He’s very busy, as you can see. And don’t you wonder if all retired guys wear shorts year around??
A Recent Friday in Mineral King
Last Friday, Trail Guy and I went to Mineral King.
Our first idea was to take the trail down to the river behind Lookout Point. It was steep steep steep and slippery too, and then it was completely unmaintained. We spent 30 minutes on it total – 19 down and 11 back up. 
Nice view from Lookout, the first glimpse of Sawtooth. Mostly we were thrilled by clear air!
The next stop was Trauger’s, a water trough along the road, decorated by sweet peas in early summer. They were planted by Mary Trauger, “the angel of Mineral King” who homesteaded up above the road with her husband Harry during the mining era. The site is up in the cedar trees above the road (not the trees at the top of the ridge).
We have to go up this?? We decided it would be prudent to come back down another way.
The home site was farther than we expected along a sort of road that was very overgrown. There wasn’t much to photograph except the cedar trees and the fireplace. Isn’t it weird how that photo looks black and white, or maybe sepia toned??
We toodled on up to Redwood Creek (the 2 redwoods sometimes known as “Aunt Tillie and Uncle Pete”) for a quick lunch; the face flies were annoying because it was in the high 60s and low 70s out. Weird on December 28.
Trail Guy suggested that we go on up the hill to the Mineral King where there are no face flies. There is also no snow.
Crystal Creek has ice but is still flowing.
Sawtooth looked nice on the way back down the hill. It isn’t that nice – it simply appears to be nice. Wait, I mean it has a nice appearance. (I have a not-nice history with that peak. . . )
The upper half of the Mineral King road has potholes. The lower part has potholes, more potholes, crumbling edges and overgrown borders. The public’s frustration is expressed on the sign – look closely, and you will see so much frustration that the writer used a double negative, which contradicts his intent.
11 Things I Learned in December
- By the Book is a fun podcast by two women friends who pick a self-help book, read it, follow it for 2 weeks, and report about it in 2 episodes. They either do or do not recommend the book to their listeners. Then they tell what the next book will be. WARNING: They cuss a lot!!
- Did you know a crown on a tooth costs $1232. I learned this in December. Ow.
- I’ve been wearing contacts for 42 years and just learned that the reason for 2 pair of lenses is to rotate them. I thought the 2nd pair was to be stored in case of loss.
- I pretend that my advanced drawing students have to bully me into teaching oil painting, but in December I realized how very enjoyable these workshops are for everyone, including me.
- My website looks out of date. Do I care? Do you? Finding a webdesigner who is responsive, careful, doesn’t want to change platforms, knows how to install and operate a shopping cart, can preserve my almost 10 years of blogging, and who can teach me how to maintain my site is a very daunting task. I’ve had two very wonderful designers, and each one quit for the sake of their children. Here I go again.
- Not everyone can listen to and feel music. While being heavily involved in a Christmas musical, this came as a new piece of information to me. I thought anyone could learn music by listening, and just know without being told exactly when to start after hearing the introduction. I learned that this just isn’t so.
- After a year without a cell phone, I know now that I truly don’t need a cell phone.
- I read over 100 books this year. I learned that by keeping the list on my GoodReads account that I don’t feel the need to put the best ones on my blog. Does anyone care?
- People don’t notice earrings. Many times I deliberately wore a mismatched pair just to test my theory, and no one noticed.
- Blue is out of style in home decorating. I bought denim to recover the armchair because there were no other navy-type blue fabrics. None!
- Wax-based colored pencils by Blackwing are stronger than the ones made by Prismacolor. Too bad they only come in 12 colors.
Did you learn anything in December? Want to share? Comment or email me. . .
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, dear blog readers. I will be silent for awhile. Nothing to worry about – I’ll be back, and hope you will join me.
Meanwhile, have a lovely week of holidays!
P.S. I have been and will continue to busy through December 24. See?
Things I Learned in November
- The fall time change is so much easier than the spring one, but it still makes me tired to have my internal chronometer jerked around.
- There are more ways to measure the success of a show than by the $ I earn. Reconnecting with old friends, meeting other artisans, talking to people who might become drawing students–all very rewarding. (I already knew this but it was reinforced in November.)
- I found a new podcast that really holds my attention. Its tagline is “for the curious mind with a short attention span”. It is by Mike Rowe, the “Dirty Jobs” guy with a fabulous voice. My favorite episode so far is “It is good to be the king”, which he published in July of 2017.
- In reading The Pencil Perfect by Caroline Weaver of C. W. Pencil Enterprise, I am learning all sorts of history about pencils. Did you know that Henry David Thoreau’s family had a pencil manufacturing business?
- Did you know it takes 7 yards of upholstery fabric to cover an armchair? I learned this; next I hope to learn how to choose and buy fabric without actually going to town.
- By being an organ donor, one life can save eight lives. Remember, souls go to heaven; organs don’t. (My friend is waiting for a pair of new lungs.)
- Almost no one gets married in churches anymore. Almost every wedding, reunion, and public event has an audio system and a DJ that is deafening. I keep earplugs with me, but when I forget, it is stunning to me that no one else seems to mind the noise level. Are people not supposed to converse? Is this because so many people just communicate by texting that it doesn’t matter?
Thankful
Fall Fun
Say what? “Fall fun”. . . don’t you have work to do?
Yes. I do. There is another show coming this weekend. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.
Poultry Paintings
The poultry paintings are inching along. They might be a little bit too hard for me, so I am taking my time. Productive procrastination is a good way to get through some difficult tasks. I take breaks to rehab frames, blog, touch up old paintings, answer emails, make a new schedule for drawing lessons, sweep, or water plants. All those things need to be done. I’m the boss of me. There is no deadline on the poultry paintings. They aren’t commissions. I have a commission to work on but it is a secret, and the recipient of the project might be a reader of this blog. So, poultry paintings in increments are what you get to see.
Have I convinced myself that it is okay to procrastinate yet?
This is the latest iteration of the rooster named Dinnerbone and the flock, with the appropriate and clever name of “Flock”. (And the rooster painting title is “Dinnerbone”, because I am creative that way.)
Samson discovered my friend’s car, which is named Hot Wheels. She is clever that way. (My car is named Fernando – thank you for being interested in such important personal details.)
List of Unrelated Items
Unrelated except the items relate to my life and work. I hope you can relate.
When did “relate” become such a common word? Reminds me of the way the word “issue” is so overworked. But, this topic is not on today’s list.
- The Visalia Electric Railroad: Stories of the Early Years by Louise A. Jackson is headed to the printer. We have been working on this together since last October, and began the rewriting, editing, photo editing, book design and formatting in June. What? You thought someone just wrote a book and BOOM! there it is? Nope. Three of my pencil drawings will be in the book, ones I completed in the past for other purposes but fit the book to a tee!
- I’ve started several new paintings, one just because, one to donate, and one for a gift.
- We hung an old screen door in the herb garden as the next step to discouraging deer. One of them bit the top off a new broccoli plant, so this is our response. Trail Guy is quite handy, and unlike me, he likes to keep lots of stuff on hand for projects like this.
- First Saturday Three Rivers has changed its formula for 2018. They will feature an artist each month, along with having a theme. I get to be the featured artist in April and the theme is wildflowers! That’s why I repainted the mural on the studio door.
- A sure sign that I am middle-aged is that I think it is a privilege and a pleasure to glean walnuts. It felt like punishment when I was a kid, even though I was paid 25¢ a bucket.
Six Things I Learned in October
And a few of these things may be hold-overs from September or perhaps even August (slow learner?)
- Propane: a. If a tank is full when it is hot out, the propane expands and blows off the pressure relief valve; b. Propane’s bad smell attracts flies
- The sharper your knife, the less you cry (when slicing onions). This is the title of a book (minus the part about onions) that I read, a memoir by Kathleen Flinn, about her time a Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. I don’t cook much, don’t like onions and don’t use them very often, but I will be sure to sharpen my knife next time.
- The Pencil Lady was interviewed on my favorite podcast What Should I Read Next. She runs a store in New York City that sells everything pencil related. WOW! It is called CW Pencil Enterprise.
- When defrosting the frig at the cabin, it goes fast if I put a warm burner plate off the woodstove inside the freezer (on a piece of foil). Amazing idea – why did it take 31 years to figure this out??
- VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) charges a whole mess of fees; the next time I rent a place to stay, I will skip this giant greedy conglomerate and find a local rental agency. Ha ha to VRBO.
- Drawing lesson for me: drawing a portrait of someone I can’t see and don’t know is just as difficult as drawing a portrait of someone I don’t know from a photo that is blurry. The difference is that when the unknown subject looks similar enough, I get to quit messing with it.