The Mineral King Preservation Society sponsors an annual picnic each year in Mineral King in July. It is a bring-your-own-picnic, bring-your-own-chair event. There is lots of chit-chat among friends, and each year a speaker brings stories of Mineral King for learning, entertainment, and for the preservation of history.
This year the speaker will be Trail Guy, telling of his three winters in Mineral King (before I met him).
He does NOT do public speaking, so I will be interviewing him, there to “prime the pump” and to carry him over verbal speed-bumps and snags.
He knows his story well, and I have been learning it over the past 39 years. It is . . .
On day two of my Mineral King oil painting biathalon, I started early, actually feeling kind of excited to try a new scene.
I was so into the details that I forgot to take very many photos of the progress.
Call me “Butter” cuz I’m on a roll!
Next?
These two would most likely be too wet to scan, so I had to photograph them more carefully. The wildflowers at Timber Gap painting will need some skewing on photoshop to straighten it out.
Feeling accomplished, and because I began so early on Day Two, I decided to see if I could get one more painting finished.
Nope, guess not. But 4-3/4 paintings in two very hot very long days was a good dent, and I got them to the store at Silver City in time for the hoped-for Independence Day rush.
After I carried the first painting outside, I just grabbed the next canvas in the lineup. It is an unusual view of the Honeymoon Cabin, which is a tiny museum for the Mineral King Preservation Society. It is either the 2nd or the 3rd best selling subject of Mineral King oil paintings.
I carried this one out to the woodpile, nay, wood stack because it is so very neat, and put it alongside the first painting. Two down, four to go, and only one more day to paint. What’s a Central California Artist to do?
Put the palette and brushes in the freezer, and go home for the evening, that’s what.
Both paintings were dry enough to take to Silver City 2 days after painting them.
The saga of a Mineral King oil painting biathalon will continue tomorrow.
When paintings are selling quickly and the season is short, your Central California artist must work quickly. Therefore, on a pair of hot days, she soldiered through multiple paintings to restock the store at the Silver City Resort.
First, this piece needed the water to be repaired, the edges painted, and a signature. This one isn’t going to Silver City unless the current large attention-getter sells.
Before I faced the urgency of restocking Silver City, understanding that the season is short and that the show at CACHE will happen even if I interrupt the painting schedule for more immediate sales, I worked a bit on this 16×20″ painting titled “Keep Right”.
I was procrastinating the start of what felt like a biathalon (a two day marathon). Finally, I went to the shelves, pulled 6 small canvases of varying sizes, and then went to my piles of Mineral King photos. Each canvas got an inventory number, a title, hanging hardware, and a sky.
To start, I picked one that felt easy. It was going to be a long hot day, and I wanted to have a sense of success.
I carried it outside to the stack of firewood where the sun hits until early evening in the hopes that it would dry enough to scan before taking it up the hill. In case that didn’t happen, I took a photo. It’s blurry. I don’t know why. . . I just work here.
This was such a long work day, and I had another one coming. It makes me feel hot and tired just telling you, so I’ll continue this tomorrow.
Here is the continuation from Friday’s long post about hot times in Mineral King.
Evening light
In spite of the ferocious heat down the hill and the uncommon heat in Mineral King, the evenings were very pleasant.
One evening, Trail Guy went in search of his favorite flower, the leopard lily, more commonly known as the tiger lily. This doesn’t make sense to me, since the lily has spots rather than stripes, but the flower namers didn’t ask my opinion.
I followed along with my camera, because the light is so enticing at the end of the day.
There they are! Alas, too hard to get to; keep looking.
Down in the willows, almost indiscernible in this photo.
Here are some that Trail Guy could stick his nose into.
Popular Sight
When Hiking Buddy and I were trudging up the Nature Trail, I stopped for this classic photo, which never comes out right. My camera sees Sawtooth and the sky as almost the same color and value. (I messed with the sky color on the computer so you can see Sawtooth.)
That’s why I have to paint this scene; my paints can correct many photographic shortcomings.
Popular Hangout
The bridge at the end of the road is a popular place to hang out. Without fail, someone builds a dam every year.
Well-loved Juniper
A few years ago, this juniper was in jeopardy of being chopped down. A few of us protested, (my cousin, a tree guy/certified arborist also told me it still had plenty of life) and whoever was in charge changed his mind. I don’t mean that we marched around with signs and obnoxious behavior; we wrote letters in a very civilized manner.
It occurred to me that I have never painted this juniper. I wonder. . . if I left off the cars with blue tarps, took some license with the parking lot, would anyone else know or care what tree it is?
When it is Really Hot down the hill, it is just hot in Mineral King in the sun and on the trail. Sitting in the shade isn’t too bad, if you are covered in bug spray, the kind with a lot of DEET. When the heat is on, the biting bugs are very very active.
Independence Day
We raised the flag on Independence Day at the neighboring cabin with the tallest flagpole.
Work
Several mornings, I worked on another neighbor’s cabin trim, just until the hot sun hit.
beforeafter
Trail Guy was Road Guy before he retired, and he regularly uses many of his skills from that era for the benefit of Mineral King. Together, we pruned a very brushy section of road.
Beforeduringduring
I was too hot to take a decent “after” photo. Just wanted to go back to the shade and swat some biting flies and mosquitoes.
Crystal Creek Goes Rogue
One day we walked to Crystal Creek. I was shocked to see that it has changed channels.
The first section of stream has always (in my lifetime) been the strongest. (photo from 2021)Now the first section is dry. Keep walking—you will find the water.
Since I walk in my Crocs and my feet are numb, I am the one who gets to wade into the stream and toss rocks and logs around. Trail Guy and the Farmer put together a “bridge” so non-Croc-wearing folks who aren’t fond of cold water can cross with dry feet.
The flowers were great, as they always are in the beginning of July, even when the heat is ridiculous.
wild blue flaxblue-eyed grass and a dandelionThis larkspur was blue instead of purple lots of baby’s breath
The trail was thick with lupine, and Spring Creek was roaring across the valley; good thing the bridge was up, because “EVERYBODY” goes to Eagle Lake.
Nature Trail
One afternoon, Hiking Buddy and I went down the road and then trudged up the Nature Trail in the humidity and bugs. This was a necessity, since there was way too much eating going on over that stretch of days.
I am not complaining, because compared to what the weather was down the hill, this was very pleasant. Besides, look where we were!
We didn’t stop to put our feet in because the biting bugs were ferocious.
When passing through this swampy area, a branch whacked me on the brim of my hat and knocked off my sunglasses. We looked several times, but they apparently have turned invisible.
Lupine never photograph as beautiful as they look in person. (Me either)
This post has gotten too long. How about if we continue on Monday?
I made a list of what to fix on Red Barn, Big Oak, fixed it, and decided it is good enough to sign. (There is time to change my mind and add, correct, or subtract.)
I put another layer on the bridge, which is going to be a challenge for many reasons. This is the Marble Fork Bridge, one that most people probably just zoom over and don’t notice.
After taking another series of drive-by-shots, sketching some possible corrections, and making a list of things to improve, these hills seemed ready to sign.
Glowing Homer’s Nose was fun with these colors and simple plain distant hills. It seemed ready to sign.
I added a lot of detail to the big Classic Mineral King painting, but didn’t even get to all that was on the list. It isn’t ready to sign yet.
None of the colors seem accurate, but I photographed all the paintings inside on a day when the light outside was orangey because once again, it is fire season in Three Rivers, Sequoia, and the foothills.
In case you were tired of watching paint land on canvas, here is another post on things I think about.
Now that I am firmly in the Ss, along with most of my friends, I am observing changes. We are beginning to do Old People Things. Much of what we have found normal most of our lives is now in the category of Old People Things. As I am wont to do, I have made a list.
Birdwatching—no one cares about birds until they hit their late 50s. Then, birdwatching becomes almost normal. Some people make lists, take photos, compare notes, and read books. Others just watch the birds. (Some of us try to keep our cats from catching and eating the birds.)
Dinner at 4:30—not us, but lots of people eat at 4:30 or 5:00. It’s probably better for digestion and sleep, but only if you don’t dive into snacking all evening.
Jeopardy—a few years ago I spent several nights with some friends. They “played” Jeopardy each evening, using a fancy gizmo on their teevee that allowed them to stop the action and take time to guess the answers. While in Texas, we “played” without that gizmo. It surprises me how many people my age love Jeopardy.
Reading a real newspaper—most people get their news from somewhere else now. Reading an actual newspaper made out of paper with ink on it is something you will only see old people doing, and sometimes you will find them. . .
. . .clipping an article—I clipped an article for a friend and found myself. . .
. . . putting it in an envelope with a stamp to the friend, which is unheard of because now people who are weird enough to read actual newspapers probably just photograph the article they want to share and text the photo to a friend. (Or they send a link. . .) but then I found myself
. . .handwriting a letter to go with it. Yeppers, I wrote a letter by hand, with a pencil on paper. This is very VERY old fashioned, and several of my friends and I do this anyway. We are in our 60s and can do almost what we want except when our bodies betray us which leads to. . .
. . .talking about medical problems is normal around old people. “When I had my gall bladder out. . .” “. . .sleep apnea, and the dadgummed machine. . .” “this stupid neuropathy. . .”
Wondering what in the world is wrong with people because they won’t look up from their phones.
Lamenting the loss of skills such as map reading, dialing a phone, driving a stickshift, reading a clock, speaking on a phone with manners, enunciating clearly, not using foul language as if it isn’t offensive, understanding basic punctuation, using a dictionary.
Is it an Old People Thing to think fruit is beautiful? Why is it here? Easy—because it is summer fruit!
