Smoky Weekend

 

While up the hill, I repainted signs for 3 cabins. That counts as work, yes? Here is one of the befores (it was too smoky to care about photographing it afterward – how is that for an excuse?)

I took my baby pumpkin plants up the hill to babysit them. Here they are when we first arrived:

Here they are 4 days later: If they had been left at home, they would have shriveled and croaked, unless a deer ate them first.

We took one short walk. Look – a car with a man-bun.

Parking is at a premium and some people let their car stick out in the already precariously narrow road. People don’t know that by August, the car part eating marmot activity has ceased. Maybe they just feel safer wearing masks.

It was a thrill to be in the green.

Trail Guy said, “Hey Farmer, why are the aspen leaves sticky?” I think the answer was something that meant bug excrement. Trail Guy dropped the leaf and marched onward.

This is a peculiar sight. A smooth boulder is encased in the rough rocks. We didn’t go closer to investigate because this is the time of meat bees/hornets, very aggressively defending their nests in the ground. I do my best to avoid Hornet Holes in the ground.

On Sunday, the air was truly terrible.

It got worse as we headed down the hill.

And in case you are wondering, at the time of these photos, there were no wildfires in Central California. The smoky conditions demonstrate how the pollution travels to the Central Valley. We tend to have terrible air here and get penalized for it, in spite of it being generated by Northern California cities. Those folks love to blame the farmers. Hope they don’t do so with their mouths full.

Harder and Two Gifts

An old insulator that we hoped to install it in a cabinet but we have yet to get a key that fits.

A wise friend of mine often reminds me that “life is much harder than I expected it to be”. 

I am inclined to agree with that statement because somehow I assumed that adulthood would smooth out the bumps, either because I’d have money, wisdom, or experience to solve or avoid problems.

Haha. Fall down laughing.

  1. When you have a plumbing incident, you do NOT want to hire the guy whose name is always followed by “bless his heart”. (But “all’s well that ends well”, as Ma Ingalls used to say.)
  2. When you order something online, it is a real nuisance to have it arrive in the wrong color or size. The emails and paperwork tell you what you ordered, but the actual item is clearly wrong. This precipitates phone calls to navigate through tangled phone trees where they lie and tell you that the long wait is “due to an unusually high volume of calls”. There are ALWAYS more calls than can be handled; it is not unusual. So then you go to the website, and it doesn’t work. Sigh.
  3. Upgrades for technical devices provide you with 2 choices: skip them and eventually things won’t work or do them and immediately things won’t work.
  4. When you buy something that has to be assembled, you can assume that there will be typos, parts will be called by the wrong names, little pieces will be missing or won’t work, and then you can go through the same type of maddening exercise as in scenario 2 above..
  5. When you have a key made to a door or perhaps a locked cabinet, just assume it won’t fit and that you will have to have it remade. Recently I am three for three on failed attempts to get keys made right the first time.

In spite of these situations, every once in awhile life hands you a little gift or two.

  1. It was time to buy oil for Fernando (he burns some but what do you expect at 230,000 miles?) and IT WAS ON SALE FOR HALF PRICE!

I only bought 2 quarts. Motor oil, cat food, and printer ink should all be bought in small quantities. This is one of my guiding economic principles in life. You can probably figure out the reasoning behind this decision.

2. And a friend sent me this unexpected gift, because she is thoughtful, generous, full of good humor, and tuned in to what I enjoy.

 

 

Mellow in Mineral King

Something about arduous hiking is not ringing my bell this summer. When I am in Mineral King, I am opting for quiet time knitting, sitting (to read, visit, or knit), and splitting (wood), or easy walks with friends, alone, or with Trail Guy. (He does his hiking when I am working.) This summer is especially mellow because all the regular events have been cancelled and suddenly, we have reclaimed many days that used to be scheduled for us. I confess to feeling relief at being released from the mandatory activities.

 

The Honeymoon Cabin is the museum of the Mineral King Preservation Society.
Trail Guy found this along the road several years ago and we tried to put it in the Honeymoon Cabin museum but alas, the key to the case didn’t fit. (Have you noticed that when you get a new key made, you often have to get it remade?)
Felwort is bluer in real life than in this photo
This large dual trunk is a Jeffrey pine along the Nature Trail. If you stick your nose against it, you might get a hint of a vanilla scent. There used to be signs along the trail. The Park made replacements but got sidetracked by a virus; now the trail needs signs and to be brushed.
This might be a nice trail painting, especially if I add in wildflowers.
For fun, I took 6 different photos of Sawtooth to paint from next year. This is number one as you walk up the Nature Trail.
view #2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Evening light on the bridge is magical. We like to sit on the railing and watch the light change.
Is this a flower??
Glacial daisies look like bigger, fuller, white asters.
New (to me) flower
There were good gentians (Sierra like this one and Explorer, my favorite) along with many other flowers at Soda Springs.

Thus we conclude our tour of a mellow weekend in Mineral King. (Not lazy – I made great progress on a sweater, split a pile of kindling, finished 2 books and started a 3rd, spent great time with cabin friends and took 2 walks. So there.)

Painting The Desert

There are people who like the desert; I am not one of them. When I was in Israel a few years ago, I remember thinking “THIS was the ‘land of milk and honey’, ‘the Promised Land??” Deserts make me feel hot and thirsty, worried about water, missing green.

There must be beauty in the desert for so many people to like it. One of the strong motivational forces in my life is to find beauty wherever I can. While visiting a friend in Death Valley, I enjoyed looking for the beauty and then determined that I would find something in my photos to paint.

Have a look at the progress since I first showed this to you.

The painting was on hold while I finished some commissions. While waiting for others to dry in order to continue, I finished the desert painting.

And as always, when it is dry I will scan it so you can better appreciate its qualities (and it will be squared up, something that eludes me with a camera.)

9 New Things I Learned in July

  1. Thieves’ Oil is a blend of 5 essential oils that is said to have protected grave robbers from contracting plagues. People today use it to build immunities and prevent infections. Look it up if this rings your bell. I’ve been using it, and so far, no China virus (not that I think Thieves’ Oil is the reason).
  2. I had a day that required mask wearing for more than an hour because I was indoors with lots of other people and learned that it is very uncomfortable and unnatural.
  3. To paint well, a printed photograph is better than (or in addition to) the screen.
  4. Good wildflowers in the foothills isn’t a guarantee of good wildflowers in the high country.
  5. Teaching to draw via Zoom is workable to a point; when it is time to shade, hands-on is the only way I can be effective.
  6. I met a veterinarian with a mobile practice; I hope I never have to wrestle my cats into a carrier and then drive them somewhere, ever ever ever again. She is a delight! Emily Farmer, Woodlake Vet Housecall (or something like that), Phone Number: 559-769-3666
  7. Fraudsters prey on grandparents by gleaning info from young folks’ social media and then hire actors to sound as if the grandkid is in trouble and needs cash, pronto. They know how to tug on heartstrings and scare grandfolks. You might have known this, but warn the grandparents in your life. I keep hearing more and more accounts of this that will make your skin crawl from the utter depravity of preying on the vulnerable in society.
  8. Heavenly Blue or Blue Mantle – finally learned the name of these flowers that bloom each summer at Wolverton Point on the Mineral King Road (and on the 3 mile road leading out of Hume Lake).
  9. Sometimes high-end cheese comes in a can. I am not making this up. It looks like a giant tuna can. No, really, look at this (and it is really good, very mild):What did you learn in July?

Random Report on Mineral King

Here are some photos from a recent stay in Mineral King. I didn’t hike, so this is not a trail report. It was a social weekend, with lots of knitting, some wood splitting, a short walk, and lots of visiting with friends.

A friend stopped by the cabin. She is going through chemo, and her head gets cold. I remembered that I knit this cowl earlier this year and was just waiting for the right recipient. It was very satisfying to both of us!
I finished this sweater for a neighbor girl.
We had an afternoon thundershower, and it cleaned the pollen and dust off of everything.
Just your basic Dudes On The Porch photo.
Sierra Gentian are out.
Goldenrod are early this year.

Can you read or understand this sign? Apparently very few other people can because there is a ton of dogs on the trails.
Wild iris only appear in one place in Mineral King, and I missed them this year.
This is a new-to-me flower.
Some cars wear masks and some do not.

The Park will not be opening the Mineral King campgrounds this summer. In spite of camping being a healthy and low-risk activity, the main ranger is concerned about his employees who would be interacting with the public in the campgrounds, cleaning outhouses and emptying garbage.

When will the chaos and confusion and conflict end???

Never mind. No one knows the answer to that.

Hanging Around in Mineral King

July is a busy month in Mineral King, when cabins are used, trails are full, and normally, campgrounds are full. This year the trails are getting more use than normal, since campgrounds are closed. This makes no sense to me, since camping is a very low risk activity – outdoors, spaced apart. (But no one who makes decisions has consulted me.)

I stopped to photograph the Oak Grove Bridge on the way up the hill. The view is getting more obstructed as the years pass.
I walked to Franklin Falls with some cabin neighbor-friends. 2 of us in front sort of lost track of 2 of them behind for awhile.
I love sitting by this creek where it cross the trail (or does the trail cross the creek??)
We stayed closer together on the way back down.

The weekend was a little sad. Some friends have been coming to the neighboring cabin for 38 years, but had to miss the last 3 because one of their number got cancer. This year his friends brought him back to Mineral King in a box. 

I didn’t participate in the ceremonies, but did catch up a bit with the Sawtooth Six Minus One. We observed our usual tradition of the photo on the porch before they all headed back down the hill.

There were more visits with other friends, a drawing lesson happened at our kitchen table, some serious knitting took place, but none of these events were photographed. Often it is better to be fully in the moment rather than behind a lens while documenting events.

The bridge is well lit in the late afternoon sun, but it would need some artistic license to become a good painting. (I felt compelled to mention that in case you think all I do is hang around in Mineral King and ignore my art business.)

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Anyone know where that little phrase originated?

Today’s post isn’t about a ranch, just about life around my home outside of my work. Sometimes I have things to show and tell you, things that are mildly interesting (or maybe boring) to you, but it is part of the complete picture of this Central California artist’s life.

I told you about letting our one lawn go wild to see if it would spread or thicken. Look – fescue DOES make seed heads.
Green eyes in the green grass. . . Tucker likes our new approach to the “lawn”.
In order to be able to protect anything from the deer, fencing is required. My fences are DBO, and nothing can stop Pippin.
This is my herb garden on the opposite end of the property. I used to mulch it, but that only encouraged sow bugs, which are little bodies with giant jaws, for the purpose of consuming anything I wanted to grow.
I have actually grown some food!! (but oh so thankful for farmers and grocery stores).

More Mineral King

As promised on Friday, here is a little more about Mineral King. Tomorrow we will return to watching paint dry.

Great Whorled Penstemon in my cabin neighbors’ yard. (“Great” meaning lots of them, not that “great” is part of their name.)
Our young neighbor believes that Mr. Botkin knows everything.
One of this year’s batch of baby marmots beneath our cabin.

We walked down the road and back up the Nature Trail, which also did not have near the number of  wildflowers that we have become accustomed to.

At the upper end of the Nature Trail, this is what people used to see. If it was their first time on the trail, they were confused.
Now, first-time Nature Trail walkers can see that they are in the right place, in spite of it appearing to be a private road (which it is).

I love the morning light coming into the cabin.

Mineral King over the Fourth

We didn’t need fireworks because we had friends with flags.

We took a walk to the Franklin/Farewell Gap junction, a place that usually has the best wildflowers, almost always at the beginning of July. Not so this year. We’ve been spoiled by several great wildflower years, lulled into thinking that was normal.

It was fun anyway, because there is always good scenery and interesting things to see, even if you walk with your head toward the ground so you don’t fall.

The circle is around a bear track.
I’ve never seen such short Mariposa Lilies, and saw quite a few like this, just popping up right on the trail.
Striped rock
COOKIE?? Nope. It’s a rock.

I did look up, don’t worry.

This last picture is my favorite one of the day. We were off trail (of course), following a little loop-ette, devised by Off Trail Guy. After recrossing the stream, The Farmer offered to pull me up on a bank of snow which was the next step. Before accepting his kind offer, I said, “Thank you – first I need to take a picture!”

More about Mineral King on Monday.