with the reins walking along side (dad is holding the reins as well). I had been watching as the dad was teaching his son how to control this enormous animal who could squash him like a bug. I just loved the juxtaposition of scale and wonder about the "little-boy's-eye view"!

Saturday, we drove to SF for the day to help Dylan work out some business issues, and to hang out with Rachel, Mike, and Rachel's good friend, Sarah for the evening.

He had just finished three pieces. They are part of his new design initiative and were nearly ready to ship to Texas on Monday. Last Friday, he'd had them professionally photographed. So these pics are part mine and part from the photographer. See if you can tell which is which.

One line of design is called, for the moment, Vessels. He's made tables with inset vases or wooden bowls from other artists. The table tops "respond" to the vessels' being there in a way. We love them. The first photo is of his wooden bowl table--the second one he's made. This one almost looks like a wooden "splash", I think. (ignore the underline--it won't click off. sheesh!)

Then, there's the vase table, also the second in the edition. Texas Guy wanted a small console to fit a particular space. Looks precarious, but it isn't. There are more ideas of this sort we'll be seeing soon!

Lastly, he's just recently designed this coffee table (also for Texas Guy). It's quite interesting (the "magic" is underneath, as Dylan said) in that the outside legs don't go all the way up to the table top.

We love all of these. We're all trying to work out in some detail as to how to craft a business doing art, disguised as furniture. It's complicated. But we believe it can be done. He has lots and lots of orders, right now. Mike, Rachel's boyfriend and contractor/finish carpenter, is starting to work with Dylan consistently, which we think is a wonderful development. And did I mention that Dylan is also teaching an industrial design drawing class twice a week at California College of Design? I think I did. Anyway, it soaks up lots of time right now, its being his first time through.

This coming weekend will be super cool with the Celtic Festival and Home Tour. One house on the tour is built out of a covered bridge.

As usual, stay tuned...

I'm Ba-a-a-a-ck!

2011-09-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

I'm just busier than I used to be since we've moved here. It has become more difficult to find the time sit down and knock out the verbosity. Now, just since the last post a few weeks ago, I find that the blog interface is all different. Mostly improved, probably. I like the photo thing, but I've lost the "edit" page/tab. I'm pretty sure it's around here somewhere...

Anyhoo, one reason I'm a little more pressed for time is that I've been trying to crank out more artsy stuff. Next post, I'll begin to catch you up with that whole ball of wax.

This time, though, it's more about the day trip to Oroville we took last Sunday. It's about, oh, 1 1/2 hours from here.

We were just curious to see the reservoir--the 2nd largest in the state (Shasta is bigger). A couple of years ago, in the middle of the drought, we checked it out for the first time and it was pathetic-looking. Seriously. Near as I can figure from online sources, it was about 250 feet below "full" at that time (first photo).

On Sunday, it was only 15 feet below capacity (tree line) due to their having let it drain down to that level a couple of months ago so that it wouldn't overflow. Feels like a different place, now (second pic).

We didn't drive over to the bridge to take pictures from the exact same location. Instead, we parked on the road and hiked up to the cool visitor's center they have there. We are connoisseurs (OK, I didn't know how to spell that until just now--missed the "is" in the middle) of visitor's centers. Ask our kids. I think they eventually developed a"VC allergy", or at least an extreme sensitivity. It's nearly as much fun for Tom and I to explore a visitor's center as to actually experiencing the parks, themselves. Almost. So much cool info!! Love the exhibits!

This one was great! From the natural history to the original inhabitants (Maidu--same as around here) to the gold rush to the building of the "largest earthen dam in the US". Well. So much of it is predictably sad, of course. The Maidu were killed off/chased away by miners, for the most part. The post-49ers ruined the river habitat with their giant dredges. The area now covered by the water in the dam obliterated 145 village sites of the native people. And then there's the Ishi story.

I had read about him many years ago, but had forgotten that this was where he "surfaced". One hundred years ago, in 1911, he walked out of the backcountry up the Feather, hungry and utterly alone, the last survivor of his people. He had been hiding for years after his family had died. Briefly, he was handed over the University of California, Berkeley, to be studied, where they treated him as well as could be expected for those times. He learned some English, wore a suit, and taught people his ways as well as he could. Five years later, he passed away at approximately age 54 from TB , which was still incurable in those times. It's a fascinating story, if you have some time to check it out. That's Tom reading the Ishi exhibit.

There's a cool tower at the VC and that's me studying the interpretive plaque. Yeah, my hair hadn't dried by the time we left home that morning. That's the sorry result.

On our way back to the car, there's this amazing grinding rock (below). Without a plaque (!) I couldn't discern exactly where they'd found it, but it was obviously used for many generations. I've seen others with many fewer holes and not nearly so deep. I love that it (probably) represents not only food culture, but a social one, as well. I can imagine several women grinding acorns simultaneously as they chat about life.

Next time, because I won't be able to help myself, I'll post some photos of the Draft Horse Classic over at the Fairgrounds. Tom and I will, as usual, attend the first competition this evening, then I'll go over for awhile to gawk at the horses tomorrow. I'm inexorably attracted to the magnificence of these wonderful animals.

Til then...

Money Hunting Season

2011-08-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

Under the subject heading, "What Else Do We Do To Keep Ourselves Occupied Around Here?", I belong to two non-profit organizations in the area. (oops, make that three--I just last week joined up with an arts cooperative, Pioneer Arts, but that one doesn't quite conform to this subject--yet)

I volunteer at Hospitality House, which is the local group seeking to address the issues of the homeless in our area. I also sing in the chorus arm of the larger organization, Music in the Mountains, a mostly classical group.

Both need more money. These days, of course, that's not such a simple problem to solve.

Besides the usual activities (singing for MIM and working at the Welcome Center for HH) each has various other opportunities for involvement/special events, most of which involve trying to wring cash out of anyone who glances in our direction. Because we need it. And they're good causes. Seriously.

And Tom has gotten sucked into the vortex, as well, by virtue of his being connected to me. He's OK with it.

Here's a rundown of our most recent activities (this summer):

For MIM, we took our turns working the Beer/Wine Pavilion at the Fair again this year (it's an MIM-"owned" concession). Four hours, mostly in the cashier's cage. Last year, we slung the suds. Because people drink no matter how the economy is faring.

Last Saturday, we also worked all day at the annual MIM BrewFest at the Fairgrounds, where folks come to taste more than 100 beers from all sorts of local microbreweries. Because people drink no matter, well, like I said before...Tom gathers a team of about 10 volunteers who work the gate and put wristbands on the revelers, etc. I'm on the cashier's team, but I really float between the two teams, setting up, making signs and filling in where ever. It's a fun, but long day.

Tom also set MIM up with a website from his company, Directra, to facilitate information and communication issues. It works great! Everybody loves it!

For Hospitality House, I usually help out one 3 1/2 hour shift a week working the "bin" room (where guests' belongings and shower supplies, etc. are kept) and the kitchen. I'm also in charge of a program called "Adopt-a-Night" to encourage people to give $125 to cover overnight costs for up to forty folks. As such, I'm also in charge of half of the "booth" responsibilities--finding volunteers for and setting up the booth at events such as the summer Market Nights in the downtowns each week. This is the last week for that. I also do posters/signage. And acknowledgments (thank you notes and newspaper notifications, etc.). This little job is actually a bit more than I bargained for (grew like an amoeba), so I plan to find some folks to help with parts of it.

Sunday before last, Tom and I set up for a fancy fundraising dinner in the beautiful gardens of Empier Mine State Park to benefit HH. I, then, stayed to served tables and clean up. It included an art auction, raffles, etc, and an outdoor concert by a string quartet. Lovely event. I forgot to take pictures.

Oh, and Tom is setting HH up with Directra, as well.

That's the gist. It's a great way to meet people and the work benefits good causes. Better watch out--money is always in season around here.

Photos: first is Tom letting all the BrewFesters in at the gate. You can't see the thousand, or so, people behind these first few. Second is Tom toward the end of the event when things are quieting down a bit. Third is the HH booth that we set up in Grass Valley every week. I made all the signage except the large banner in the back. I think we look pretty good, now!

Hotel California

2011-08-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

It's been fun to be innkeepers for a week!

Funny how the timing works out, sometimes. A month, or so, ago, we knew that we'd have the privilege of hosting certain travelers, at some point. Tom's cousin, Nancy, wanted to visit on the way back to Oregon from her job assignment in SoCal, but she wasn't sure what week. No worries, we'd be here. Our friend, Win, from our old church in El Cajon, wanted to stop by during his motorcycle trek around Northern California and knew which week, but wasn't quite sure what day--also just fine with us.

Rachel, Mike and Megan had hung out with us for the weekend of the County Fair, leaving last Sunday evening. Win called Tuesday to say that he'd be rolling in Wednesday, sometime. Nancy emailed soon thereafter that her schedule put her at our house Friday. All at just two-nights each, there was no overlap, though Nancy pulled in just a few hours after Win went on his way--just enough time to change sheets/towels and do a shift at Hospitality House on Friday.

As I said, it was fun! We love the company and like to show off the local highlights!

Win is 80 and lost his wonderful wife, Marge, last year. He's ridden motorcycles nearly all his adult life, so biking all over California to visit friends and relations is no big deal. Win is quite the fascinating character. Besides being a teacher of social studies and different shop skills, being a marriage and family counselor, and a piano restorer, he's held untold positions of major responsibility in many organizations, built houses, flown planes, traveled nearly anywhere you can name and I know I've left out most of it. I hauled him all over Empire Mine State Park. He seemed to enjoy it.

Nancy is quite another remarkable person, who has mastered several languages, has lived/traveled all over the world, and, with her husband, Bernd, raised five remarkable kids. Most of her career has been spent teaching and monitoring the working conditions of child actors on the sets of many different TV shows and movies--none of which can I remember at the moment. She and Tom spent some time poring over the geneology of their family (third photo) as extensively-researched by her, her brother, Bob, and her mom (now deceased). She enjoyed the look and charm of the little mining towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City. Sunday morning, we waved goodbye as she set off for home in Corvallis, OR, having been gone many weeks.

So, who's next? We never know. You? Could be tomorrow or three months from now, it doesn't matter. Empire Mine is waiting.

Fair, pt three (last one, I promise)

2011-08-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Friday evening, arriving home fresh from the salsa humiliation, Rachel and Mike pulled up from San Francisco at nearly the same time as Megan and Tucker drove in from Truckee. Rachel and Megan had been house mates for awhile in Truckee before Rachel moved to SF a few of years ago. Tucker is Megan's wonderful mellow golden retriever.

There were lots of laughs just hanging out at home, of course, but we spent most of the day together at the Fair on Saturday.

You can see us having lunch in the bleachers between musical acts at one of the stages. The most excellent (we hear) Hawaiian hula group was setting up, but we had stuff to do...

...Like run around and see all my Fair entries, watch the frisbee dogs, check out the water bubbles (barely visible in the background in this photo of Megan, Mike and Rachel). If you haven't seen them, they are clear plastic bubbles with people zipped inside floating on water. One's bubble can be moved by trying to run inside it (as on a hamster wheel), but mostly one just falls and flails around, being bumped and jostled by other bubbles with other people falling and flailing inside. Looks like wonderful fun!

We spent quite a bit of time in the animal barns. Megan had been a 4H kid (cow division). That would be Rachel and Mike checking out the pigs in the next photo. We love touching their spongy noses. We also hung out with the goats, chickens, turkeys, alpacas horses, cows and dug our fingers into the wool of the unsheared sheep. Mike and I listened to most of a seminar about bees. His dad keeps bees (in Illinois) and we have been the lucky consumers of some of his bees' honey.

Along with all the entry tickets and VIP (ahem) parking pass, I also had some free carnival ride tickets. Tom was only too happy to hold our purses, hats and sunglasses while the rest of us zoomed around on some wild-ish flingy contraptions. We chose our own poison in pairs. Mike and Megan hopped on The Viper--it has those little two-seat gondolas suspended in a wheel formation at the end of an arm which is one of several like it spoked out from a central, uh... So, that last sentence didn't go well. Anyway, they spun in the smaller circle at the same time the smaller circles were also spinning around in a much bigger circle. A lot of circles. You know exactly what I mean. I tried to get a good action shot, but missed them every time. Here they are at the beginning, before they began to regret their decision. An experimental experience gone awry.

Rachel and I, on the other hand, chose the Fireball. It's simpler. There's a giant vertical circular track with a multi-seat open caterpillar-like car that moves back and forth around the circle until the riders are suspended upside down at the top before they are whooshed around and around a few times frontwards, then backwards. We were in the front (well, one of the fronts). And we loved every second. There we are coming down again late into the ride. See how happy?

Toward evening, Tom and I needed to report to our duties at the beer garden. My choir is part of the Music in the Mountains organization and one of the ways we earn extra money (besides making music) is to operate the beer garden at the Fairgrounds for different events. Tom and I had been assigned the Sat night 6:30-10:30 shift (like last year) before we knew the kids would be there. Still, they needed to take Megan back home to her car, anyway, so she could sashay on back to Truckee.

This year, we worked the ticket booth (people buy tickets for beer or wine) and checked IDs, instead of slinging suds. It was fun! Later, Rachel and Mike picked us up.

Sunday was low-key and nice as we just rested up from our raucous Fair Day around the house before they had to drive back to SF.

So, that would be about it for this year's cutest-little-fair-in-the-most-beautiful-fairgrounds-in-the-state. Next year, I'm totally gunning for first in cheesecake world. Look out, Flo!

Fair, pt two

2011-08-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Monday), when I went to pick up my Fair entries (Fair ended Sunday evening), I looked up above the entrance gate for the first time to see a giant wooden cut-out of the miner-guy I drew for the logo. All those times I had passed through that gate, and I hadn't noticed.

Here's Tom from Wednesday evening munching on a grilled ear of corn (soft pretzel in the other hand). I may have mentioned in a previous post that most of the food at our fair is sold by local clubs or charitable organizations--4H, Rotary, Fire Auxiliary, Soroptimists, etc. The most popular food year to year is the corn dog sold by the Job's Daughters. The lines are at least 45-minutes long, often, and have to be folded around like a ride at Disneyland. Plus there's a wagon parked at the other end of the Fairgrounds which also sells corn dogs. Never a line. I've never had either, so I can't say for sure, but, how much better can one corn dog be than another? And, seriously, there still ARE Jobies?

Thursday morning, just after a seminar about water wells, I met my friend and neighbor, Lorri, at the Fair. She brought with her, Dolores, who is HER friend and neighbor. I guess that makes Dolores MY friend and neighbor, now, too. Dolores needs a wheelchair from time to time, so Lorri and I took turns pushing. I might have been a little aggressive.

We watched a show of trick dogs (mostly frisbee-catching), which was fun, munched our lunches to a bluegrass band and toured the exhibits, including the plants/bonsai displays and the fabric arts building. Quilts are always fabulous and I love looking at the knitted entries. Also, the spinners (wool, llama and alpaca fibers) and weavers. Colors! Speaking of which, I threw in a picture of some of the rides against the trees. I love the contrast between the natural and the not-so-much...

We all left mid-afternoon. I had to go help set up the Hospitality House booth at the Thursday Market.

Friday, I didn't make it to the Fairgrounds until early evening, when I brought my last Fair entry to the salsa competition. The kind you eat with chips. There were nearly forty bowls of salsa lined up on the tables. Mine was in the middle, which had no bearing on the outcome, I'm sure. I had made a fresh salsa, which turned to soup by judging time because I had forgotten to drain it. Oops. Still, it made it past the first round. I was clearly out of the running, though, as the field was narrowed to a dozen or so. My salsa game has some room to improve. Maybe a cooked one with a little chipotle flavor? Next year.

But then I dashed home because Rachel, Mike and Megan were scheduled to arrive for the weekend.

Fair, pt one

2011-08-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

OK, it's time for the Nevada County Fair Round-up. Get comfortable.

So here in the first shot is the largest iteration of the little logo I drew for the Fair that I saw. It was posted on the street corner as one approaches the first parking lot. That would be Parking Lot One, where, ahem, VIPs such as myself were given passes to park for free this year. Well, just beyond the disabled spaces. Still.

I arrived on the first day, Wednesday, around 10:45 to drop off my entry into the cheesecake contest to be judged that evening. Besides all the foods/crafts/art/etc. that get judged the week before the fair begins, there is one food contest each day of the Fair when one brings one's entry to be judged in front of anyone interested and then all the entries are sampled by the audience. Day One: cheesecake. Two divisions--traditional (plain) and exotic (everything else). I got second place in the exotic for my made-up peanut butter/chocolate/caramel concoction (prize=a twelve-mini-cheesecake pan. It looks like a muffin pan, but all the little cups have false bottoms. Oddly, I didn't already have one). First place for her made-up marguerita-flavored cheesecake was our realtor-friend, Flo. She sold us our house. Tom and I sat with her and her husband and a few of their friends during the judging, which takes forever. Goin' after Flo next year!

Earlier in the day, I had sat on bales of hay to learn more about wild birds in the area, native plants and worm-composting.

Meanwhile, I checked out the crafts barn and found that I had gotten second place (out of two) for my little basket. Clearly, I was out-woven, though I did like my wild manzanita "fringe". Next year, I'll think a little bigger (which means a little sooner, I guess...).

In the Tall Pines building, I "earned" blue ribbons for my music calligraphy (out of one) and my pastel (and again, in a field of one). That's the beauty of a small county, right? Still, it's fun to have stuff hanging up there. In the pastel, I was trying to knock myself out of my usual color instincts. That's all I have to say about that. No plein aire this year, for reasons I couldn't learn.

Among other things, I listened to a bluegrass band, watched a mini-horse demonstration and patted the alpacas. I drove home to pick up Tom so he could watch the cheesecake competition. Very fun first day...

Fair in the Air

2011-08-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

I do believe that the general idea behind any kind of submission of one's work to a county fair exhibit is the implication that this is what folks in this community have been up to since the last fair, a year prior--preserves, quilts, artwork, animal-raising. Most people grow what they preserve. Most quilts take more than a day. These things take time.

For me, especially this year, it was all about what I'd been doing, oh, say, last week.

I'm not exactly certain why I just can't do my thing all year, then leisurely pick a few samples of my continuous, ongoing effort in specific areas.

My style seems to hinge more on how crazy I can make my life. On Sunday, July 24th (last possible day, of course), I went online and listed a bunch of items that I thought it would be fun to offer for judging at this year's Nevada County Fair. I chose various examples of my work--none of which I had actually even begun at that point, 10 days before turn-in day. I guess it would have been more appropriate to check the box next to "work I would really like to start and finish". The extra little joke I played on myself was that I somehow had gotten the submission date wrong, and it turned out to be a day earlier than I'd planned (if you can call that "planning")--Thursday, August 4th.

That's just how I roll, as they say.

Inevitably, there were a few casualties along the way. Plus, it would be difficult to call any of the pieces exactly a crowning achievement of the last twelve months.

I signed up to exhibit seven creations--a calligraphy, a pastel, a basket, a cartoon, and an appliqued wallhanging to be judged before the Fair began (which is this Wednesday). A cheesecake and a batch of salsa are to be made and judged same day. "Simplify" was my rallying cry! I thought I could do it all.

The calligraphy was a Victor Hugo quote about music I'd wanted to do for some time. I kinda knew how I wanted it to look. Three attempts later, along with various technical difficulties (fussy pens, non-sticky tape for paper-stretching, etc.), I ended up with something entirely other. Fine, but definitely other.

I cut the pastel paper in half to make it a more likely survivor. Pastel is newish to me, and I'm still trying to find my voice with it. Every piece is highly experimental. I'm not so sure that what I ended up with is what I want to say. But it was fun and I learned a bunch. That counts, right?

In this photo, you can see three attempts at the Hugo quote (two unfinished) and one rather intense version of my neighbor's front yard in pastel.

I only work on baskets in the evenings for a couple hours at a time. And I haven't finished even one in the last year. I have a mostly-made one from last summer, but a cord in the tenerif snapped and, well, never mind. So, I started a new fifty-plus-hour job with only about 15-20 hours available. It's a small basket.

You can see how far I got with the wallhanging. I will finish it. Later.

And I just forgot about the cartoon, which was supposed to be a picture of a miner having fun at the Fair. Since they are using my drawing of a miner on all the promotional materials this year, I thought I might just do well on this one. At the top of the page, that's a picture of the posters we're seeing all over town these days, by the by. Fun!

As for the two food items, well, I had some fun with some last year. I got a second place with my enchiladas, so I thought I'd give the cheesecake category another try (Wed night's competition) and whip up a batch of salsa cruda (Fri).

The Fair begins on Wednesday. It goes until Sunday--five days. I'll probably go over there every day for at least a little while. Because of having had my drawing chosen for the Fair Logo, I get free tickets, parking and rides. Yeah, I'll be over there a lot, flashing my VIP parking pass.

And I'll visit my little pieces, now and again and vow that next year will be different! Yup, the Fair is in the air!!

Guess Where

2011-07-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

Where else in the course of one day (less than eight hours, actually), can one experience all of these wonders (and more)?:

Live birth of a calf--actually, we arrive 20 minutes after the main event to watch Enormous Mom-Cow tenderly licking off all the, uh, fluids from the dazed little newborn, who made several unsuccessful attempts to stand as we watched. Placenta (birthing stage three) not yet delivered, but on its way as we moved on (passing various pigs and goats also preoccupied with similar activities).

Stunning gardens, both veggie and flower (must stifle obvious comparison with pathetic attempt at home).

Pet big sturgeon swishing casually by in a shallow tank as if this were part of their normal routine.

Watch mini-mom horse nurse her even mini-er baby. SWEET! Next stall, monster Percheron with hooves the size of dinner plates.

Gaze upon felony cute white wallaby joey sleeping in a bag (pretend pouch)--not sure about the California connection, there, but who cares?

Eat: giant roasted turkey leg and corn-on-the-cob (Tom), fiery grated root-veggie Thai salad (me), ice cream bars and frozen lemonade. I know. Snoozers. Yes, we passed on the deep fried maggots and raccoon-on-a-stick, just two of the new meal options available. Deep fried butter and bacon are so last year.

Giant animatronic insects. Real live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and fat toads that look like they could easily eat a cat.

Hula dancing and hypnotist shows.

Wonderful art and craft galleries. And who doesn't love to stare at the fancy chickens? They are CRAZY to look at.

Interesting commercial opportunities--we walked on by the laser treatments for whiter teeth (though the chairs looked comfy) and feather hair extensions (it might be fun to see what they could do with Tom's head). We already have all the rest of the stuff. Well, except for the magic card deck that Tom bought and a few little things like miracle eye-glasses cleaner (Tom) and a travel mirror (me).

Duh. We went to the California State Fair in Sac on Friday. 100 degrees (though the misters and air-conditioned buildings kept it pretty comfortable, on the whole). Any fair, let alone the bigger ones like this, are SO worth the price of admission, in my book. And you get in a good walk!

This year, somehow, Nevada County won first place in the county-display building. Every other year we've noted that either our county just put up a few posters, or did nothing at all. I think it's all part of the new effort to lure all you big spenders, er, lucky tourists to our little corner of the state. We'll see if it helps. Thankfully, ours didn't include creepy animatronics, like most of the others did--the secret to our success perhaps? We always look for Solano county because they give away free Jelly Bellies. The fancy fudge people weren't there this year. We missed them.

The CA State Fair is, truth be told, not quite as cool as the one in San Diego. It's not as big, for one thing. But it has its own flavor and we like it. Our somewhat smaller Nevada County Fair comes up in a couple of weeks. The first year we lived here, I did the whole thing in two hours. Last year, I went every day. Gonna enter cheesecake again. And a few other things. Stay tuned for the exciting report.

As for the photos, the first is obvious. The second is me and sunflowers. Next is Tom petting a sturgeon. Sleeping joey. The last is an entry in the craft building-- it's needlepoint. No kidding.

Wedding Fun

2011-07-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Out of the almost 200 photos I shot this last weekend, I chose these. Tomorrow, a whole other set of five might have risen to the top.

The occasion? The joyful wedding of Lisa and Karl on Saturday. Lisa is Tom's niece who has been a widow for nearly 3 years. She and her three boys, Joel, Luke and Ben, joined with Karl to become a new family. It was all quite poignant, beautiful, and fun (not to mention delicious)!

Our whole family converged in Montecito (a gorgeous neighborhood in Santa Barbara) in a lovely church at which, until her recent retirement, Tom's sister, Diana, was an associate pastor. Dylan, Emi, Mike and Rachel drove down from San Francisco together.

Tom played piano for the ceremony, so he and I sashayed on down there for the rehearsal dinner, as well. Dick and Diana (Lisa's folks--Diana is Tom's sis) hosted the Friday party at their house. Pretty setting, out in their big, leafy yard with the expansive mountain view. Super-tasty vegan dinner spread including black rice mystery salad.

A combination of the artistic sensibilities of Lisa, Karl and Diana (among others), and the skillful and well-coordinated hard work of the rest of the family crafted a truly exquisite event. No kidding. From the flowers (blues and white with sunflower accents) to the outdoor table settings (round paper lanterns hanging from the trees overhead) to the ceremonial candle holders made by Karl--seriously. It was perfect. And the wood-fired pizza for dinner? Well, that's my language, for sure. Ben, Lisa's oldest and, at 20, a college student studying film-making, was the official photographer. Luke, 16, played classical music at the piano as prelude to the ceremony. Joel, the youngest, baked and frosted hundreds of tiny cupcakes for dessert. And, in spite of the flurry of activity to prepare everything, the atmosphere was so serene and happy. Nice.

So, these are just a few little snaps of it--highlighting our kids, of course. Yeah, well. Maybe I'll post a few more tomorrow.

As for these, you know who's featured in the first pic. Then, there's a shot of the happy couple coming up the aisle after the ceremony. That's Dylan and Emi in the lobby. And Rachel and Mike laughing with Ruth, Tom and Diana's mom, at the table. Lastly, Lisa and Karl cutting the home made lemon (with lemon curd filling) cake (with berry sauce on the side). Not shown, ice cream sundaes and three kinds of pie. Hungry now.

Garden PS...

2011-07-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Looks like we're havin' a par-tay in our garden, when, actually, I'm trying to prevent little bird parties, the chief goodie on the menu of which is our berry crop. Metallic hot pink streamers fluttering in my organic garden does not quite fit into my general aesthetic, but I have a lot of it and it's my first (and laziest) shot in the campaign. I'm not optimistic...

Round and Round It Goes...

2011-06-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

So many things to catch up on, I hardly know where to begin. Hm. Guess we'll spin the ol' Blog Wheel to decide. Here goes--tickticktickticktickticktickticktickticktick tick tick tick tick tick tick..tick..Bonsai show..tick..tick..Garden..tick...tick...Concert season...tick....Trip to Fresno.....tick......tick.....local wildflower "show".........tick........Phet..........more art stuff............tick..........tick...........Bonsai show..............tick.................Garden.

Garden, it is. Appropriate, too. It's raining today. Thundering, too. While I've gotten all the irrigation tuned up by now, the timers haven't all been set, yet, so this rare (for late June around here) rainstorm is a lovely gift. After a wild and crazy winter, with precip totals at about 90 inches for the year (average is around 55), summer arrived a couple of weeks ago with a sudden THUD--like those cartoons of the old days that show "nightfall" as a stage curtain with stars and moon crashing down from the rafters. One day, it was sweatshirts and long pants; the next, shorts and flipflops.

The garden. I'll make this quick (stream of consciousness- no particular order). Started everything in peat pots from seed in early April. Most of us up here planted late because we had the late hard frost last year (end of May) that killed everything. Finally got it all in the ground by early June. I worked in a new wing (photo above): in addition to my two half-barrels of strawberries, I added a large metal tub for another bunch. Behind them, I terraced off a couple of new sections for corn and zucchini (What's wrong with me?--I still have five bags I grated from my neighbor's plants last year.).

I planted three kinds of podded peas--only to discover they are favorite fare for our new garden guest: Mr (or Ms?) Vole. Tom and I actually observed our little friend from the deck. Lots of little holes, too. I am crafting a (humane) plan of elimination. No dynamite. Yet. So we have less than half the pea plants I'd hoped. Asparagus is looking great and will be ready for harvest next year, I believe. Pulled the artichokes. Too much space for too little reward. There are five or six leeks left from last year.

I might have a tomato problem. I'm growing 26 plants. Most of them are unique varieties, though I've doubled up on a few of the cherries. I just can't resist. I'll do better next year--only faves. The vole is also the likeliest culprit responsible for the sheered-off broccoli (1/4-inch stems!) and the loss of the entire row of chard. And my beans! Only half of what I planted is left and none of the yard-long kind. But I'll try again--plenty of time still.

The lettuce has also been decimated, but there's still a nice selection of cos, freckles, red-leaf, and gourmet mix to harvest. I was going to thin them, anyway (photo at right shows lettuce with empty chard row in middle). We'll just have to see how the peppers, eggplants and tomatillos do. In past years, they have floundered. Might not be hot enough? Poor soil? Well.

New this year are two grape vines (at left in photo to right--tomatoes everywhere else). They seem happy now. A red and a black (real names later). Again with the three-year wait for fruit. Already we've had quite a nice crop of strawberries, but we've had to share them with others--voles? birds? I'm not sure, but I have my suspicions. Most of the half-eaten berries have deep grooves. That says "bird" to me.

We have a long row of berry plants (black, boysen, rasp) that looks very good this year (photo). Jury's still out on the blueberries. Another front in the bird battle looms, I fear. It is said that whatever method one chooses as a deterrent, it only works for a week or so before the little gluttons get wise-so timing is everything. I'm planning my strategy. I'm not as generous about sharing berries as I am broccoli.

Then there are the trees. The peach (four varieties in one) still has two years before we should let it produce anything. Next year, for the cherries and apples. I'm cheating a little with the apples--I'm letting a few stay on the trees--just for fun.

All this in one little fenced-in area. It's getting quite crowded, really. Once I get the compost bin built, I think that might be all we can cram in there.

We're just getting to the time of year where tending the veggie garden is more fun. Less hard labor, more puttering this 'n' that. I'm anxious to see if the soil has improved at all. I've still got a compost pile to sift and add, as well.

Yes, this is almost the fun part...

Perfect Party

2011-06-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

So, turning 90 gets attention, for very good reason. But, besides that, if one is also a wonderful, accomplished and funny woman, there is even more cause to celebrate.

This is exactly the case with my mother-in-law, Ruth Gold, who, though it's still a couple of weeks until the actual day, was honored with a birthday party at Diana and Dick's home in Montecito last Sunday.

Gorgeous setting: Diana and Dick's beautiful home and yard. Plus Diana is Queen of Entertaining. She has special gifts in the area of hospitality and event-making. And she's trained lots of family assistants. Good thing, because we weren't much help.

As for the involvement of our immediate family, on Saturday Tom and I drove two thirds the way from Grass Valley through the Central Valley to Kettleman City (home of, um, something good, probably, but also where there's a major pollution investigation of the local waste management system--eesh!), then finished the final three-or-so hours to Santa Barbara on Sunday morning. Dylan and Emi stayed at the home of friends in Santa Barbara Saturday evening. Rachel had previous plans in Tennessee for the weekend, unfortunately.

Guests of note were Ruth's brother, Harold (88) and sister, Eileen (87). Dick's mom (95) lives nearby and sat at the "head" table, as well. Lots of great genes represented there, I have to say!

I won't go into all the friends and relations present, but I'll just say that it was a fun group.

Here are a few representative photos: First, there's Ruth and Diana, then Ruth and her siblings sitting at the table. After that, Dylan and Emi are getting some food in the kitchen. Tom is chatting with his cousin, Bob and Bob's wife, Roxanne. Lastly, well, mercifully, each candle represented 10 years.

Seriously, a perfect party with wonderful folks in a lovely setting in honor of a remarkable woman.

Can't do better than that, right?

Off to the City, pt. 2

2011-06-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

This entry is all about showing off Dylan's newest furniture.

First is a shot of his new office. He moved across the hall to have more space.

His two new pieces are console or hall tables. Each of the tables is solid walnut on a steel stand. He bought a vase from a potter and a bowl from a wood-turner and worked the rest of the design around those pieces. We love them and he's gotten great feedback from the people who've seen them already. There was a small show a couple of weeks ago at which he unveiled them. He has other variations along the same theme that he plans to offer, as well.

Currently, he's working on a bed for a client. It's still in pieces, but coming along. Also solid walnut.

We sat around in his office talking business strategy for the next few months. It's still difficult to get a smooth stream of income, but he's gradually honing in on a viable combination of marketing and design/fabrication.

We headed for home late afternoon. Dinner at Rubio's in Fairfield was a big treat. Their fish tacos rule. The other notable event was reaching the 200,000-mile mark on the Camry's odometer. Good ol' Toyota. We're still fans, no matter what. We don't drive so much. Working at home and living in a small-town environment, we only put on real mileage when we take the infrequent longer journey. So, it took 13 years to make the 200k. Nearly trouble-free, too, all this time.

This next weekend, we'll be driving down to Santa Barbara to celebrate Tom's mom's 90th birthday. Exciting party images to follow...

Off to the City, pt 1

2011-06-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

The country mice were off to see the city mice again, this weekend. We dust ourselves off and leave the chewing straw behind so as not to embarrass them too much...

We collected Dylan from the shop Saturday evening, eventually ending up at Rachel and Mike's place for dinner, where Emi joined us a bit later. We had given R & M a raclette set for Christmas and we were all going to test it as a way for a small group to have a nice slow meal together. Verdict: all thumbs up!

Here's the gist, in case this is a new cooking word for you, as it was for us. There's a two-level rectangular electric appliance--grill or griddle on the top (it's reversible)--while underneath, there are places for up to 8 little square pans to sit (four on each side). The element is situated under the grill, , on which people can cook meats, veggies, or whatever. The same element broils the contents of the little pans below which contain, traditionally, cheese. We cooked some veggies down there, as well.

The idea is to cook the stuff on top (veggies and shrimp for us), put it on the plate, and slide the melted cheese on top. Each pan comes with a little spatula for the purpose of helping the cheese out onto the other food. It's fondue meets teppanyaki. It worked great for the six of us--eight might be crowded.

It would be fun for breakfast, too. And lunch, as well, maybe--open faced sandwiches?

I made a lemon meringue pie for dessert--a nod to Dylan's birthday which had occurred the Monday before. He and Emi had been visiting her folks in Boulder over Memorial Day weekend, where they also squeezed in a 10k race.

We spent the night at Rachel and Mike's. I got up in the morning for a walk up the hill to Bernal Heights Park, which covers the entire top of the hill. The edge of the park is only a block up from their place. The views are amazing from everywhere up there--a 360 degree panorama of the city. One can see the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridges simultaneously. Also, AT&T Park and Candlestick. The storm system hadn't yet moved on, so there was some restriction as to the visibility--still, not bad, eh? By the by, these pics are taken with my new, ahem, Android.

Dylan rejoined us again next morning. There was eating and tennis-watching.

...After which we gleefully skipped out on the mess we left for Mike and Rachel to clean up in order that we could spend a bit of time over at the shop gaping at Dylan's new creations and doing a little business-strategizing.

The photos of his new pieces follow in the next entry--

The photos: Mike and Rachel (that red thing in the center of the table is the raclette), then, the next four photos are of the city from the Golden Gate (click to mag), to downtown, to the Bay Bridge, to the Bay (due east).

Pastels...

2011-06-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Why now? Who knows? The several sets of unused (even unopened) pastels lurking in my studio drawers just began to whisper my name the other day. A month ago. Or six weeks, I don't know. Right in the middle of a plan for a large piece of calligraphy (which I still plan to do). ADD-related, no doubt. Bouncy interests.

Pastels are not colored chalk. Blackboard or sidewalk chalk is mostly gypsum with more or less pigment added. They are usually quite inexpensive, though, some more high-quality (and, therefore, costlier) types can be used for amazing sidewalk art for festivals and such.

Pastels are pure pigment--exactly the sort used in high-grade oils or watercolors--but are held together with more or less gum binder. There are quite a few kinds, including oil pastels, where the differences depend on what kind of binder and how much. The good ones can run into real money.

I've dabbled once or twice, but never really tried to work with them in any serious way. I have accumulated, however, over the years, a very nice array of pastel sets, large and small, inexpensive and not-so-much. They just sit there. Waiting.

Until now.

I started with a snow scene--a version of which I had done smaller in colored pencil and given to our neighbors in whose front yard I had snapped the photo. Did I post that one? I don't remember, but I'll check later and show the two together.

Next, I found a shot I had taken of the aspens in the higher country a few years ago during an autumn day trip. It was fun to play with the contrasts--I like the dark-silhouetted pines against the backdrop of brilliant yellows. Loose and impressionistic.

Then I wanted to test some more precision techniques. We have a planter in front with Dutch iris (just finishing up with their blooming season now). Behind the flowers is a layer of little river stones I've found around the yard. It turns out, I was more interested in the subtle colors of the stones than in the flower. Good to know. I consider this (as all of these, really) an exercise piece. Light/dark, again, but soft/hard, vegetable/mineral. Cheesy composition.

Trolling for landscape photographs I've taken, I landed on this one of a mountain scene I snapped during a backpacking trip a few years ago. Early morning, mostly in shadow. I'm also influenced by the poster art of the thirties done to advertise railroads and national parks. Lovely stuff. I will keep working on my own version of that style, I think.

Lastly, I went back to the scene from my neighbors' front property. The reason I love it is the picket-fence-type arrangement of trees in the foreground. Over the last four years, as I've gone past on my daily morning walks, I've taken 25 or 30 shots of this same scene at different times of year. I took this photo a week ago-looking east into the rising sun. [by the by, click once to see the pieces better--the pastels look more, um, pastel-y that way]

Yesterday, I started a piece from a photo taken in our front yard of the tangled limbs of manzanita trees (20' tall= trees). It's complex--I don't know how long it will take. Especially since I'll be squeezing it in between yard work, and any number of random distractions. But I'll post it when it's done, if I can wrestle it into submission.

All of these are just stops along the way to somewhere. Who knows what will become of this little rabbit trail, but it's fun for now.

Blotter in the Garden

2011-05-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

You may know some of these kinds of people. They have yards that other, less focused and less diligent people (like us) will actually pay to walk through, they're so beautiful. You don't see these folks around town because they are always--what?-- working in their gardens. Somehow, the Soroptimists find them, though. And organize a little tour for which they sell tickets--to people who have time because they are not working in their gardens (again, like us). Last weekend, we trekked all over Nevada County to gawk at eight such time-sink marvels of horticulture. It was a lovely day, complete with a picnic in the park, and only a tiny bit of guilt. Here, garnished with a few Blotter Bits (thanks to other locals who find creative ways to spend their time), are some pictures of our Garden Tour Day:

"9:41 p.m.--A woman from the 19000 block of Deer Hollow Way reported her husband's leg was stuck in the railing of the banister and was starting to swell. Alcohol was involved. Calfire responded. [Wonder if they tried the ol' Vaseline trick, first]

"9:17 p.m.--A man from McKnight Way reported a tall person wearing a hat who approached his wife and wanted to spray perfume on her. The wife jumped in her car and fled. Police told the subjects that they could not sell perfume without a permit." [Who knew? And what kind of perfume gets that kind of reaction? Essence of Spitting Cobra?]

"9:31. p.m.--A man called police from a pay phone on 300 Broad St. to report the older Russian woman he was out with needed a ride to Banner Mountain." [classy dating maneuver]

"8:14 a.m.--A woman from the 11000 block of Lime Kiln Road reported her daughter was in "one of her moods," but was now laying down." [and I'm sure everything will be just fine when she gets up and finds out that her mom called the cops on her...]

"8:34 p.m.--A caller from West Main Street reported a jackhammer. It was PG&E fixing a gas line break." [uh, well, maybe the guy'd been assaulted by a, um, jackhammer once upon a time...]

"7:23 p.m.--A caller from the 600 block of South Auburn Street reported a 3 1/2' [yes, "foot"] iguana had gotten loose." [so, whether or not to tell the neighbors...]

"7:46 a.m.--A man from the 300 block of Mill Street reported an argument over where to place a computer and hutch. He was warned not to call again." [after the cops told him where to place it--all part of the service]

"7:30 p.m.--A woman from Ophir and Bennett Streets reported a man was following her and saying, 'Jennifer, I'm still in love with you.' The woman said her name isn't Jennifer and she doesn't know the man. He was advised to stay away." [if Jennifer's got half a brain, she's moved to Wisconsin, by now]

"8:18 p.m.--A man from the 10000 block of Pheasant Lane reported his friend had been in the hospital with stomach pain two days ago, and how wanted to make hot dogs and chili. He didn't think she should, and wanted to know how he could prevent her from doing so. He was advised to let her do what she wanted and call if she had more stomach pain. At 1:57 a.m., a caller reported a woman at that address passed out in a vehicle. It was found to not be a medical issue, but due to a verbal dispute." [provide your own snarky comment here-this one makes me tired: ]

"11:51 a.m.--A caller from Yah Way and Perimeter Road reported a man yelling at the top of his lungs, threatening to kill all the neighbors." [A legit call, I guess, but I was amused by the street name]
[and here's one for the books:]
"4:11 p.m.--A man came to the police station to apologize to the Grass Valley Police Department 'for all of his inconveniences' and thanked the P.D. for arresting him and helping him (turn) his life around." [struck dumb, I'm guessing they were]

Patchwork

2011-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Continuing from the previous post about spring colors, I thought I'd put up a few photos of the quilt show I went to 10 days or so ago. I have only dabbled in quilting. My friend and neighbor, Lorri, takes classes and has made many beautiful pieces--one of which she generously made for me, which I will post as soon as I get it hung properly.

Lorri and her friend from quilting class, Peggy, met me at this year's Pine Tree Guild quilt show over at My Favorite Fairgrounds to walk amongst 350 or so of this area's finest work. Such beautiful colors and some very creative pieces!

I have no real commentary. Some of the handwork, especially the stitching, can make one wonder how these craftspeople have time for anything else in life. Yes, I've seen (and driven!) some of the newer quilting machines. They're faster. Still.

A couple of beautiful Hawaiian-style designs caught my eye. One, not shown, has a black background, which was stunning. Next you see a quilt that wakes you up in the morning (though one wonders how one gets to sleep in the first place). I loved this little nautilus wall quilt where the maker had dyed the fabric herself. And there's Lorri (blondie) and Peggy.

That's it! Soon, I hope to figure out the attachment to the telescoope that will allow me to take pictures of the new hawk chicks that were born last week. Cuter than cute! Stay tuned!

Springier and Springier...

2011-05-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't get a little happier this time of year? So many colors! Pink , white, bright green trees everywhere, yellow, purple, white wildflowers--we're having a bit of a late spring, but it's trying to make up for lost time, I think. The one exception is that, at our elevation, the redbuds--native and the color of raspberry sherbet--are not quite as spectacular as other years, the buds having been mostly frozen off a couple of weeks ago. We have a spindly, two-year-old that has some buds for the first time, though, so that makes up for it, somewhat. Future eye candy! Most of the tulip magnolias in the area suffered, as well, but the dogwoods and flowering cherries are are spectacular! Our own little dogwood, however, was broken in half by heavy the snow this year. Even so, it valiantly produced two flowers. Gotta love the spunk! It stays.

I went to two plant sales this weekend. The local chapter of the Master Gardeners hold one a year at their demo garden in Grass Valley. There was one other at the Miner's Foundry--a historic venue--in Nevada City, which raises money for it's upkeep. I was able to, among other small treasures, score a double-file viburnum--a replacement for one that the deer ate a week after I planted it a couple of years ago. Yeah, that's what I do, now--throw around obscure plant names like I know what I'm talking about. Dicentra, heuchera, astilbe. And, yes, just one more Japanese Maple. Up to seven, now, but I'll never have enough.

After one of the plant sales, I also cruised over to the Growers' Market that is held at another historic location near the Fairgrounds--Northstar House. The market "happens" on Saturday mornings, May through October. The house was built for the owners of the Northstar Mine in 1906 by Julia Morgan, an iconic California architect (a rare woman in the field at the time) who also designed Hearst's Castle buildings and Asilomar Conference grounds, among about 700 other commissions. The Northstar House is in disrepair, unfortunately, and gradually being renovated. I bought snow peas and goat cheese.

Garden-wise, I finally set out the peas and broccoli and threw some lettuce seeds in--oh, two months late, or thereabouts. I can't explain my priorities, exactly. The weather was funny and I was also busy making more room for strawberries by filling a giant round metal container with soil and setting it next to the two half-barrels that hold the others. Behind them I also built a new terraced area for corn and something else to be figured out later. I've been ruthlessly yanking all the lupine, clover and vetch that don't belong inside the fence. It used to be downright difficult to rip up gorgeous lupine. Not so much anymore. Besides, there's plenty more outside.

Oddly, this post started out to be about a quilt show--you know, cleverly dovetailing with the spring colors, and all. So, tomorrow...

[Photos: pink dogwood in Grass Valley on Saturday, our little redbud, valiant little broken dogwood, Miner's Foundry, Northstar House.]

Farewell and Flowers

2011-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking this ought to be divided into two or three postings. However, in the interest of saving precious internet space, I will condense it. By doing so, I will be leaving more room for, well, more critical, deeper, or at least, funnier stuff. That said, these are the three main highlights of the last few days:

A few weeks ago, our friend Mike Canrinus passed away after a long struggle with an insidious illness that affected his brain. His wife, Francine, a friend for more than thirty years, could not have been more stalwart and patient as she fought for the best care possible for Mike and dealt with all the frustrations of his illness pattern, which was unpredictable day to day, all the while working hard to keep income flowing and raising their teenaged daughter, Anna. Both heroes. Mike had been a sailor and a yacht-outfitter, building his professional life around boats. We went on a few outings with them around San Diego Bay before his illness set in. We didn't travel to San Diego for the memorial service last Saturday, but I took one of the photos Fran had posted of Mike at the helm of a sailboat and made a drawing of it, accompanied by a poem I found and sent it to her. It's how we like to remember him.

Speaking of Saturday, my wonderful neighbor and friend, Lorri, and I had planned to go over to see a garden on the San Juan Ridge (oh, 40 minutes or so north-ish from here). I'd seen the notices in the paper every spring since we moved here four years ago, but had not yet checked it out in person . There's a religious community called Ananda that opens up its garden each spring for a few weekends to the general public. It's timed to coincide with the blooming of 9000+ tulips and other gorgeous features, including flowering cherry trees, other flowering plants, Japanese maples and water features. Fortunately, though we were going through a long rainy stretch forecast to last through to Monday (accurate, as it turned out), Lorri and I went on Saturday morning when, though heavily overcast and a bit drizzly, it didn't actually rain.

I could post pages of photos and still not quite communicate how beautiful we found it. I chose three to give you the gist (including one with Lorri in it). It's a terraced garden overlooking the Yuba River, far below. Stunning setting. All colors of tulips. Huge pink cherry trees. Daffodils, pansies, camellias-- more than I can list here. There are little lawn strips and pathways to walk in between the flower beds as we worked our way down the hill. We tried to imagine it in the sunshine. Although the official visiting time ended last weekend, the head gardener said we could come back anytime to see it when the sun was out. We might. For sure, we'll be back next year. And the next.

Saturday afternoon, Mike and Rachel arrived to stay with us for the weekend. It was raining most of the time, so we didn't go out much, except for dinner at Plaza Jalisco, as you can see. Check out the tiny plates. Oddly, none of us had yet seen "The King's Speech", so we ordered it up on the telly. Yup. Good one, as advertised. The rest of the time, we just, well, hung out, as we say. It's just the sort of weekend we like--lazy and unscheduled.

So, that's it. Three-in-one. I like to think of myself as a responsible citizen, doing my part to conserve and preserve for future generations.

Spring

2011-04-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

[SNOOZE ALERT: yeah, this is just another in the interminable series of musings about living in a four-season climate. We've been here before.]

A few of my friends up here think my level of excitement about the snow is a sure-fire sign that I didn't grow up in snow country or have to deal with small children in snow suits, muddy boots and slippery commutes. Perhaps. But, after four years (exactly, as of last Monday), it still seems special and uniquely beautiful to me--a fact my camera tells me is not quite accurate, given the dozens of very, very similar "new" photographs I've gleefully snapped from year to year. We did experience three years of Colorado weather in the seventies (loved it), hence we're not brand new to seasonal changes (we'd had extensive experience with an ice scraper, for example), but snow is still novel and fun for me.

Owing to my gimpy ankle (which is gradually returning to a more acceptable color, thank you), I've been driving over to get the paper in the mornings and have had to scrape ice nearly every day, including today. But yesterday, we watched as it snowed big, winter-y flakes all morning--a bit of clingy winter refusing to let go. Not exactly history-making, but it created a buzz--and I discovered that I really am ready for spring, I think.

The daffodils have been buried by snow several times, now, and many are a little worse for wear. The red tulips I planted a couple of years ago (and had forgotten about) popped up a couple of weeks ago. They aren't as sturdy as the daffs or muscari, as it happens, and their eye-popping display has been shortened, somewhat. I find that I'm so happy to see the gorgeous color of the bulbs in the yard and, indeed, all over the county as well as the blossoming trees and shrubs (except the forsythia--don't know why; too much of a good thing? I could lose the forsythia), that I cringe just a little when they appear to be straining under the weight of a snow blanket.

Spring fever is going around.

Tom has discovered in the last couple of years, that he doesn't really Love the snow like I do. Much of that feeling is closely connected to the fact that we lose our power (and water and internet and satellite) nearly every time we get significant footage. A hassle, for sure--and we'll remedy some of that with a new generator this year, suspect. He's very glad about the turn toward warmer weather.

But it's just possible that my proportional appreciation of each season is beginning to equalize a bit. As usual, I've planted my little peat pellets with dozens of sorts of veggie seeds and am looking forward to the appearance of tiny green shoots to tell me that some of last years' seeds (leftovers--OK, I'm a seed-cheapskate) are still viable and anxious to wow us with the results of their unreasonable productivity. For me, the best part of summer is the garden.

And who doesn't love autumn?

So, I think the snow is probably over for this winter and I will pack the tire chains back into the convenient little bag and put them in the garage along with the comically-oversized shovel without regret. I'm ready.

But the scraper, I'll keep nearby for a little while longer.

[photos are--top: daffs and tulips last weekend, next: purple muscari (I have white elsewhere), third: potted daffs, fourth: yesterday's snow in patio, fifth: view from back deck yesterday.]

Police Blotter, Gimpy Edition

2011-04-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

What's blue and purple (even a little greenish) and puffy and very inconvenient?

My new sprained ankle, of course. And I've decided to include a few photogenic perspectives of said injury. You're welcome. (Note to self: clip toenails)

For more than 15 years involving every-day power walks (even some jogging), backpacking trips and various and sundry other activities involving feet, I have successfully avoided re-injuring a much-sprained left ankle--until Sunday morning. It was a simple mis-step over the edge of the asphalt on the way home (fortunately) over a route I've taken more than a thousand times. I went down.

I was somewhat (but only somewhat) comforted by the fact that it took place so early in the morning and on our rarely-traveled little road in order that I wouldn't have to pretend that I was examining insect behavior should someone drive by and wonder why I was sitting on the ground. A good five minutes passed before I could get up and hobble up the hill back home.

The first time it happened, I was in ninth grade and playing basketball. That one required a cast and crutches for six weeks. Countless other times, it was tennis (walking backward, stepping on a ball), softball, stairs, etc., etc. My left ankle is just permanently bigger due to all the scar tissue (instead of actual ligaments) that hold everything together in there.

This one looks to be about a "grade B", as they say. Not the worst, but definitely not just stretched. I heard the familiar snapping.

So. For something new, I'll try to do all the right stuff so as not to extend the healing process any longer than necessary blah, blah, blah. It's a hassle, but I'll live. Now, for some grins, I think we'll do a little police blotter:

[This is just one example of a type of call where insufficient meds might be an issue. I don't usually pull them because, well, it's unseemly to poke fun at mental illness, especially when the reports--as they so frequently seem to--involve "midgets"--an unfortunate term. But this one was so three-dimensional, I couldn't help it...]
"11:22 p.m.--A caller from the 800 block of Sutton Way reported her son was being pulled to the edge of a parking lot by people with faces that looked sick and pasty, like ghouls. They were also satanic looking, she added. The people look like they are from the east coast and work in the entertainment industry, and have a hiding place behind the bathrooms at a local pharmacy." [I love the "east coast" entertainment angle]

"12:16 a.m.--A man from the 25000 block of Highway 49 reported vandalism to a vehicle. He said he bought the car for his girlfriend and she then damaged it with a pick axe. He did not want to press charges." [wrong color?]

"9:20 a.m.--A caller from Sutton Way reported two boys throwing snowballs at vehicles. They were gone when officers arrived, but a stash of snowballs was located." [get prints]

[speaking of snow...]
"11:40 a.m.--A man from the 400 block of Broad Street reported a large amount of snow fell off a building onto his vehicle and totaled it." [Exactly which parking spot was that?]

"11:03 a.m.--A woman from the 17000 block of Old Downieville Highway reported she could not get a signal on her television. She was advised to clear the satellite dish with a broom." ["Hello, Nevada County Sheriff and Satellite Service...how may we help you?"]

"3:59 p.m.--A caller from the 300 block of Columbia Street reported his 8-foot long boa constrictor escaped and he didn't know where it was." [What, exactly, was that address, again?]

"9:12 a.m.--A caller from the 20000 block of Harlow Place reported a stray Chihuahua was causing issues." [Alert Homeland Security]

"2:43 p.m.--A woman from the 10000 block of Lime Kiln Road reported her neighbor stole her leaf blower. She said she had left it outside running to annoy the neighbor's barking Chihuahuas." [Ah. The escalation begins...]

"11:58 a.m.--A woman from the 200 block of Dorsey Drive reported her husband took her debit card and $40, then brought it back." [Right. I suspect there's a special file for these kinds of reports]

"10:01 a.m.--A caller from the 200 block of Northridge Drive reported the excessive ringing of a doorbell last night. A blanket was taken and silly string was sprayed on windows and a fence." [it's hard to resist a police report involving the words, "silly string"]

"4:11 p.m.--A man reported counting 37 cars that were driving without using windshield wipers during a heavy rain." [clearly, one can be too alert and concerned...]

"1:37 p.m.--A caller reported three youths about 16 to 18 years old standing on the corner of Richardson and North School Streets. They were 'looking down and seem very guilty.' Police could not find the youths." [Really? Because that was such a specific description and they obviously had been up to no good.]

One can only hope the Blotter will generally be less lame, next time...

GHS Reunion, pt.2

2011-03-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful drive--rainy, but so green! Lots of folks think I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley is boring to the max, but I like it! The hills and agriculture (minus the feed lots, I must say) are lovely to me any time of year, but especially spring.

I arrived in Glendale at my little hotel on Glenoaks at about 3:30--plenty of time to settle in. One of the women in the class had arranged for a block of rooms at the Homestead Studio Hotel, which was very nice--including a kitchenette. My hummus looked quite lonely in the apartment-sized fridge. It was just about 10 minutes from stage one, which was an informal gathering at a lounge in the Hilton down the road.

The person from my class with whom I had been in closest communication over the years is my friend, Brett--and we had often lost touch for many years at a time. Last actual eye contact had been at the 25th. He lives in Saratoga, near San Jose, and we decided to attend this thing very nearly on the condition that the other also be there. He was the first classmate I saw as we were driving around in the parking lot under the Hilton.

No fancy dinners. No loud music or dancing. Just visiting. That's what we all wanted. I guess that makes us sound like the geezers we are, now. The Hilton thing was overwhelming: about 50 folks, all hugging, and exclaiming and trying to catch up too quickly...so many half-conversations interrupted by another and another in a two-hour talk-fest. A few good friends I hadn't expected turned up, too! This sort of thing is fun, but so exhausting for the cave-person-likes of me.

Next stop was the home of the parents of one of our classmates who live up in the hills above town. I had to follow someone to find it. It was lovely, and quieter, and we had brought snacks and desserts to eat. Conversations could be longer, but it was so difficult not to be distracted by a new arrival behind the present chat one was having. I'm very bad at managing this sort of thing.

A few hours later, some (including me) had been invited to, yet, another home for more of the same. I stood up to get my stuff together and knew I wouldn't be making that one.

During the conversations Friday night, so many locations in Glendale had been referenced and it was clear that, for me, nearly all the streets and landmarks had been wadded up in a ball and thrown in a dark corner of my brain. I couldn't remember where anything was. On top of that, Glendale has changed quite a lot in the last 40+ years and I have passed through just a very few times to assimilate those changes. Our high school, for one thing--we were the last class to occupy the old (c.1911) building. The "new" one (c.1969) had no memories for us. Freeways cut through town after we graduated, including the street on which our old house is located. Huge buildings grew downtown and shopping centers mushroomed. Even our landmark church had been destroyed by the '71 earthquake and rebuilt. And our families had moved away shortly after we had.

So, Saturday morning, I took myself on a 3 1/2-tour of Glendale. I visited the high school, junior highs (middle schools, now, and I had attended both) and the two home neighborhoods. I even cruised one of Tom's parents' former houses. I crisscrossed all the main streets and some of the little ones, from Brand Park to Forest Lawn. and Burbank to Eagle Rock. I got reacquainted with Glendale--and it's prettier than I'd remembered.

There were two more scheduled events. The first was the main one for the weekend. It was just a stand-up snack/dessert affair in a room at Brand Park where some of us went early to set up our art and the food. I think about 70 people attended, all told (our class numbered close to 600). We made our own name tags from photo-copied yearbook pages and just stood around talking--a little more laid-back, this time. In the background, someone (I'm not sayin' who) tried to play some louder music and get some karaoke going, but it didn't take. He had missed the memo, clearly.

It was all fun and the artwork was impressive and eclectic and we all had a big time trying to cover some of the span of years that had passed between us in an impossibly short time. We broke after three hours, or so and split up for dinner. Our little group--quieter and more targeted, still--ended up at a hip, wine-fanciers'-sort of restaurant on South Brand in our own room. With all of that, though, Brett and I still hadn't spent much time talking just to each other, so we planned to meet for breakfast next morning.

Which we did. It was a great way to tie it all up. He left to catch a plane back to Saratoga and I started my little journey back to Grass Valley.

Am I at "an age" where this sort of thing matters more to me? We are among other things, accumulations of our memories, and I feel as though I gained access to more of them this weekend. We knew each other in the first 20 years of our lives and I'm reconnecting with some of these same souls at the beginning of, perhaps, the last 20 years for most of us. We looked a bit (sometimes more than a bit) different and the yet the same. We sounded more the same than different. Of course, we were quite aware of many who were no longer with us--two of my best friends as a senior among them. That didn't make any sense, at all.

All of this continues to impress upon me the value of the newer tools we have to stay connected to people. I, myself, have terrible skills in this area. Facebook, for all its faults, facilitates the connections in such a way as even I can manage. I'm grateful for it. And I hope it will make more of this kind of weekend possible as we continue on...

The photos, in order from the top: a yearbook cake decorated like our senior year (actual book on left); at the home of a classmate--Dave Ida displaying some random item he'd seen lying around; Kathy, Karen, Chuck--all Roosevelt peeps, in fact, Karen's and my fams lived in the same apartment on Palmer; Jill, Brett, Louie and Louie's daughter at Brand Library; Brett and Jill at Palate.

GHS Reunion, pt. 1

2011-03-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

I can wallow with the best of them! Nostalgia is one of my favorite substances in which to indulge, though I try not to abuse it. Actually, it's quite difficult to abuse when you have a memory as poor as mine is. So I need help: and who better than some old high school chums who are in the mood, as well? So that's what we all did last weekend.

Over the last number of months, there has formed and grown, via our cool toy Facebook, a group of Glendale High School graduates of my class ('68), many on whom I have not laid eyes for, lo, these last 42 3/4 years. I have attended three reunions--10, 20 and 25; there was one other, but I couldn't make it. Therefore, the most recently I've seen any of these folks is almost 18 years ago, now. To say the least, I've been terrible about keeping in touch.

Most of the people joining up on the FB site are classmates that I certainly remember and liked, but was not particularly close to via common classes or activities. Still, it was so interesting to share memories and to learn what some had been up to for the last, oh, 40 years, or so. Out of that process, an idea grew to have a mini-reunion. From all the input over a few months, last weekend happened. Another by-product of the site and the reunion-planning was that I became more acquainted with several of my classmates who have spent their careers in art. So, another part of the reunion activities included an art show with about six of us participating.

But first, I had to get there. I like to drive, plus I wanted to take some pieces of calligraphy and a few baskets and a couple of display tables, etc. The first event was planned for 5pm Friday, so I calculated about 7-8 hours of travel and allowed for settling into the hotel. If you've seen the blog posts from these last few months, you know that we've had quite a snowy winter, including pre- and post-. It became obvious by early Thursday afternoon--Tom's birthday--that I might get snowed in and not be able to leave on Friday morning as planned. So, I chained up the Sube, threw in the tables, art and pot-luck food (for two of the events) and carefully drove out to the closest county road, which is Greenhorn by our mailboxes, 3/4 miles away, where I hoped a county plow would have it cleared by the time I needed to go the next morning. Then I hiked back. Tom and I had planned to go out that evening to celebrate his birthday, but I ended up making dinner and chocolate cake, instead, which worked out fine. And the power stayed on, which was extra-fine (and unusual). That's Tom at the top of the page, of course, holding his four-layer apple/sour cream chocolate cake (which, naturally, we gilded with a bit of Cherry Garcia).

Next morning, at about 7:30, with the rest of my luggage (including three annuals that I'd stupidly forgotten to put into the car the day before), I set out in the falling snow on foot to get to where I'd left the car, hoping that Greenhorn had been plowed. There I am, ready to go, then, in the next shot, looking back at Tom, who is delighted not to have to accompany me--you have to mag in to see how big his smile is. The next pic is that of my boot tracks as I hike toward the car. Upon arrival at Greenhorn, however, I saw it had not been plowed, and lots of snow had also piled up around the Suby. I threw my stuff in, started the engine, began to clean the windows, and then to kick wildly at the snow in front of the car to try to make a path over to some truck tracks in the road I thought I could use to drive out.

Then, I heard a lovely sound--indeed, the loveliest in this particular situation: a little tractor-plow chugging over the hill. It was one of our neighbors, Mike, who had come to scrape the snow away so that his wife (who also drives an Outback) could get to work. So, here you see a shot of Mike gallantly making a path to the tire tracks on the far side of the road, which I could, then, follow to a plowed street in town. And I was on my way by 8:15!

(cont'd)

Birthday Refugees

2011-03-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

Another big storm stomped through last Friday. Far less heralded than the last few big ones, we didn't consider it a factor as we made our plans to drive to San Francisco for the weekend to celebrate Rachel's and Mike's birthdays (Mike's is 8 days prior to Rachel's, which was on Sunday). By Saturday morning, we were looking at another foot of snow on the patio table-gauge and everywhere else. Another thing we had was no power--again.

They are two separate issues: that of being snowed in and that of having no power. This time the "snowed-in" side of the stormage equation was more of a concern, as we had actually planned to go somewhere. We did give it a try. We chained up the Suby and tried to drive from in front of the house (photo) up to the top of the driveway. We didn't make it.

We'd pretty-well decided that we were stuck. Around 3:45 in the afternoon, as Tom and I sat in the kitchen by a bright window doing puzzles and knitting (you figure out who was doing which), we heard the faint mechanical music of Super-Neighbor Scott's little snowplow chugging it's way up the long steep driveway. It took us an hour to pack and close down the house.

A rainy San Francisco seemed almost balmy as we picked up Dylan on our way to Rachel and Mike's. Their new place is in the Bernal Heights neighborhood, just south of the Mission area. Dylan has just moved, as well, and Tom helped him on Sunday for an hour or so to finish up the process. His new digs are in the northern end of the Mission district. I have lost track of all the SF neighborhoods in which our kids have lived, but their transiency has helped us learn the city layout pretty thoroughly.

We got into town about 8, Emi joined us soon thereafter, and we all spent a wonderful evening eating Indian (the sub-continent) pizza (fabulous), playing Scattergories and laughing our heads off. Raining like crazy outside.

On Sunday, Rachel's birthday, the four of us went to tasty Mexican breakfast at a local hole-in-the-wall establishment. I ordered sopes, a rare treat. Later, after Tom and Dylan came back from schlepping sofas, we muddied up all our shoes in a nearby park throwing the flying round things which were among the birthday gifts. Clearly, Rachel and I need a little more practice. It's that last little flick of the wrist, I think.

All against the background of a bit of March Madness. Fun weekend. More brownies for Scott.

Tom and I drove home that night to a very cold (44 degrees inside) house and simply flicked on the lights...

Pondering Pizza

2011-03-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

When it comes to strong preferences, you can count on me. I prefer not to call them addictions, because, well, who likes to say out loud that they might be addicted to anything? Besides, it's not like I should be checking into rehab or anything...unless you know about a facility for the recovery from an addiction to--pizza.

I love pizza. I love it. If there's pizza on the menu, that's what I'm getting. In my defense, it's really quite nutritious, right? Grain, veggies, dairy. Lots of dairy. A couple of years ago, Tom and I designated Sunday evenings as "pizza night". Now that I actually write it out, I guess it seems a little goofy for sixty-somethings to have a specific meal weekly meal devoted to pizza--or anything, for that matter. Sounds like a church youth-group come-on. But there it is.

Just as it is pertaining to my little problem with ice cream (sweet stuff in general, truth be told), I really do appreciate quality. Yes, the fine, painstakingly hand-made chocolates at Dorado are truly divine (AND gorgeous!) and, given one, would eat it very slowly and enjoy the ride, but I'm also very happy with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (FYI).

It's the same with pizza. Lefty's and Hot Italian serve amazing pizzas. But, have you tried DiGiorno's? DiGiorno's is our go-to safety-net meal. Big, chewy, tasty, lots of cheese--and done in 20 minutes. We've tried most of the other brands generally found in a supermarket frozen-food case. Take it from us.

Mostly, though, I make our Sunday pizza from scratch, including the dough. It usually takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hours from yeast in the water to lovely, hot fresh pizza.

The dough is key, obviously. It is a subject about which there are myriad, and strongly-held opinions. There are those, for example, who would never use the kneaded dough until at least the next day and up to five days later (development of fermentation). For some, the ingredients, including the correct form of the yeast, are very carefully measured (and bread flour--hard winter red--is preferred, not "all-purpose"). But everyone agrees that it's mostly about the kneading. I just throw the ingredients together (including, normally, about half whole wheat and half ordinary all purpose), but I knead it for at least ten minutes. Some say it should be much longer (to achieve a nice stretchy "baker's window"). But I compromise. I also sometimes knead in garlic and herbs, which isn't exactly standard. And, no, I can't throw it around, like they do in restaurants. I understand why they do it--the centrifugal force makes a nice fat edge--but I can stretch it and get a similar result.

As for toppings, for me it's all about the cheese. Usually, it's whole-milk mozz (for its fabulous melting qualities) plus one or two other cheeses, including Jack, gorgonzola, parmigiano, romano, chevre, or whatever. Most of the time I don't use pizza sauce, just olive oil, with seasonings (hot pepper flakes, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper), but pesto is probably my fave. I do make tomato sauce from time to time. We also like mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts, carmelized onions, fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, etc. NO green peppers. Ever. Dylan loves raw eggs cracked over the top during baking. My favorite restaurant pizza? Probably pear/gorgonzola at Lefty's or California Pizza Kitchen. I've made it at home, but I usually don't have the ingredients lying around--plus I'm a little lazy.

Alton Brown advocates a large, unglazed tile that sits permanently on the bottom surface of the oven to get the best results from home-baking. I haven't gotten one, yet, but I do use a pizza stone on the bottom rack with the temp cranked up to 450 or 500 and get pretty good results. I don't have a peel (big paddle), yet, and will probably make one one of these days. That way the stone could be hot before the pizza even hits it.

I haven't mentioned Tom's pizza preferences and that's because he's pretty happy with whatever comes out of the oven, thankfully. He probably has a more generally accommodating attitude about food, in general, which has (heh heh) played right into my hands, all these years. So far, he's perfectly content to humor my foodie tendencies--some of them perhaps a bit more extreme than consuming pizza at least once a week (a topic for another time). At least he hasn't yet suggested professional help...

Powering Down, pt. two...

2011-03-02T15:07:00.000-08:00

Ha! Well, I won't repeat the last post, though it would all be appropriate. Exactly one week after the last storm, a bigger, colder storm came blasting through, cutting our power for 4 1/2 days, this time, and leaving us under two feet of new snow. There was snow way down to 1000 ft (we're at 2500) at this latitude.

But, we keep learning, right? So, for example, instead of putting food outside in bins to keep it cold, it turns out to be more convenient and at least as effective to pack large containers with snow and put them in the fridge and freezer. I had already buried the frozen DiGiorno's in the snow (under ordinary circumstances, our go-to last-minute meal option), so I just left them and dug 'em up this morning. Next time we're too lazy to cook, we'll discover how they fared.

Little treats every day help. Swedish Fish, popcorn, pudding, pancakes. A bit sad that something like that works for us sixty-somethings, but there you go.

Also, we discovered that, with this much snow, our little, all-wheel drive Suby can't negotiate our steep, hilly/curvy driveway/road, even all chained up. We got stuck on Echo Glen and needed our wonderful neighbor, Scott, to dig us out with his little Bobcat. We had to leave the car about 1/4 mile away, at the nearest plowed road and hike back home. Next day, though, Scott made it all the way to the top of our driveway with the mighty little plow, so we could park at home, again. Scott's the man!

LOVE the snow--but it's really the power thing that makes it a bit of a challenge--especially for Tom and his work. So. We will have ourselves a generator by next winter. Keeping the computers going and the toilets flushing would make a storm mostly pure fun without the negative undertones...

Today, we have "liquid sunshine" all day (and tomorrow?) to help with snow-removal (though it will be around for many weeks, even if no more white stuff falls from the sky). It's a warmer, gentler storm, this time.

It's always a little disconcerting to me that, as an avowed tree-hugger, I miss certain things so much, like my computer, indoor running water, a phone or a brighter light. I've become very accustomed to a lifestyle that doesn't have to set aside hours a day to keep fire going for warmth or snow melted for washing. We rely so heavily on there being some kind of power available at all times. Oh, we'll solarize at some point, of course. And get a more efficient furnace, etc. Still, my personal mantra of "simplify where ever possible" doesn't seem to show up in any significant way as our being any different than the average energy-hog American. Certainly, we haven't measurably sacrificed.

(By the way, there's a shot of a PG&E truck--a favorite sight in these parts--parked near our mailboxes the day before power was restored.)

But, that's an ongoing challenge and we'll keep at it. Meanwhile, we're grateful for the beauty AND the usually-available power we still consume as we live out here in the trees. We know that it's special to live in the boonies with all the comforts of city folk.

Power Down...

2011-02-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

(there are two fluffy fawns grazing outside my glass door as I write this)

You know I love winter . And, yay for me, it came early, this year--significant snow before Thanksgiving, lots more rain, and more snow around New Year's Day. Then came an unusually dry, sunny January--rather warm with only a little rain. Bulbs began to flower, some trees in town were beginning to blossom out. They should know better.

Winter has returned, as we thought it might. Last Thursday and Friday we probably logged nearly a foot of snow. It's gorgeous, of course--the photos you see were taken in the yard on Friday. All white, quiet, soft--and heavy. Branches break, trees fall. One always hopes they don't fall on any cars, houses or power lines. But, predictably, they do.

Last year, we had a few short power outages of less than a day duration. Three years ago, though, there was an 8-day trial-by-sticky hair. It's never all that serious, of course. No need to call the Red Cross or FIMA. A nuisance, but not life-threatening.

Last Thursday evening, snow piling up outside around about bedtime, the darkness and silence descended suddenly, (though not altogether unexpectedly) as a curtain in a cartoon. The lights, TV, furnace all extinguished instantly as we sat on the sofa watching John Stewart. Tom's surge protector upstairs and the smoke alarm in the entry both croaked out pathetic, half-hearted screeches before going quiet. Will it come right back on? Sometimes it does. We waited. Not this time.

So, here's the routine:
1. Grouch around a little--a few seconds only is allowed for this (Tom sometimes takes more).
2. Grab a flashlight--they're stored strategically. Head over to the pantry on the other side of the kitchen to get the battery-powered lanterns down. What's wrong with these things? The same one can be bright one time, dim another, then back to bright. Breathe on them and they go out entirely. It's old fluorescent technology. Time to go LED.
3. Distribute said lanterns--in this case, one goes by Tom's side of the bed (for puzzles), one sits in the kitchen, the other two are set in the living room, though they can move around a lot.
4. Pull out a gallon of water to put on the kitchen counter (we keep eight jugs filled). NO using water from the faucets. We're on a well/pump system (which doesn't work without power) and we save all the water that's already in the house pipes for flushing a single toilet downstairs--only every so often, if you get my drift. This time it really paid off in that we never had to pour water into it to flush--nor did we have to melt snow for that purpose. We're getting good at this part!
5. Assess the wood situation. This time, not so great. We had about a day's worth of heat for the living room stored up. Everything else was outside buried in snow--i.e., frozen and wet. We'd have to figure out something.
6. Remember to keep fridge/freezer access to minimum. But, with all the snow outside, and overnight temps in the 20s, keeping things cold is usually not a problem. This outage--three days--meant that we really didn't have to move the food. One advantage of being a vegetarian?--no meat to go stinky.
6. Call PG&E. We waited til morning, this time. We knew they knew. No sense in calling until they could get crews out for assessment.
7. Plug in the old, coiled-cord princess phone. The cordless ones don't work without power, of course. And, this time, the phone line was still functional. We try to save to cell phones for when we're away from home, since the only way to charge them is in the car. Sometimes, one of us takes some reading or puzzles out to the Suby and sits while phones or a laptops or e-readers charge.
8. Schedule? Do we have to get out for some reason? Does Tom need to find an internet cafe to work? In this case, we were essentially snowed in, at first, although we can always chain up to get out to Greenhorn, where the county plows. But we have this amazing neighbor who usually gets around to plowing everyone out after a day or two. For us, it wasn't necessary to leave until Saturday, when we were scheduled to help with a Hospitality House fundraiser. By then, Scott had plowed, but, due to more snowfall, we still needed chains to get out. Still, no worries there.
9. Other stuff. I had all of my jeans and sweats half-dried in the dryer, not to mention a wet washer-load I'd forgotten about that afternoon. I laid the pants out to finish drying (I hoped). We used the jug water to wash our hair before the Saturday event. Drying hair is tougher. I sat in front of the wood stove for a couple of hours. It was all wild and weird, but dry by the time we had to leave. Even the jeans were wearable.

Probably the trickiest problem we had this time, was that wood issue. The maul/wedge system I had been using to give us a pile of usable wood (which was all but gone) was not up to splitting the thickest oak logs (of which we have many), and we had just been lazy about hauling out the chainsaw to finish it. So, I went foraging on the property early Saturday morning and found a bunch of twigs and old lumber from defunct furniture I had disassembled--all wet/frozen. Picture me, crunching around in the snow, tugging on downed branches and digging through a big, snow-covered scrap lumber pile. Still, with about a month's-worth of newspaper, we were able to get the fire roaring well enough to actually burn the wet wood and also some of those really fat, unsplit logs. I think we might have come close to Eagle Scout-level fire-wizard status! Of course, it takes constant attention. Not that much else gets done. We kept the living room in the mid-sixties. The rest of that floor (including the kitchen) hovers in the mid-fifties, while downstairs (bedrooms, studio) it's about 45. We mostly stay upstairs.

Our activities during these power vacations are reading, puzzling and knitting. And eating. The kitchen stove is propane, so we can cook, or make popcorn. Fortunately, it was a long weekend and Tom didn't have urgent work to do, so he could chill at home.

When we contacted the PG&E outage recording on Friday morning, it had no specific predictions other than to tell us to prepare for "2 to 4 days" of no service. In the end, it was nearly three days. Not too bad, really, atc. We were just getting ready to go out to the movies and dinner (evenings are the most depressing times to be at home) when, around 5pm Sunday, the lights, furnace, fridge and TV all popped back on. Cacophony! We went out, anyway, but extra happy knowing we could flick a light on when we returned.

By the by, the movie, Unknown, was about a "B", in our estimation. I think we've been spoiled by the Bourne movies in this genre. Stupid car chases. Also, as an aside, our 41st wedding anniversary was the next day, Monday. We went out to Diego's for some lovely Latin American fare. 41 years?!! Yikes!

Anyhoo, there's another big Canadian storm bearing down on us as I write. It should begin this evening, which is why there was the distinctive sound of a chainsaw heard in our yard after lunch..

Finally, More Blotter, But First...

2011-02-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

So, for the second year running, I submitted a drawing for a competition to determine the look of our local county fair logo. It has to conform to the theme of the year. This year, the theme (also a contest--which I also entered to no effect) is "Gold! Rush to the Fair!". I'm mildly surprised that it (or something very like it) hasn't been used heretofore, given that the Gold Rush is pretty much our stock in trade up here. So, for the logo, I fell back on a version of the stereotypical Gold Rush miner-guy. They liked it! Yay! The art will appear on the posters, programs, and various other promotional materials. If you've read any of the summer blog posts, you know that I'm a Fair Junkie. We (Tom and I), are both Fair Junkies, actually, but I LOVE this little county fair we have up here. Last year, I went every day of the five. This year, I get to go (and park!) for free, plus I just received my $250 prize check. Sweet deal. Here it is:

Also, by way of a musical recommendation, we went to see the Scottish group, Battlefield Band on Saturday night. It was so outstanding, I just can't do them justice. Fabulous musicians, amazing music! If they come to a venue near you, don't let the opportunity slip by to enjoy this crazy good band perform. You're welcome! http://www.battlefieldband.co.uk/

MEANWHILE, what have the good folks of Nevada County been up to lately?? Gee, it's been awhile. How to choose...

"7:58 p.m.--A caller from McKnight Way and Freeman Lane reported a physical fight involving Ethan Hawke. The men doing the beating were shapeshifting. the actor Neville Brand also was involved. [I usually don't print these--and there are many--but the specter of shapeshifting actors from different eras ganging up on this poor soul grabbed me for some reason]

"8:41 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of Stewart Street reported tenants who had been evicted were possibly throwing furniture, slamming doors and using a chain saw to destroy an apartment. It was quiet when officers arrived; the noise might have been a movie that had been turned down." [SO many questions here--but maybe a "Home Alone" moment?]

[Among other TV-related incidents--]
"1:40 a.m.--A caller from Carpenter and West Main Streets reported hearing a man yelling and screaming. He was found to have been celebrating a new television a bit too loudly." [Let's hope this guy doesn't ever get a new car]

"2:26 p.m.--Several callers from Highway 49 at Gold Flat Road reported a hot tub rolling down the highway. It was picked up by the owners." [more like Gold "Pretty Steep" Road. Hang on to your round stuff!]

"7:59 p.m.--A woman who might have been drunk reported that someone her age shouldn't be allowed to use a cell phone." [in her case, probably a true statement]

"12:55 p.m.--A caller from the 29000 block of Highway 49 reported a dispute possibly becoming physical. A man just head-butted another man's vehicle. The man said he didn't like the way the vehicle looked, so he hit it with his head." [he has disliked a few too many vehicles, I imagine...]

"4:44 p.m.--A woman from the 13000 block of Desperado Drive reported a man was accusing her and her husband of assaulting him with a hologram machine." [those things are heavy...]

"4:28 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of Neal Street reported a man in red and white camo took a large bottle of Jack Daniels." [Red and white camo? Was he trying to hide in a candy cane factory?]

"12:50 p.m.--A woman from the 13000 block of Sierra Woodlands Court reported trespassing Thursday night. Someone drove across the lawn and left strange grooves in the grass." [our version of crop circles. Call SETI ]

"7:07 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of Neal Street reported a blue SUV pushing juveniles through the parking lot in office chairs. They were gone when officers arrived." [Right. Next event: copy-machine luge]

"6:42 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of Joerschke Drive reported a domestic dispute with the boyfriend lock in the garage." [and would that be the cause or solution to the problem?]

"2:41 p.m.--A caller from South Auburn Street reported a man possible carrying a Glock. It was a PG&E worker testing equipment; he did not have a gun." [another from the department of "yes, you can be too careful"...]

[and one more from that same chapter...]
"9:09 p.m.--A caller from the 200 block of Sutton Way reported someone might in an apartment. No one was located. It might have been a shampoo bottle falling in the shower." [...but this does qualify her for a job at the TSA]

"7:40 a.m.--A man reported his brother might be stuck in a storage locker. He was uncooperative about providing any more information, however." [Hm, now that we thought about it...]

"9:31 p.m.--More than 20 calls were received from a phone with an address in the 19000 block of Penn Valley Drive. The owner of the phone was located in Yuba County and was break-dancing and 'pocket-dialing'." [...still, probably an unconscious cry for help]

More soon!

Moving Around in SF

2011-02-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

We've helped Dylan and Rachel move their stuff around many times. Indeed, there's a fairly reliable rhythm to the frequency with which they change addresses. They could do it themselves, of course, but it's kind of nice that we can still be somewhat useful in that sort of capacity at our stage of life. Something about it says we still have a few brain cells and knees that work. Feels good. Of course, I never want to move our stuff again. Ever. But I don't mind at all helping other folks move theirs, especially our kids. It's good, quality time together, for one thing. For another, you get to see their stuff. With Rachel, one can usually find some great clothes (hand-me-ups?) before they're bundled off to Goodwill. With Dylan one tends to pack up a lot of cool little Christmas stocking-stuffer gifts (from us) that never got used. Sometimes, with predictable permission, I just take them back. Goody.

At the end of January, however, it turned out that they both had to move--the same weekend. As preparation, we spent the day in SF on Sat., the 22nd, to get the lay of things and to deliver a stack of boxes--a small percentage of those leftover from our own move almost four years ago--to each household. Rachel had started to pack and I helped the cause a little while Tom worked with Dylan on business stuff. A complicating factor in both transitions was that, by that late date--a week before M-Day--neither as yet had located a place to move into.

Ah. In San Francisco, one almost has to set out on an all-out, full-time, military-style campaign, financials in hand, to seek (via Craig's List) appointments and submit applications for units at outrageous prices in competition with half the city population, who, at any given time, might also be looking for a place to live. One has to be quick and ready to decide at first sight, not to mention pass inspection by very picky potential landlords. Rachel is brand new into a very challenging job and had little time/energy for such an effort. Dylan, of course, had deadlines he couldn't let slide.

Rachel had finally landed a great place by Tuesday and was, thankfully, arranging for professional movers. Also, wonderful friend and former roomie, Jason, was coming to town (from DC) for a working visit Moving Weekend. I think the "working" part might have been inadvertent, on his part, I don't know. Meanwhile, Dylan had seen a few places, but none seemed to be appropriate.

We rolled into town just before noon on Friday. Thus began a crazy-quilt three days of moving activities, including renting a van and finding storage for most of Dylan's stuff-including three ginormous sofas--and dodging rain. Jason and Rachel were getting most of her stuff ready for the movers and there was only a little bit of kitchen stuff-my specialty-for me to help with on Saturday. Coincidentally, Friday was also my birthday, so we slowed down that evening long enough to enjoy a fabulous West African (mostly Senegalese, I gather) meal at Bissop Baobob hosted by the kids. That's True Friend Jason, there, leaping out of his seat at the restaurant--probably just too happy at his luck to be celebrating my birthday in addition to spending his entire weekend packing boxes. He's a Star. Tom also got off a great shot of Dylan and Emi!

The following evening, Emi made fabulous home-made pizza and a wonderful salad (green with apples and butternut squash!) for the four of us at her place. She's got the knack. Dylan added his own touch, which is always to crack a few eggs onto the top of anything vaguely resembling pizza. It's good! You should try it! You break them over the pizza about half-way through the baking (about 10 minutes to go).

By late afternoon on Sunday, we were enjoying the fabulous vistas at Rachel's new place after the movers had gone. She's now in the Bernal Heights neighborhood and her deck and roof offer amazing views of downtown, the bay, BOTH bridges, etc., etc. See her happy face coming up the ladder from the deck to the roof? That's because she hasn't thought that much about putting things away, yet. Dylan continues to look when he has time. We left San Francisco before dark, leaving the City more or less intact after our furious activity of the weekend. Another special treat was a stop at Rubio's--comfort food!--in Fairfield on the way home, where we arrived just in time to watch another episode of a new fave, Downton Abbey, on PBS. See how easily we are amused?

A fun and satisfying weekend, start to finish!

Artwatch

2011-01-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

I easily become frozen (euphemistically) by indecision. Which way (of too many) to choose? Finding the focus is always the challenge. In January, I ponder these things.

Meanwhile, let's catch up.

Last month, I had time to make a couple of calligraphy pieces as gifts, which is something I always enjoy ONCE I've figured out the direction. For Dad and Jean, I chose Psalm 100--I worked the text in a traditional black-letter ("old English" to some) style in the KJV. I, then, "whitewashed" it and, over the top of that, wrote the same Psalm in NIV.

For Diana and Dick, I wanted something that conjured up the ocean/beach, which is where they live and where they also love to vacation (mostly). Their beautiful home is "coastal" in it's colors and style and I wanted to make something to fit in. The lyrics to the old song, "By the Sea" seemed close. The song, when sung, is very light-hearted and fun--like them!

A local gallery called for works relating to the theme "Love" for a February show. I did three simple calligraphy pieces rather quickly to make the deadline (Jan.7) not knowing if they would consider calligraphy as a possible form. They did accept one of them, which was great. Here are all three, the one accepted into the show being the last one.

"Love is All You Need" is, of course, the last line of the John Lennon song, "All You Need Is Love". Very simple ink via crazy folded pen nib.

"Give it Away" is the last phrase of the quote: "Love wasn't put in your heart to stay; love isn't love 'til you give it away." by Oscar Hammerstein. Yes, it's from "Sound of Music"--but not the movie version. It's only in the Broadway version, for some reason.

The one in the show (gallery: Artists Studio In the Foothills-ASIF) is a poem by Robert Burns, "My Luve Is Like a Red, Red Rose". It's four stanzas, and I won't write them out, here (click and read the enlarged version), but last year our chorus performed a gorgeous musical version (Rene Clausen, music) that I'm still singing to myself from time to time. Stunningly beautiful, I think. Here's a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpcS9uCjQYA&feature=related
Anyway, it was lovely to write out as I hummed along.

I did some other work, too, this month that didn't end up in "finished" form, but gives me a springboard to some new stuff. At last, a little focus? Well, at least for February. As always, stay tuned.

Up next--might be time to catch up with some police blotter goofiness...

Mad Dash Through December

2011-01-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

OKayyyy! None of the many blog entries I've composed in my head the last month-plus have apparently made it to the keyboard. The good thing about that is that it saved a lot of my silliness from clogging up the "cloud". You're welcome. The sad thing is that I have a terrible short-term memory and can barely remember what-all was going on last month. I do have some photos, though, so I'll speedblog through what I can remember of December highlights and perhaps post some extra photos with mercifully short captions in future entries by way of catching up.

So---the first two weekends were dominated by the three Christmas concerts/extra rehearsals, etc. we performed-"we" being the Music in the Mountains Festival Chorale-some gorgeous pieces sung to brass accompaniment, organ or just a capella--magical! or so Tom and my neighbors said--I LOVE those concerts and hey! we have new "uniforms" looking so sweet in our black velvet tops and long black satin skirts (there in front of yet-to-be-decked-out tree) though I would like to rethink the pearls thing then there was some other stuff like the evening street fairs in Nevada City and Grass Valley and I made a few presents and we got a beautiful Christmas tree--I always love ours the best!--and rain rain rain and some snow but mostly rain and two days before Christmas I drove to SF so that Rachel and I could spend the day at Academy of Sciences LOVED IT! I'm sure you've seen pictures of the "living roof" with the portholes and they have the coolest tropical biodome with fish birds and butterflies (that's us through the foggy lens) plus an amazing aquarium with a white alligator and tons of very active moray eels and an octopus "walking" all over the glass and moon jellies--all aquariums need to have moon jellies, especially with changing colored lights--hypnotic! and you can walk UNDER the water/fish in one place and there are anemones that look like writing quills WOW and we went to the planetarium show as well and hung out in my favorite kind of gift shop--like old Nature Company that I still miss--then we went to her place and ordered Thai and watched TV and Dylan and Emi came by for awhile then in the morning we picked up Dylan and got back to Grass Valley by early afternoon Christmas Eve when we always have some kind of "common pot" meal--usually asian hot pot like this year (see photo) though last year it was cheese fondue--and talk and laugh alot and on Christmas day we just hang around and eat and open fun presents and play games and watch videos--this year we watched some of the Modern Family DVDs we got for Rachel so she could catch up with the first season--we think it's the Perfect Comedy--and both of them had to go back to SF Sunday evening--both Emi and Mike were coming into town--so they took the Camry but we'd had a great couple of days and I can't remember much of the next week except that Andy Montessoro our good friend from San Diego drove up to see us from Walnut Creek where he and Miriam and Mark were visiting with Miriam's twin brother a long drive for just a few hours but it was great to see him (I guess Miriam and I shop at the same places) and we also went to see True Grit one day and loved it--can't believe the girl actress and always enjoy watching Major Dude Jeff Bridges and don't EVEN get me started on John Wayne and any comparisons to that version--and of course I ALWAYS watch the rose parade Jan 1 on the tube by myself--the KRLA version with Stephanie Edwards (yay) and Bob Eubanks (boo) because their are no commercials and have a great spot on the route--but that KRLA broadcast turns up on a different channel every year and I'm always frantically searching searching for it just before parade time...last year was on FOX, this year Hallmark for some reason, anyway, Raul rocks, as usual--and OF COURSE I had forgotten to send Emi and Mike's presents back to SF so I had to pack 'em up and mail them then last Friday I drove to Fresno to spend the afternoon with my mom and sister--Terry made me the WARMEST and most wonderful blue cardigan wool sweater and it's very cozy these days when my studio starts out at 48 degrees sometimes and last week I also finished a couple of calligraphies for possible inclusion in a local show and this week I entered a logo contest for the 2011 fair, but forgot to scan it so there's no picture--phooey!--but I have a bunch of projects to be working on so here's to a productive new year for everybody!! Cheers!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

I originally began this post by musing about the origins of our Thanksgiving ritual and cultural implications then and now, blah blah blah. And then I almost launched into some memorable Thanksgivings of our own. Ha! Close call! All I really want to do is post a few mediocre pictures (judgment about the quality of the photos, definitely not the subjects).

So, I will.

As stated in the last post of a couple of days ago, we wended our way to Montecito, a rather lovely community just south of the also-rather-lovely city of Santa Barbara. It's where Diana and Dick live. Diana is Tom's sister.

It's a little bit of a sashay from our house (7 hours plus stops), but, since the dinner wasn't to take place until Friday, we were able to drive down on Thursday while most everyone else, notably drivers of big rigs, were apparently busy elsewhere. The small downside was that, when we got hungry, there was almost nowhere open to get something to eat. One Carl's Jr. in Santa Maria finally delivered.

Also in the last entry, there was a photo of folks sitting at the table for the fabulous dinner we enjoyed. I won't re-post it here, but Diana and Dick are seated at the far end, smiling in front of the windows.

Others at that table included (first photo): Ben and Luke (Lisa's sons) sitting next to Dick (on right). Next photo: Grace ( Rachel and Eric's 5-year-old, foreground, left), Rachel, Lisa (D & D's daughter), Carl (Lisa's significant other) and Joel (Lisa's son). Then, there's a better picture of Grace, Rachel and little Lilly (9 months--Eric and Rachel's). Behind them, our table munched away. The following picture shows them a bit closer: Ruth (Tom and Diana's mom--89 years), Eric (D & D's son), Tom, Jean (Dick's sister) and Katherine (Jean and Dick's mom--almost 95 years old). Overall a very congenial bunch with whom to celebrate!! We were thankful to have been invited, I can tell you.

The food was wonderful, too. While, sadly, I don't have everybody's recipes to share, I can put up the one I used for one of my contributions, which was a cheesecake. Go here to check that out--http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001119574 Worth the trouble, I'd say.

Most everyone else went back home, but we stayed over one more night, at the Trautwein's gracious invitation, until Saturday morning. As you may or may not remember, Tom and Diana's younger brother, Ken, passed away a bit over a year ago (check out early October '09 post, if you're interested). He was cremated, but the final resting place for his ashes had not been determined all this time. So, a few weeks ago, it was decided to bury them under a young live oak tree in D & D's gorgeous yard. That's what we did on Saturday morning. Diana led us in a beautifully simple memorial service for just of the five of us, including Dick, Tom, mom Ruth and me. It also turned out to be what would have been Ken's 55th birthday. The last photo is of their home. We planted the ashes to the left and toward the back of the picture. Perfect spot.

We arrived home around 8:30 Sat evening, yes, thankful.

Synopsis

2010-11-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

Lot's to tell. This is a quickie once over. More pics and details will be posted in the next two entries (if you dare...).

A week ago last Friday, on the 19th, Tom and I left for for San Francisco to morph ourselves into woodshop elves to help Dylan meet an important deadline. We do this from time to time. It's fun. And we hope that our "help" doesn't set the project back too much.

On the way, we dropped by the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield to observe by what magic all those little flavor-bombs are made. Turns out there's a lot of cornstarch involved. And who knew that licorice is the third most popular flavor? Astonishing information ("buttered popcorn" is one or two. I forget the other one, but I vote for coconut). I hate black licorice (the "liver" of candy), but Tom loves it, of course. It's better than throwing mine away, I guess. In the gift shop at the end of the tour, we bought fudge, naturally. Because when you have a choice, really...

Meanwhile, in our absence, a giant storm was raging in the mountains. We've had a few, already this season, and our rainfall totals are twice the average. But this one was packing. First snow, at our elevation, several weeks earlier than "normal". I thought I had prepared the front patio...

So, back in SF that Friday, we got to meet Rachel, Dylan's Most Capable Administrative Assistant, which was cool. She's great at quite a few things where Dylan is, well, needing help. Tom and I got very busy sanding solid walnut table pieces. Later, Rachel, the Amazing Sister, came by and helped, too.

Weekend over,Tom had to return home to work, so he left Monday morning, whilst I stayed on for a few days. The table--a gorgeous dining masterpiece with three leaves--had some innovative design elements that needed a bit of extra time to smooth out. I hoped to provide a little support along the way.

The table got finished and delivered Wed. morning, looking fabulous set in Jessica and Alejandro's dining room, ready for Thanksgiving. Dylan and Roomie/Woodshop Assistant, Stephanos then dropped me off at the nearest BART station. I, then found my way to Richmond, and from there hopped the Amtrak to Sacramento, where Tom picked me up mid-afternoon. I love the train!

At home, I had time to shower, roast some yams, eat dinner (frozen DiGiorno--just the ticket, in a pinch) and run off to choir practice. I could hardly help but notice that a., the Subaru was perched at a jaunty angle off the driveway in the snow, b., the patio umbrella was snapped in two, and, c., my little bonsai trees were frozen into the drifts, the table they had been sitting on having collapsed in the storm. As for the Suby, Tom had slid right off the side of the snowy driveway as he arrived home around noon on Monday. There's a bad pitch to the pavement, there, and just maybe the tires have a little less traction than they should. A tow truck saved the situation. Chains, next time.

Come morning, I made the roasted-sweet-potato cheesecake and hummus appetizer I'd promised, packed, and we were off to Diana and Dick's home in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. The dinner would be on Friday, thankfully.

It was an easy, uneventful (no trucks on I-5!) 8-hour trip to SB (Dylan and Rachel were, by that time, out of state for their holidays). We spent a wonderful, quiet Thursday evening with Diana, Dick and Tom's mom, Ruth. On Friday, Eric, Rachel, Grace and Lilly, Lisa, Carl, Ben, Luke and Joel, Katherine and Jean came to liven things up for the day. First meetings with 9-month-old Lilly and somewhat older, Carl (Special Friend to Lisa), made the occasion even more fun.

Saturday morning, Diana had arranged a special service for the five of us (D & D, Mom, T & me) to bury Ken's ashes under a little oak tree in their yard--he passed away a little over a year ago, now. It was truly lovely and meaningful and, appropriately, took place on what would have been Ken's 55th birthday.

Afterward, we, loaded down with a big box of home-grown Granny Smiths, started our way back home, though the rain. Indoors, at our house, the temp was 49 when we arrived. Winter is here, for sure. Patchy snow is everywhere and not in any hurry to melt. Fine with me.

Next posts will expand a bit, if you're interested...

More Colors...

2010-11-18T16:52:00.000-08:00

Three days ago, I snapped a couple of shots of the beautiful trees in the shopping area nearest us. Love the yellows and oranges. But this maple on the parkway behind the newspaper office (The Union) cranks the color up a notch or two. Is that crazy stunning, or what?! Not sure, but it might be an October Glory.

However, generally the fall colors are beginning to fade, now, a week before Thanksgiving. The storms hasten the process, a bit. Tonight, for example, a big one is moving in to stay for the weekend and there are consistent predictions of the first snow fall of the season at our elevation. I hope so. I love the snow. It's hard to bid farewell to the colors, but I love snow.

You see where I'm going with this, right? It's colder and that puts me in a mood for knitting. I don't remember the last projects I posted, but I'm pretty sure I haven't displayed the two most recent scarves I made to play with the new diagonal pattern I learned. I made them last spring, actually, and gave one to my sister--though not sure which without running upstairs to see which one I have left. This technique shows off the colors in "printed" yarn.

I'm mostly interested in playing with colors, these days. The first project of the season was a pair of mukluks. You might be able to see that they are not the same because I was testing out some color-pattern techniques I found on the internet (which is where I found the instructions for the slippers) so that I can plug my own ideas into a given project.

First, I made the socks and could have just left it at that. But I found the soles at Ben Franklin (near the red maple--see how I weave a theme in these things?) and then, after cutting them apart and resewing them so as to fit the socks (and, incidentally, my feet), I laced them together. I think they're fun and will be very toasty this winter.

Tonight, I will start on a cardigan to learn how to work colors into a pattern that doesn't call for any decoration. That's how I watch TV. By the by, we think Modern Family (Wed. nights) is the most perfectly-crafted comedy we've ever seen. Cracks us up every time, but it also carries a theme throughout the half-hour so brilliantly that I'm always left in awe of the show at the end. Seriously. It's funny.

That's all, for now. But--oh, yeah--also check out Terriers, if you haven't had a chance, yet. Funky--takes some getting used to. Might have to see it from the beginning of the season to get the gist. And it's in color (see?).

Eggs a la Sandy

2010-11-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

These days, as you can imagine, the colors of autumn just have my head spinning. Tomorrow, for example, I will drive to a parking lot in Brunswick Basin, 15 minutes away because I must take a picture of one tree we saw today--a fabulous red maple of some sort.

But sometimes, it's a simpler, more mundane sight that grabs my attention.

A couple of years ago, after having just taken a couple of hard-boiled eggs out of the hot water and set them on the counter in the sun, I couldn't believe how beautiful they were! The shapes, the colors! I grabbed the camera and took a few shots.

Recently, I thought I'd work up some studies of those eggs in different kinds of media. Just for fun.

The first one is a colored pencil drawing on gray paper. I was as interested in the shadows as much as I was the subtle coloring of the brown eggs, themselves. Pencils allow for very fine detailing, but there's a limit on "workable" nature of the color. It's difficult to modify. I left out the context (counter, etc.), so they're kind of floating in the space.

I did the second piece in pastels, which is a medium I haven't heretofore explored well. I had some fun with the layering of the colors and enjoyed the bright, thicker lines and the speed, after the more tedious pencil version.

Third up was done with watercolor. With all the work I've done with gouache (opaque watercolor) on calligraphy, I've worked very rarely in transparent watercolors. I plan to do more. It's the least forgiving. Watercolors go down quickly, but there's no recovery if it's not what you want. On the other hand, the surprises are fun and sometimes better than the planned ideas.

Lastly, for a completely different effect, I did one panel in mosaic. Just an experiment, and I'm not sure how successful, but it was interesting to try it out as a contrast to the other media.

The last shot shows them all hanging together in the dining area. Odd, I know. I think it might be a temporary display, but it's fun for the moment. One egg, two eggs, three eggs, four.

Meanwhile, a bit of quiche sounds good right now...

Who Doesn't Like Autumn?

2010-11-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

It's a classic rainy day. Not quite as heavy as the deluge we had a couple of weeks ago, but a nice, steady soaker. If it's anything like last year, the ground won't quite dry out again until June. I can already see the mushrooms popping up everywhere--I'll probably be taking even more photos of the same varieties I've taken before, as excited to post them as if it were a brand new topic. I'm the one walking around with my head down, afraid I might miss one.

Same with the colored trees (when I think to look up). Between the storms, we have these bright, intensely beautiful days and the red, orange and yellow leaves standing out against the solid evergreens just gets me every time. I can't take enough pictures. I have my favorite trees around the area, and I might shoot them over again each year, as giddy about it as if it were the first time I'd ever seen seen them. Have you seen an October Glory maple? 'Nuff said.

These photos, here, though, start with our front patio.

Our American Tulip Tree is all bright yellow right this very moment. That's a leafy close-up, right there. A longer view is next, with the Japanese barberry and Japanese maple in the foreground. I'm constantly out there, just staring at them. Sometimes, there's a camera in my hand.

Yesterday, one of those postcard days, Tom and I took a lovely drive to Grass Valley and Nevada City just because. They're each only about 15 minutes from here, so it wasn't much of a journey. I took the next photo on East Bennett Dr., which is the way to go to Grass Valley from our house. It's always beautiful, but when the big-leaf maples are bright yellow, it's magical.

We tried to get a little bit above the town of Grass Valley to get a long shot of how it looks with the autumn colors. Not easy to do, because, well, the trees are always in the way. This is the best I could do.

We got out to walk around Nevada City with our ice cream cones. That's Tom popping his head out of a traditional Maidu nation dwelling which is set up, along with a very well-used grinding stone, on a tiny corner plot that was ceded to the tribe to keep as their very own. So generous, we are. You're welcome.

We headed home after also enjoying an artisan show and a co-op art gallery. I cannot seem to decide which arts organization with which to affiliate myself.

Standard Time is finally back. It's always a huge relief, for some reason. I love Standard Time. Why so much DST? My morning walks have been indistinquishable from those I might take around midnight, lately. This morning, though, I could actually see the doe I frightened trot away in her graceful consternation. There's a buck that's been hanging around, of late, no doubt looking for her. He's also been munching on some of my plants, even the one's I've "protected". He just rips the little cages right off. Ah, well.

Right now, as soon as these pictures load, I'm going upstairs to stoke the wood stove and start pizza dough for dinner. Next time, I'll either post my newest art (think hard-boiled) or my fun with knitting. Hm. How to decide...

Veggie Report...

2010-10-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, we got somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 inches of rain in one 24-hour period. The leaves are turning. And we've been frosted this week (a tad earlier than usual).

It's all good!

But, with all the fuss I made about the garden last spring--all that unbridled Hope residing in the rows of seedlings nestled in my makeshift cold frame--what's happened since, now that low temps have called "time!" on most of my summer efforts?

Let's just say I'm glad for Safeway.

It wasn't really all that bad. However, there was that very late frost in the spring and it's clear we still have some nutrition issues. The red rock we live on can grow pines and oaks and manzanita, no problem. Veggies and other plants need quite a bit more help. I guess Peaceful Valley's Soil Builder mix will be my next crop. I skipped a year, thinking I could, but now I know...

Basic rundown:
*Tomatoes (always the priority)--First one ripened in mid-September--about two months late. That's because I stubbornly started over from seed (12 varieties) after that June chiller. I just harvested the last ripe ones from the loaded, but frostbitten vines today. I left a lot of greenies. In a few days I'll pick 'em and use 'em for frying! Best this year were the Sungold minis and Costoluto. I'm dropping the Black Krim, Black Tula (both enormous and heavy producers) and Marvel Green Stripe. Pretty, but not my favorite flavors. Gardener's Delight was also nice. Don't know why, but the Persimmon and Brandywine--stars last year--didn't fare so well this time 'round. I'll give them another chance.
*Tomatillos--Well, they sure are fun to look at. Haven't grown them in 30+ years. So pretty, with their little paper lantern-husks. Hm. I might have enough for one batch of green enchilada sauce.
*Carrots--We're building steam, here. Better than last year. Bunches of short, fat orange roots.
*Red onions--Small, but beautiful and tasty. Will try again.
*Garlic, shallots, leeks--Biggest disappointment. Planted last fall, they rotted before getting big enough to pull. More organic matter (air) in soil is needed, since they overwinter in wet conditions. I had visions of braided garlic hanging all over the place.
*Chard--Beautiful! Second year in a row we've grown lovely Bright Lights (multi-colored stems)--and not eaten any. Don't know why. Never quite makes it to the top of the list for dinner. Maybe this week.
*Lettuce--Planted last fall, we had nice mesclun (variety) all spring and early summer.
*Corn--We don't really have the space, but I planted a little block of yellow/white. Yield=3 yummy ears. Rethinking.
*Beans--The corn, however, served as the support for the pole beans. Worked fine until bean-picking time, when it's almost impossible to find the beans in the tangle of the corn and bean stalks. Best beans this year=Yard Long green beans. Very fun and very tender to eat. My longest measured 27 inches. Next year, for sure (shooting for actual "yard long"). Blue lakes did fine, too, but were not as much fun.
*Sunflowers--Always fun, always awesome. We just let the birds have them, though.
*Zucchini--We grow it because, well, out of habit, I guess. We don't really like it that much. I may have "grown" the only zucchini plant in North America that didn't produce a single zucchini, but we weren't too unhinged by it. Unfortunately, our neighbor grew far more than she could use, so I still have a whole bunch of zucchini bread and grated zucchini in the freezer.
*Watermelon--Also disappointing. Tiny leaves. Not enough water, perhaps, and some soil problems, too. Cute (softball-sized) miniatures, though.
*Cantaloupe--We'll never know. Some hungry critter (raccoons?) ate them all when they were small.
*Cucumbers--The "Muncher" variety did great. Beautiful, fat, tasty. We got one "Armenian" and no "Market". No explanation. They were side by side.
*Pumpkins--One. It's still out there, just starting to turn orange. Maybe a pie's-worth.
*Delicata and Butternut squashes--Zilcho.
*Peppers--A few jalapenos, which is still better than last year. They were planted all near the tomatoes that didn't do well, either. Suspicious.
*Eggplant--Again, better plants than before, but nothing to show for them.
*Asparagus--We have a couple more years before we can cut any.
*Artichokes--One, very small, very cute artichoke. But that's OK, because it's still a year before we should get any at all.
*Berries--All the berries are also still in "building" mode. We got a few strawberries. Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries and Raspberries seemed to need more water, though the birds made quick work of what little harvest there was. Adjustments to be made in feeding and irrigating.
*The trees are doing very well. Cherry and apple trees might produce a little next year. The peach (four kinds on one tree) will need a couple more years.

I think I want to get a couple of grape vines and a feijoa bush next. Bare root, this winter.

That's one thing I like about gardening. There's always next year, so even when there are disappointments, planning has already mentally begun for the next chance to improve or overcome the previous efforts. Another part of the appeal is the cyclical nature of it. Soon, the garden chores will be over. Period. Nothing to do. And that is what makes it so much fun to start up again in the spring.

And next year, we'll need Safeway just a little bit less than we do this year.

The Welcome Center

2010-10-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

Mike
Michael
John
Shyla
Bill
Chips
Kevin
Andy
Marianne
Amber
Sheri
Elias
Danny
Bob
Zuri (aged 4--today!)
Sophia (aged 6)
Rebecca (Zuri and Sophie's mom)
Jackie (Rebecca's mom)
Tammy

I believe that to remember a person's name signifies the value of that individual. "Hey, You!" doesn't seem to connote, "You're important to me!"

I'm just terrible with names. 10 seconds after an introduction, I've usually become fascinated by something else about a person and the name tiptoes quietly out of my brain unnoticed until I suddenly realize, with great chagrin, that it is as gone as though it had never been there. No footprints. I used to try to cover for this little problem (coughing fit). No more. Sometimes I even apologize ahead of time--in effect, "yes, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to ask you again about your name, even though I truly believe that you are a precious and unique individual whose parents spent great time and effort to find the perfect and unforgettable name for the shining star you clearly are--but I can't remember squat. Sorry."

Mnemonic devices haven't helped.

But these days I'm putting my mightiest effort into remembering the names of the folks I meet on Monday afternoons. Those at the top of this page are some of the names I've learned so far belonging to the guests at Hospitality House. HH is an organization that tries to address the needs of the homeless folks in Nevada County. There are many more names attached to many more individuals--much work to do.

HH is not an overnight facility, per se. It's a small house in downtown Grass Valley--the parsonage of the Methodist church next door loaned to HH as a Welcome Center (pictured above). The WC is open from 1-5:30 pm 365 days a year. It's a headquarters, really. Each afternoon, there is hot meal (and unlimited snacks) available, access to social services and medical referral, bathrooms/showers, laundry, storage and a safe hangout. There are two to four trained or professional staff on site to counsel and manage the operation, plus two or three volunteers to supplement the staff and handle the food. I trained as a volunteer in August.

During the colder months, about 30 different churches in the area provide space for the mats and blankets on a rotating schedule. They also usually fix up a dinner and breakfast. This part of the program has generally run October through April. Due to some extra grant money, this year it was extended to include September and May. A bus transports the folks from the WC to the designated sleepover for that evening and brings them back to the Center in the morning. After that, they're on they're on their own until 1pm.

I joined up because I like all the folks I've met who are involved and because I love the stated commitment to preserve the dignity of each guest (our official term for the clients). And now, of course, I'm enjoying the interaction with all the different people I meet and hang out with from week to week.

There are two basic categories of volunteer at the Center: foodies (lunch bunch) and everything else. I'm an "everything else" vol who works the kitchen after the foodies have left for the day and who carries the key to the "bin room" where all the personal items of each guest are stored (in numbered bins), and performs any other little job from providing towels for showers to greeting a donor at the door to just hanging with the folks and keeping an eye out for any issues that might pop up.

So far, I've observed anywhere from 20 to 30 guests on site on any given afternoon. I've heard it can rise to as many as sixty. It's a small house and while the weather is good, we're at least able to use the little patio as a gathering area. Obviously, there's a dream for a much larger facility.

I don't know everything about the problem of homelessness and I certainly can't prescribe a general solution--the complexity is deep--but I like having the opportunity to plug into such a positive effort to help some local starfish (you know that starfish parable). I'm just a little piece of the big puzzle, but I like the picture.

It should be a place where "everybody knows your name".

Over the Top?

2010-10-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes one just can't predict.

A few days ago, I thought I would be writing ad nauseum about the fabulous Celtic Festival I had planned to attend at least one whole day this weekend (I know you were anxiously anticipating this). It's one of my favorite events all year.

Instead, with that very Festival playing "live" on the radio above me as I type on a damp and cloudy Sunday afternoon (which morphed into Monday, by the end of this entry), I have a different adventure to report.

The chorus in which I sing is part of a larger organization, Music in the Mountains, which sponsored its annual Designs for Living Home Tour fundraiser this last weekend. The plan was to wallow in Celtic music and pagentry on Saturday, and tour fancy houses (to support my own organization) on Sunday.

At choir practice last Wed evening, during the course of some casual conversation, I may have let slip that, even though I had months ago volunteered to help with the Tour, no one had contacted me with an assignment. I figured they had plenty of help. Plus I had already bought Tour tickets for us and we planned to go on Saturday. It apparently attracted some attention.

By Friday, I had agreed to work as a docent at a "big house" on Sunday, instead of attending the Celtic Festival.

Tom and I did, indeed, tour on Saturday. There were eight houses scattered around the South Nevada County area. It was enjoyable, and some of the grounds are quite nice (I'm always on the prowl for garden ideas), but there was only one house that suited our tastes very well. No worries, though. We explored some new (to us) areas of the county plus we were supporting MIM.

So, this morning, I drove past the Fairgrounds and reported to "house #8" for duty (it was the last house on the Tour). No photography is allowed, so I can't show pictures, but, as one of the tour guides who took several groups of people through this amazing shelter, I will try to paint you a bit of a word picture.

--It's a modern style house, built into the hillside on 215 acres overlooking a spectacular section of the Bear River and well beyond. The living-room windows soar 30' to take full advantage of the landscape.

--There is a small sandy beach on the river, a volleyball court, a driving range, a picnic area with full kitchen, half bath and 15 picnic tables, and lots of hiking/equestrian trails. The infinity pool and deck area accommodate a resort-sized bar, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit, waterfalls, ponds, etc.

--The house, itself, has 13 bathrooms, nine of them with showers of different sorts (steam/side-spray, etc.). And saunas. And giant tubs. And laundry facilities. One bathroom has three showers. Another, a sauna, steam shower and a jacuzzi. If you can't get clean in this house, you'll never be.

--Kitchen: Four fridges, four dishwashers, two identical stoves that can switch out burner units for deep fryers, steamers, woks, griddles, etc. Extra crisper drawers. Warming drawers. Well, you get the idea. If you can't cook in this kitchen, give up.

--There's a master bedroom, a master guest area (with living room) and three other guest rooms, each with it's own giant bathroom.

--A game room, a giant sports bar room w/billiard table and juke box, a full, four deck theater w/10 barca lounges, surround sound and 10' screen. A library (w/wet bar behind a secret panel), an executive style office.

--Oh, and a gym. Not an just an "exercise room", a gym.

--One huge laundry room and two "satellite" laundry areas. The master bedroom closet has those dry-cleaner-style carousels for the hang-ups.

--And I haven't mentioned the flat-screened TVs in all the rooms (even laundry), the water features, the elevator (three floors), the wine cellar, the enormous wine tasting room (with matching huge fireplace and bar), the dramatic, curving staircase, the dining room that seats 30. Well, let's just say that it's amazing what you can cram into 14000 square feet.

Hm. I see I need to wrap this up, now. I'm scheduled to report to my weekly shift at the local homeless shelter...

Gentle Giants...

2010-09-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I can't get enough of them. Just can't. They're magnificent and beautiful and huge and sweet and funny--all big Baby Hueys.

The 24th annual Draft Horse Classic is going on right now at the Fairgrounds (home-away-from-home). For the second year running, Tom and I attended the opening night show/competition. The competition parts test the drivers/trainers/horses on skills with lovely two-wheeled carts (SO civilized a way to get around!) and larger work wagons of different sorts: Single horses (for the carts) and multiples pulling the wagons and running maneuvers around cones or backing up to a "dock" or just trotting or walking or backing up on command. Oh, and how pretty they are matters, as well, though they're all gorgeous to me.

I love the four-abreast teams, especially. The six-up (three pairs) are also amazing to watch. In between the judged events are mule exhibitions, trick riders, silly chariot races, etc. All fun, but, it's in the evening, and the photos don't turn out so well. There's a blurry one of the team that won the four-up--you get the idea.

For the third year running, I went back over to the grounds next day to get close to the horses (sat on a big Belgian last year), talk to the owners, watch the farriers and see the horse art. This year, Tom came too. We watched a world-class (yes, world, folks) farrier take a straight piece of iron and fashion it into a perfectly-fitting shoe for a big percheron. So interesting! Tom chatted with another 30-year veteran farrier and learned all kinds of interesting stuff about the profession--like that it's still being practiced largely unchanged since the Roman times, 2500 years ago. I'm pretty sure that info will come in handy someday.

We visited all the barns and I hugged and patted as many animals as I could manage, including the tiny miniatures from a local ranch who always come to offer some perspective. Here's me hugging Cruiser, who seems rather unfazed by the experience. At the end of the afternoon, we walked through the art exhibits, some of which were quite wonderful, and, as if that weren't enough, there was a Major Celebrity to add some glitter to the event! Yup, folks of a certain age (like us) will undoubtedly recognize Clint Walker, from the "Cheyenne" TV series of the late 50s/early 60s (and, if you don't, there's a sign above him--little hint). Of course, Tom and I also think of him as a guy who survived the skiing accident where he suffered the old ski-pole-piercing-the-heart injury. He and his wife personally run his website, where one can purchase DVDs, signed photos and CDs--yes, he also sings. Always looking for his next big role, even at 83, he says. We moved on.

What more can you ask for free (well, $3 parking)? Best bargain of the weekend, for sure! And it just makes me happy to be near these fabulous animals.

Next weekend: getting all Gaelic...

Festa e Rapporto di Polizia

2010-09-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

It's become routine. Another weekend, another trip to the Nevada County Fairgrounds. This time, it was to support the inaugural Italian Festival. It has a ways to go before it's a major national event, but we thought it went well, considering.

Italians are well-represented in and around GV/NC. As in other places where mining was a big industry (Louisville, CO. comes to mind, having lived there in the 70s), Italians made up a large part of the labor force. We know a bunch and we haven't been here long. Three Tassones just from choir.

High time to establish a yearly festival! We went for lunch on Saturday and had a lovely time eating pizza, watching a bocce ball tournament and listening to some pretty good/cheesy Italian music, including a really smooth, silver-haired, lounge-lizard-style crooner singing all the Sinatra/Dean Martin stuff. Oh, and the cool clown-guy playing the concertina at the entrance. Nice touch. There were some booths with Italian-ish products, lots of olive oil and wine and gelato.

It was festive and well-attended. And a glorious day. I suspect we'll see this one grow in years to come. Of course, in two weeks, the Mother of All Ethnic Festivals for this area, the Celtic, will materialize. Whereas we spent a couple of hours at the Italian, I can live at the Celtic Festival all day long. This coming weekend will find us at the Fairgrounds for the Draft Horse Classic. Cooler than it sounds.

Meanwhile, it seems I've neglected the Police Blotter, of late, so, along side the Festa photos, here are a few recent favorites:

"2:31 p.m.--A caller from the 100 block of South Church Street reported the theft of the United States, but would not provide any further information." [I thought I felt a draft...]

"12:58 p.m.--A woman called from the 11000 block of Alta Vista Avenue to report her roommate's daughter had trespassed into her home. While there, the daughter did the dishes and then left." [perhaps next time, the ne'er-do-well daughter can burgle some trash]

"10:30 p.m.--A caller from Neal Street reported two men stole a shopping cart, put a couch in it and left. They were found and both items would be returned." [difficult getaway...]

"4:43 a.m.--A caller from the 300 block of South School Street reported the theft of a light bulb from a porch." [sigh]

"12:24 p.m.--A woman from the 19000 block of Lake Forest Drive reported a box was thrown at her vehicle that had a bullet inside and a note that said, 'honk honk'." [better than "bang bang"?]

"12:32 p.m.--A caller from West McKnight Way reported steroid-using body-builders from Reno beat up the caller's son and might have killed him. Midgets [sic] from Fulton Avenue had been following and trying to poison the caller. The body-builder and the lead female midget [sic], who is really violent, have been driving the caller's truck around. The caller wanted the Sheriff's office to activate the SWAT team." [Another "team" will be heading out to McKnight way...]

"7:09 p.m.--A person on Snow Tent Road called to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office reporting a conflict between two people involving an eviction, both of them alleging crimes by the other. One of the persons allegedly had previously responded to conflict "by boiling a newt and drinking the water." [there's the problem--no eye of bat or whisker of naked mole rat...]

Sheesh. So many more. Later. Now, it's off to the Classic...

Car Crazy

2010-09-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Cars. Love 'em (my little Suby), hate 'em (my little Suby, sometimes). Need 'em, but wish we didn't (at least so much). We're fascinated by the new ones, nostalgic about the old ones. We build strong brand loyalties to some (Toyotas for us), and cringe in disgust at the very sight of others (Hummers--ack!).

Today, it's about the nostalgia part. And another trip to the Fairgrounds.

The local vintage car club is called the Roamin' Angels. If you own an American-made automobile, year 1972 or older, you qualify for membership. Each year, they host a big show at this time to show off their treasures. And very like jewels, they are! The colors are spectacular!

We've never attended one of these, though many of the other events in the area also show off certain specimens--the street fairs, the air show. And we've always enjoyed car museums. But the sheer number (900 plus) and variety of automobiles made us forget all about our reservations as to whether or not it would be worth our time or the $5 tickets.

Right away, we were slack-jawed at the beauty of the paint jobs on these babies! Mind you, for the most part, we're not talking about "restored" vehicles, though there were many of those, but works of art on wheels, whose bodies were of a certain vintage, but embellished and polished far beyond the imaginations of the original owners.

Lots of Fords and Chevys, of course. Tom and I were talking memories of certain models that figured large in our respective childhoods. Fords from the early 50's (that's me in front of a car that was brand new the year I was born--fill in your own quips here) and Chevys from the late 50s and early 60s as my dad switched his brand loyalties mid-stream. Tom had far more depth of memory than I (being a guy--and far older, of course) and had stories not only about his own family (Buicks, Plymouths, among others) but about extended family and friends who drove Studebakers and Mercs and such. It seems we've forgotten quite a bit, as well, though (was it a '58 or '59?).

Our faves are still the grand touring cars of earlier in the century, though. '32 Packards, Ford Phaetons and their ilk. SO classy!

We saw Willyses, Hudsons, DeSotos, Kaisers and a yellow, 1970 Corvette that looked to me like it could have been designed and sold this year--I love the fact that good design is timeless! Woodies, hot rods and delivery vehicles. And, of course, an Edsel (um, how that "good design" concept works in reverse). All fun!

The Roamin' Angels are a visible presence in our area. They're always very busy raising money for scholarships and toys, and such. All the proceeds for this car show, for example, will be split between the many local charities they regularly support. I read yesterday that they started the vintage car club in 1962 and their primary activity was to cruise the country roads and highways for stranded motorists to offer help. Hence the name.

I think this event becomes one of our new annual amusements.

Mama G's in the House!

2010-09-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Last week was mostly about hangin' out with Mom Gold.

It's been quite awhile since her last visit with us here, so Tom took the opportunity of the occasion of a family wedding in Orange County--her great-niece, Linda--to ferry his mom to the celebration on Wednesday, then, next day, to fly with her up here to hang with us for awhile. Worked great!

I picked them up mid-morning, Thursday, at the Sacto airport and we all headed southwest to San Francisco to see Dylan and Rachel. It had been quite some time since she'd had the chance to visit with them both at once. We picked up Rachel, where Mom got to see her cute flat and meet her roomie, Walker. We met Dylan at the Pier 23 restaurant shortly thereafter where we enjoyed a nice lunch on the deck outside. There they are, smiling under the Flat Tire Amber Ale sign after the meal.

Rachel had to get back to work, so after dropping her off, we headed over to Dylan's shop so she could see it and a few pieces of his furniture. There they are, discussing the finer points of the functional art scene, and then, again, with Tom in the picture. The rush-hour escape from the city was miraculously quick, leaving us plenty of time to stop in Auburn for Foster's Reese's Peanut-Butter-Cup Twisters for extra energy.

The rest of the time was pretty low-key. She worked in a Facebook tutorial, naps, a build-your-own frozen-yogurt sundae at Culture Shock, naps, Mexican food at Maria's, naps, some British TV, more naps, fish tacos at Rubio's and some Gunther's ice cream in Sacramento (photo with me). Yup. All good stuff.

We got her back to the airport on Sunday afternoon looking like she'd weathered the grueling schedule just fine. It was fun and we'll look forward to next time.

After I work off some of the "fun".

Over the Top

2010-08-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look around in certain circumstances, as if, say, you just woke up, and wonder "Where am I and why am I doing this?"?

During some of the steeper climbs, at high altitude, carrying 45 pounds on my back, that particular thought flickered through my mind more than once, last week.

Just flickered, though.

Because I know, really, even without enough oxygen to spell my name correctly, exactly why.

This year, our little band of backpackers numbered four-plus-six. The plan was to cross over the Sierras from east to west. What to do about transportation home once on the other side, you might ask? So clever. Clay and John hatched a plan that called for two groups: an east-to-west team ("us") and a west-to-east team ("them"). Each would park a car at their trailhead and hike to the other team's trailhead. I had a special circumstance, however. Coming from the north, instead of south (San Diego), with the other nine, I had to make a creative alternate plan. I solved it by having Tom drive me to Colfax, 25 minutes away from home, to catch a Greyhound bus to Reno. Then, I found an Eastern Sierra Transit Authority bus that runs several times a week from Reno to Bishop, altogether about 8 hours of travel. The guys ("us"), then, picked me up in Bishop. In fact, they saw me on the moving bus and followed it to the station. Smooth.

[After we came out of the mountains on Sunday, the guys dropped me off at the Amtrak station in Fresno on their way south. With more than an hour to wait, I called my sister, Terry, who came over--she lives just a few minutes from there--and we had a nice little visit before I headed off to Sacto, where Tom picked me up. Cool bonus.]

"Us", this year, consisted of Clay, John, me and Doug Johnston, who joined up for the first time. "Them" was Jesse, John's son, and five of his good buddies.

We stayed in a motel Tuesday night in Bishop after some tasty Chinese carbon-loading. We started our journey next morning at the North Lake trailhead, a bit above 9000'.

I won't lie. Hauling myself and 45 extra pounds up the trail at altitude is difficult and I'm a big huffer and puffer. I'm never in quite the super shape I'd like to be for this, and I'm always carrying more pack-weight than I'd intended. I shaved off three pounds, this year, but had hoped to get it under 40. Ah, well. Next time.

Our 5-day plan was to hike over Piute Pass (11,423') to Florence Lake (about 7300'), some 23 miles west, where we planned to catch a ferry to get us to the other side of the lake where the boys had left the other car for us.

In between:

We camped on the edge of two gorgeous alpine lakes--Piute L. (10, 960') and Upper Golden Trout L. (roughly 10,960' also) and one fabulous river--South Fork San Joaquin. John is a passionate fisherman, all catch-and-release, unless we need dinner. Clay enjoys it, as well, but not quite to John's intensity (I call it "crazy!"). I think the tally for the week was John's 60-something to Clay's 10 or so.

We had four hiking days and one layover (for more hiking, of course). The longest stretch, by far, was the 7 1/2 hour, eleven-plus miles we did on the fourth day through the Piute and San Joaquin River canyons. More down than up, overall, but there was lots of up. Piute Pass, is an amazing, treeless viewpoint for the Glacier Divide--the highlight on day two. But we also went through damp, wildflower and aspen-heavy creek areas, giant green meadows, thick pine forest and steep rocky river canyons. Breathtaking, all of it.

Clay, the Chief Organizer, Map Czar and Food King, fed us well, including a tasty trout dinner on night three (to which he and John contributed the main course). On the first night, the guys cooked up steaks they had bought in Bishop and that they had frozen in the motel-room fridge overnight, thawing them during the hike up. John caught me a fish from the lake to have as an alternative. We eat a lot of instant oatmeal, granola bars, cheese sticks and tortillas, among other things. I can pretty much live on mozz. cheese sticks and tortillas indefinitely.

We met up with the younger set ("them") for one night (Friday) at Upper Golden Trout Lake. It had rained on us at Piute Lake, our first campsite. It snowed on them at the same site a few nights later, we heard. In the high country, there was nearly-constant strong, cold winds, as a part of that same weather system. We were happy to get down into the trees on Saturday, where our hats stayed on better.

We talk and laugh and hike and eat. We love the intensity of the stars, the majestic views, the rainbow flowers, the magnificent trees, the cold blue water. And we enjoy the sense of accomplishment at the end. We usually get a game or two of Frisbee golf in after dinner on one or two evenings. I always say I'm going to practice for next year, but, well, my score betrays my failure to follow through...A special hike, this year, was up to Goethe Cirque/Glacier/Lakes at nearly 12000' on our layover day. No trail. We just pick our way along by reading topo maps, rock-hopping over huge boulder fields, meadows and creek-crossings. A rare shared adventure.

That's why.

Photos: Clay and John hiking down ahead of me from Piute Pass toward Piute River Canyon, John's prize catches, my cute tent, Clay in the "kitchen", "us" at the end of the trail before boarding our ferry boat to the other side of Florence Lake.

2010-08-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

As a quickie follow-up from the Fair Follies of last week, I thought I'd post a couple of better photos of the calligraphy and plein-air painting, as well as a shot of a piece I just made this week for a charity auction scheduled for tomorrow. Oh, and the sweater. Remember that you can click once to see them better if you wish.

Um, I haven't been very artsy the last six months or so. I've had a bit of an art "walkabout", in the Yvonne Goolagong sense. In the first few months, I was trying to get my website going, finding and prepping the photos for Tom and occasionally working up examples to show in different categories. I did several weeks of computer work for Tom's company (little images/icons for their new product). Also, I had a certificate/sign job from a friend (to be used by the blacksmiths at Empire Mine SHP), forgetting to snap a photo of it before delivery. I'll get over there sometime to get a copy for myself one of these days. I've been knitting some and doing a little basketry. And yard/garden working.

But not so much with the just plain art sort of work. I think I've found the groove, again, now, and have several projects lined up in my head, including some glass.

Meanwhile, here's a nicer rendition of the "Comfort" piece. It's a quote about friendship that my friend-of-45-years (yikes), Ann, commissioned earlier this year. The white lettering is done with gouache and the cup and other letters are colored pencil. A funny thing about the quotation is that it has at least three attributions. The most credible to me, after some Googling, is Dinah Craik, but George Eliot and a Native American chief (whose name is now lost to me) are also credited.

Next is the little painting/sketch I did in three hours at the Fair, a week ago. Not museum quality, I'm afraid, but I learned quite a bit from it and am planning to do some more fresh-air work soon. Plus, there's that little group I might join up with for an excursion or two.

Here's the sweater/jacket I made last winter. Haven't worn it, yet. I had been looking for a particular sort of style similar to some sweaters I saw in Germany a few years ago. It's wool and I felted it, so I had to guess how big to make it so that when it shrunk, it might fit. Somehow, it worked, but it was a real stab in the dark.

And this is a piece of calligraphy I worked on, sort of at the last minute, for an art auction. Last Saturday, I had about 5 hours of training as a volunteer with Hospitality House, the local organization that helps the homeless in this area. It happens that their biggest fundraiser of the year will be held at Empire Mine SHP tomorrow afternoon. Part of it is an art auction to support the work. I chose the quote to in some way harmonize with the theme of the evening "Art for the Heart". Not sure it's a real strong connection, but, hey. I did it in gouache and black ink. It's difficult to see, but there are little raised white squares that are a part of the design.

Ah, gotta run! More soon!

OMG! The Fair! (pt.two)

2010-08-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Day Two (Thurs., Aug. 12)--Lorri, my friend and neighbor, and I went to the Fair together the next day. She's a court reporter and gets precious few week days off (there being so much crime, and all), so it was an unexpected pleasure to be able to knock around with her over there. Of course, I forgot to snap a photo (picture cute, skinny, blond), but she enjoys all the same stuff I do. We didn't have but just a few hours (she was needed elsewhere later in the afternoon), so we made the most of it.

One silly thing--as we were waiting for our taco salads, Lorri mentioned that she thought we had just been on TV. I turned around to see a guy with a steadycam wandering around Treat Street, and then re-focused my attention on pending lunch. Later, on Facebook, I found out that it was Huell Howser's camera guy. Had I recognized him, I would have tried to insert myself into my second Huell Howser TV production (the first being a couple of years ago at a calligraphy conference in Pomona when I was actually interviewed by said HH). So funny given the great amusement I have had at his expense over many years. (Tom says, "Lightning does strike twice!")

Basically, I dragged poor Lorri around the fairgrounds at warp speed to make sure she didn't miss anything I liked. Well, we did have a sit-down for a few minutes to listen to a bluegrass band while eating our taco salads. Then it was zoom time. We'll see how awkwardly she avoids my gaze around fair time next year. I predict too many depositions to transcribe.

Day Three (Friday, Aug. 13)--I was focused on only one activity on Friday. I had signed up as one of the "plein air painters". "Plein Air" is just the official name of the art of painting scenes outdoors and not from photographs. All of the artsy stuff I've done in my life and I've never taken paints and paper or canvas outside to create a picture on the spot--one of the oldest and most basic forms of art there is. I felt it was my duty to try it out. The deal is that all the artists report to the arts building at noon on Friday. Ideally, by then, one should have figured out exactly where to set up outside. I had been there since 10:30, walking and looking, and had not yet settled on a scene. Painters are to begin no earlier than 1pm and turn their work in no later than 4pm. At 12:30, I finally figured it out, set up, then watched the time on my phone creep by until it was legal to start.

Three hours might seem like a long time. For a sermon or a dental visit, it is. For a painting, well...I really wanted to go with colored pencils or pastels for speed, but wasn't sure about the rules, so I chose gouache, which is opaque watercolor (a little more forgiving than the transparent sort). As for the scene, one of my favorite aspects of the fair is how they manage to cram all this wild fun zone equipment in amongst the trees without destroying either the trees or the equipment. There's also the crazy juxtaposition of bucolic nature tones and frenetic, cacophonous movement and artificial whoopie colors. Here's a shot of my stuff before I started, then a picture of my subject matter from the chair.

I started with quick pencil sketch, moving on to pen-and-ink rendering, and ended with the paint. Meanwhile, random folks and a series of carnie guys stopped by to chat about it all. By 3:30, I was throwing paint around in a frenzy. Of course, I didn't "finish". But, rules are rules, and I turned it in at 4 straight up. It turns out, there were only about 7 or 8 painters. Most, I learned, belong to a local plein air club: some encouraged me to join. Perhaps.

As for the results, only six people actually turned their pieces in to be judged. You can see the results in the photos. The big purple ribbon is "best in division", but the plein air contest was the only catergory in the division. So, sort of a two-for-one situation.

Moving on to:
Day Four (Sat., Aug. 14)--Saturday evening, we had signed up to help with the beer/wine concession, which is run as a fundraiser for Music in the Mountains. We arrived in enough time to get a bite to eat and see the results of the plein air competition. Then we cruised over to learn all the names of the kinds of beer and also how to pull a tap or pour a bottle without ending up with too much foam in the cup. I think we got pretty good at it! Tom, especially. He filled hundreds of 12-ounce cups most of the night (4 1/2 hours) and I served over a counter. It was fun and we enjoyed doing the "beer ballet" with the other 6 or 7 folks in cramped quarters as we all quickly ducked in and out of each others' pathways and arm movements with full cups and almost no spills. Who knew I would ever find myself slinging orders of Shock Top and Tumblr like a pro and having fun? We'll do it again next year. (Too busy for pics)

Last one:
Day Five (Sun., Aug. 15)--There was only one thing left to do: Make the enchiladas. I had signed up for one more competition, which was the last of the Special Food Contests. It was their first year to offer a Veggie Dish contest. I waffled a bit early in the afternoon, thinking I might just blow off the $2 entry fee and stay home, but decided to go ahead with it, anyway, in deference to the organizers. I took my green cheese enchies over, all hot and bubbly, and set them on the tables near where my cheesecake had sat several days earlier. This recipe, which I've been making for many years, has a tomatillo/poblano-chile sauce over Mexican cheese/corn-tortilla enchiladas. I added spinach to the filling, this time, to make them even, well, greener. Only about 11 entries, this time. Better odds. It paid off with a second place ribbon and a nice "food scoop" (the winner was a deserving quiche with a nice smoked-mozzarella flavor). You know when you chop up a couple of tomatoes and need to get them into the bowl or pot? This scoop is the transportation. The SUV of scoops, actually. I already had a smaller one from IKEA and use it all the time. From now on, my veggies or shredded cheese will travel those few inches in style!

One more year, living proof that the key to winning stuff at your local county fair is to move to a county with fewer than 100,000 residents.

And I was done. I bet you are, too.

OMG! The Fair! (pt.one)

2010-08-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is your lucky day!

At first, I thought I might write a separate entry for each day I spent at our Nevada County Fair (and I attended at least part of each of the five days), there being PLENTY to talk about and some nice pictures, but had second thoughts about that strategy. For one thing, I was at the Fair so much, I had no time to blog about it. For another, as with others of my many passions, most folks begin to nod off after paragraph two, as I have yet to learn the fine art of efficient expression. We'll do it all in two entries.

This will be a good exercise for me and just plain good for you. Here goes:

Day One (Wed., Aug.11)--The Longest Day. One of the things I love about our fair is the opportunity to sit (usually on bales of straw) in seminars and learn about all sorts of stuff. I go through the fair program days before and plan my schedule around the presentations and demos. I can't get to them all. This year, I learned more about: Gardening with Native Plants, Finer Points of Organic Gardening, Local Wild Birds, and Winter Gardening (see a theme?). All great. Good thing I'd brought a sack lunch. I'll have to catch some of the others next year.

Late in the afternoon, it was time to run around to the three buildings in which there were exhibits of art and handicrafts, mine among them, to see if I'd won any ribbons. Happily, I had. Once again, my chances of running away with the blue in the "professional calligraphy" category were excellent, mine being the only entry. Such a great strategy! (I'll post a better picture later this week) I entered two older baskets in another contest (the one I was making for the fair hit an unfortunate snag) and came away with a second place for one of them. Alas, I received no prize whatsoever in my first attempt at a category in the fabric arts. Folks around here are serious about their fabric arts, let me just say. My Green/black cardigan sweater (not brown, as it looks--I'll post another pic of it later) was lookin' fine, but it was no match for the Blue Lace Stitch number farther on down the table. I'll be back.

Then, whew!, it was time to run home to pick up Tom and bring him to the Fair. We had to be back before 6pm. That was the scheduled time for Special Food Contest of the Day, and Wednesday's contest was cheesecake! I had made one the day before in anticipation. OMG, they were all so beautiful! Mine, a layered chocolate/peanut butter/caramel confection (homemade caramel syrup!), was somehow miscategorized into the "traditional" versus the "exotic" group for judging. We'll never know what might have happened, but there was no cigar for Sandy Gold this time. Still, it was interesting to watch (if a bit protracted, sitting on our straw bales--that's me) as judges pounded down some of all 24 entries; how do I get one of those gigs?. Then, after the winners were announced, we all got to taste the cheesecakes. Everybody wins. In the photo, mine is at the bottom, with a few of the others visible beyond.

As far as Tom is concerned, he can "do" the Fair in two hours or less, so after the cheesecake, we got some Fair Food and walked around to the exhibits to show him where my stuff was lurking. It's the only way he darkens the door of the Fabric Arts Building. The food at our Fair is mostly provided by local charitable organizations (Lions Club, Jewish Communtity Center, etc.) from permanent structures on "Treat Street". So buying a loaded baked potato benefits the 4H, and so on. In the fun zone, a few trailers hawk the cotton candy and kettle corn. Tom got the bratwurst (his fave!) and I the veggie rice bowl from the Soroptimists. We munched as we listened to some fun live music (there are five stages with continuous performances).

The next four days...

Chillin' with Mom

2010-08-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

My mom hadn't been to our house for a visit in awhile, so she hopped a train in Fresno (picture that) bound for Sacramento where I picked her up around lunch time on Monday. She stayed until late afternoon on Friday. In between, we...

...spent a day in San Francisco, hanging with Dylan and Rachel and seeing the sights. We picked Rachel up at her place around 12:30 (picture taken in Rachel's kitchen), after which we motored on over to Dylan's shop to collect him so that we could all get some lunch. Mom treated everyone to a lovely meal in the harborside patio of The Ramp. Happily, it happened to be sunny in this particular location at this particular time--not always a given in the summertime on the peninsula. We drove back to Dylan's shop to show Mom around (3rd picture in front of some lumber storage) and then left him there to work on a concrete table top for a client. After dropping Rachel off back at her place, we just had time for a whirlwind tour of the Greatest Hits of SF--Golden Gate Park, Lincoln Park/Legion of Honor, The Bridge/Presidio (next picture--where you can see weather being a little more typical for this time of year), Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street, North Beach/Chinatown, Financial District, and then we're heading east on the Bay Bridge. By 8:45 we were back in Grass Valley. Whew!

...spent quite a few hours looking at old photos, she telling stories and I jotting down a few names dates and key words. They were mostly pictures of her early years in El Monte, but there were also some nice ones of her folks in Brooklyn (where they met after each of them emigrated Finland in the early 20s) and even a few of the Old Country,

...wandered around the Fairgrounds as I delivered a few entries to their respective judging sites (the Nevada County Fair is next week--more about this later, of course),

...made do-it-yourself frozen yogurt concoctions at Culture Shock,

...Googled our brains out looking for information about various subjects from the Finnish language and the Kalevala to Whatever happened to ____? (fill in the blank. One was "the Gabor sisters"),

...had a nice dinner out (thanks, Mom!) at Amigos in Nevada City where we munched Mexican food to the tune of Deer Creek splashing along just below us (last photo).

The Amtrak Station is just a few blocks from Old Sacramento, a well-preserved historical area on the banks of the Sacramento River, so after we got Mom comfortably seated on the train, Tom and I headed over there to wait out the rush hour on Friday afternoon. It's more than a bit tourist-y, but cute and we hung out there for awhile, walking and stopping for some Indonesian food (excellent!), and enjoying the effects of the "Delta Breeze" which was keeping Sacramento unseasonably cool (wow! mid-eighties).

It was a good week! She's home, now, but she'll be back. More photo-processing and Googling to do...

State Fairies

2010-08-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

We almost let it slip by, this year. The dates were changed (July rather than late Aug/Sept) so that more kids could attend. Duh. WE nearly forgot to go, though.

The California State Fair is really Sacramento Regional Fair with a few county displays set up in one of the pavilions. Some counties, like Solano, go all out--different every year--and build elaborate, free-standing, walk-through structures complete with music, Disney-style animatronics and costumed staff to pass out brochures and little packets of prunes or Jelly Bellies. Some, like Nevada County (ours)--blow up some photos and stick 'em on a wall. Some apparently let some of their enthusiastic third-graders organize the whole display. And some, like many this year, blow it off entirely.

Not unlike most folks, we look forward to some fun fair food. Tom got the deep-fried White Castle burger one year, for example. We're not suicidal, however. No chocolate bacon or fried twinkies for us. This year, Tom broke the time-from-car-to-food-in-mouth record by pouncing on a cheese-filled bratwurst a few steps from the gate. Here he is, not one bit sorry about his rash behavior. By contrast, after visiting ALL the food vendors at the fair, some more than once, I landed a--ta da!--roasted veggie panini! Of course, by that time, Tom was hungry again and we got some deep-fried artichokes to share. I must say, timing aside, we made excellent choices this year. The gelato (or some kind of frozen thing) and fudge are routine chasers. The fudge guy sells umpteen kinds. This year we chose Pralines and Cream and Mounds (that's right--layered chocolate and coconut). Yum.

Among the special exhibits this year were two fun ones. The first was a complete history of the bicycle complete with museum-quality artifacts. I chose the multi-rider bike for the photo, but there were other unusual examples--a bike made mostly of bamboo, a ten-foot-high bike, and a bike made entirely of glass. The other exhibit was all about animation and included lots of Disney/Pixar video and process info as well as sections of Warner Bros., Hannah-Barbera and Japanese Anime. Fun and fascinating!

The last highlight I'll mention is the farming/animals area--always a biggie for me. You can see Tom standing in front of the field corn. Everything growing in the ag exhibit looked as though it had been fed that Alice's cake from Wonderland. Enormous. But the most fun was looking at all the baby animals--goats, sheep and cows with their days-old young. The photo shows piglets only three hours old! They had been born after we'd arrived at the fair! That's me being happy about it.

The entertainment was fine (group called Fog Hat), but we walked on by toward the exit. We scored last year with Three Dog Night. This time we just bopped to the beat as we made our way to the car.

But guess what's coming up in 10 days! Ha! The fabulous Nevada County Fair. And I have a few more ways to participate this year, which I will share in due time. Stay tuned...

Suds and San Francisco

2010-07-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

All booked up for the weekend, we were (cue Yoda voice).

Saturday was the day for the annual Music in the Mountains Brewfest fundraiser at the Fairgrounds. It's a time and place where, for one entrance fee (designated drivers come free), folks can mill around amongst the pine trees whilst tasting brews from 25-30 microbreweries. Unlimited. There's live music and food to buy, but, otherwise, that's the whole deal. As a person who doesn't care much (or at all) for beer, the attraction is a bit mysterious until I substitute the word "chocolate" for "beer". Oh. Now I get it.

We helped with the set up in the morning (already well underway from the day before), did our jobs from about 2 to 6:30, and helped with the clean-up--about a 12-hour day spent in the most beautiful fairgrounds in the state. Tom's job was to lead the team of people who monitor the gate--checking IDs, banding, line control, etc (he did that job last year while I was backpacking). My job was to sell tickets, which I think I handled with sufficient aplomb. Since we both worked at the gate, we were in the perfect location to observe how much, uh, happier folks were on the way out than on the way in. So far as we could tell, their DDs, the taxis, and shuttles all did their jobs to get everyone home safely (some people even camp on site), though there was one guy we weren't too sure about who took off on a bicycle. Nothing in the blotter, though. Too busy for pics.

On Sunday, we had been invited to San Francisco by Dylan and Emi to meet her folks, who were in town from Colorado. Rachel also joined in on the fun. There would be brunch at Emi's followed by a walk to the park where the San Francisco Symphony would be playing a free concert.

Michelle and Doug Hofmeister are delightful people, as we expected they would be. We learned a few things about them, among which is that they sing in a chorus there in Boulder. Their singing background is a bit different than mine, however, having sung mostly in Opera choruses in Chicago. In fact, I think it's how they met. Recently having moved to Boulder after 35+ years in Chicago, they live just a few miles from where we lived in the mid-seventies and frequently pass the hospital where Dylan and Rachel were born.

The concert was wonderful! It was part of a commemoration of the Mexican Bicentennial. In keeping with the theme, the conductor was Alondra de la Parra, an amazing 30-year-old Mexican woman who blew us away! She conducted several works by Mexican composers, all of which we loved, then followed them with Dvorak's New World Symphony and the overture from Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. We were all quite impressed! All outside on a beautiful day! No fog!

After the concert, Michelle and Doug left to catch a plane home and we hung out at Emi's for a short while to see their fabulous pics of Italy and have a bit of a munch before driving back to GV. Not content to leave well enough alone, though, we scarfed down some Swedish fish and Foster's ice cream on the way. One word: overkill.

The photos are all taken at the concert: Dylan and Tom, Emi (sitting behind her folks), Doug and Michelle, Rachel and Me, and Alondra de la Parra/orchestra.

Playing with Clay (and Nathanael)

2010-07-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

So, Clay and Nathanael were in the midst of a whirlwind prospective-California-colleges tour last week. Lucky for us, they also included a minor detour to Grass Valley (wedged between Fresno State and Chico) for a fun evening.

Clay is a wonderful friend of ours from San Diego and my esteemed backpacking buddy. He plans 'em, I hike 'em. Most years, we manage one trip, the next one being scheduled for next month.

Nathanael is a senior this year, and he and Clay visited, oh, let's see, UCs Irvine, Santa Barbara and Davis, Cal Poly SLO, Fresno State, and Chico State in four days. Somehow, there was also time for quite a few miles driven and some visits with friends thrown in for laughs.

We did have time to hang out a bit, grab a bite at Posh Nosh, and eat some homemade strawberry ice cream. After dinner, Clay and I caught up with some chatter whilst Tom and Nathanael watched "Hurt Locker". It had come from Netflix some time before and I was glad for someone else to watch it with Tom. I just never seem to be in the mood for that sort of thing.

Then, in a blink, after a quick breakfast next morning, they were gone, down into the hot Sac Valley to catch the ambiance of Chico and then Davis, which was added to the itinerary at the last minute (when they were with us, actually). By means of Facebook yesterday, Nathanael told me he rather liked Davis the best. Funny (his brother, Tyler, just finished his second year at San Francisco State as a film major).

And since I only took the one photo of the Phillipses, I thought I'd add a few recent shots of my flowers for entertainment: the first is an ismene (new to me, too) that popped up a few weeks ago. I had forgotten I'd planted it last fall and had to go looking for the package to know what it was. A little surprise I gave to myself. The second is the third or fourth blooming of the oriental lilies that Dylan gave me for Mother's Day a few years ago. Amazing aroma! And the last photo is the disproportionate bloom of the succulent growing on a table in the patio. Also a surprise.

Hope everyone's keeping cool!

We're Poundstonies

2010-07-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, we just can't help ourselves. Sometimes a lot of a good thing is still a good thing.

We're long-time fans of Paula Poundstone (yes, we know about all that unfortunate business in her personal history). We enjoy her humor regularly on our favorite radio program, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=35) and on TV from time to time. Last March, I wrote a little bit about our little trip to Sacramento to see her perform at the Crest Theater, downtown. We sat about two-thirds up into the sizable and sold-out audience and thoroughly enjoyed it!

A couple of months ago, we heard that she'd be coming to appear at Center for the Arts here in Grass Valley. Really. Little Grass Valley. 300 seats. Tom ordered tickets at 12:01 am on the first day they were available. That was probably unnecessary given the general admission seats and laid-back, circa-baby-boomer crowd, but just in case... About two weeks ago, I saw on Facebook that, because Saturday night was sold out, they were adding a Friday night show. We did hesitate. About last Wednesday, though, we caved.

(By the by, I saw that smirk when I mentioned that I saw the info about the second performance on Facebook. Yes, I'm an official PP FB fan. Many days, she posts little silly quips all day long. It's fun. Check it out.)

Anyway, last Friday night, we arrived early enough to sit anywhere we wanted and chose the third row, center, about 15 feet from the microphone. We laughed all night. You might know that she uses about 50 percent of her time on stage interacting with the audience members--usually twisting their words a bit to create something absurd out of the fairly mundane. She's a master. Plus, at intermission we each bought a cookie for a $1 each. Good ones, too.

Next evening, being fleet of mind AND feet (like little rats after the cheese), we repeated the timing in order to, again, have our choice of seats, ending up in the first row, near center. She used 30%-40% of the material from the previous night, but it was still funny. Mixed in with the new stuff, she also chose new audience members to pick on, including--ta da!--Tom!

Late in the program, she asked what he did for a living and he, with characteristic precision, told her about the little company that makes software to help groups communicate and organize. She asked him if it was what he dreamed of doing as a little boy, to which the answer, of course, was "no". She riffed on that a bit (little boy Tom tucked into bed and telling his mommy that he wants to grow up to make software to help groups communicate and organize...). We could see she was winding down for the night and she left it at that, but it was fun. And the cookies were still good.

She does an amazing job of weaving the different improv elements of the night together (Tom's was mixed with a woman who was a member of a wood-carving group, for example). It's so interesting to watch any performer work close up. Musicians, dancers, whatever. But I consider one of the most difficult jobs in the world to be a stand-up comic. So exposed. And humor style is so specific to each person. To observe a person alone on stage trying to make everyone laugh and glad that they spent the money and took the time to come is a remarkable experience (the folks next to us came from Reno, two hours away). I forget my own name if more than three people at a time are looking at me and right now I wouldn't be able to think of a joke to tell to save my life.

One of the perks of living here is that there are so many opportunities to attend live performances in intimate settings. Some are "names", like Ms. Poundstone, Kris Kristofferson and Smothers Brothers, but others, like Voco and Wailin' Jennies are also amazing and wonderful to watch up close.

And Taj Majal is coming in the fall...