Meanwhile, Back at the Easels

We’ve had a long break from actually working in my studio. Murals, Mooney Grove, diversions. However, while you have been social distancing, I have been painting.

The Oak Grove Bridge is my favorite subject to draw and paint. Currently I only have two in my inventory, and when/if the Silver City Resort opens its store this summer, I would like to have more for sale.

I began a new painting, this one 10×10″. (Above: 6×18″ and 24×30″)

Then I began a table full of little ones, all based on Mineral King wildflowers. Hard to tell these are based on anything at all. Guess you’ll have to just wait for more to be revealed. 

HEY! I haven’t offered you the book that came out last year for awhile, Mineral King Wildflowers. Here it is, just in case you were waiting for a convenient opportunity to buy one. (But I bet all 12 of my readers have a copy because you are probably my best friends who were listed in the dedication of the book.)

 

100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax.
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.

P.S. The Three Rivers Historical Museum is closed due to The Thing, and the Silver City Store is closed due to the season.

Another Walk in Three Rivers

As this Thing continues, so many people are seeking respite from “shelter in place” by going to parks that most of those parks are now closed. I feel sorry for city folks during this weird time. They may have Trader Joe’s, lots of movie theaters, fancy stores, access to sporting events and plays and concerts, grocery delivery, big libraries, fast internet, mega-churches, and who knows what else, but they don’t have beautiful places to walk during this Thing. 

Those of us in rural places don’t have any of the cities’ advantages, but that is just fine. Life isn’t fair – I am not tall, blonde, thin, athletic, or young, and that’s not fair either. That’s okay – I have beautiful places to walk.

North Fork of the Kaweah
North Fork again, looking downstream with Blossom Peak just barely visible.
Can you see the Gateway Bridge in the distance?

And back home again.

Weird. Is it a calla lily? Where did it come from? I don’t remember planting this.

It is Sunday and I am breaking my rules about not posting on Sunday,. Now I will break another rule and post a Bible verse.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and power and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Fear not, friends! (But wash your hands a lot, okay?)

P.S. It came to pass; it didn’t come to stay.

It’s Still Spring and Still Beautiful

If you aren’t quarantined or under voluntary house arrest, I recommend taking a walk. You might have to be confined to your own neighborhood, but it is Spring, and much is in bloom.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy, without unnecessary chatter.

shooting star
Caterpillar phacelia (THANK YOU, LEAH!)

not bush lupine
California poppies

little bitty lupine
baby blue eyes
bush lupine
redbud
redmaid
bird’s eye gilia

Who knows?
owl’s clover

A friend sent me this:

One final thought to cheer you up: As soon as The Thing appeared in our lives, all robo-calls disappeared! Is there a correlation? Don’t know, just thankful and relieved.

Mooney Grove Tour VI

Today’s tour will consist of views – oak trees, the pond, the arbors, and finally, the views from the 2 hills on the north east corner of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park.

I felt sad to not be going to the park when my murals were finished, and this tour was my way of lingering. Now that our extended tour of Mooney Grove has concluded, we will return to the actual business of art next week.

Mooney Grove V

Today let’s look at some of the more unusual pieces of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park. It will require a little bit of talk today.

Hugh Mooney often gets credit for donating the family’s acreage to Tulare County, but this sign says the Mooney family sold it the County for $15,000.

Maybe Hugh used that rifle to shoot squirrels. They are certainly a plague on the place now. Active squirrel holes are rampant.

What’s this? A platform to put a thingie for Frisbie golf, which can now only be called “disk golf”. There is an entire course for this popular game on the north side, but I saw the gizmos (“holes”) in other areas too.And here is another platform which used to hold a statue called “The Pioneer”. The plaster statue crumbled. (End of the Trail in plaster was traded with the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City for a bronze version).

There are 2 hills in the Park on the east edge. They were created with the dirt dug to form a recharging basin in the park. The formation is useful as an amphitheater, and one hill has a disk golf “hole”. When I went to Redwood High School, I used to look through the fence at a little log cabin that appeared to be abandoned. It was. After I grew up and became The Central California Pencil Artist (a self-ascribed title), the Boy Scouts reclaimed it, disassembled it, moved it to Mooney Grove, and reassembled it. I drew it as a fund raiser to help pay for the enterprise. (I wonder if I still have a copy of that drawing. . .)

Finally, I leave you with this Peculiar Sight.

Tomorrow we will conclude our tour of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park.

Mooney Grove Tour II

More photos of Mooney Grove Park, where I took a walk each day after I finished working on the murals on the Tulare County Museum.

Speaking of the museum, let’s focus on that treasure today. I’ve included pictures of the Pioneer Village behind the museum (entered through the museum) and 3 photos inside the museum.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at a bridge, not my favorite bridge (Oak Grove), but a simpler bridge in a true oak grove. 

8 Benefits to “Sheltering in Place” or Chin up, Readers

“Chin up” is a weird little saying, but it reminds me of my Very Wise Dad telling his “little ewe lambs” to be “brave little soldiers”. 

Please forgive me for interrupting you on Sunday. I hope to not do this again, but will if I think of something encouraging to share again.

There is lots of common sense to staying home, obsessive hand-washing, and “social distancing” for awhile. Here are eight potential benefits (besides the obvious one of slowing this Thing):

  1. Fewer colds and flu will be passed around.
  2. Time at home is always good.
  3. You will use less gas and not put many miles on your car.
  4. We will learn what everyone’s true hair color is.
  5. We are all thinking a bit more about people we care about and checking in with them more often. (Maybe not “all”, but more than normal.)
  6. We are getting the chance to be more resourceful and creative with our time and supplies. 
  7. We get to learn new technology in order to “attend” our regular meetings. 
  8. Take a walk, people, this is MARCH!! (I know, not everyone gets to live in Three Rivers, but Spring is beautiful everywhere.)

P.S. We bought ice cream.

Bonus and Random

Hi on a Saturday, Blog Readers. I’m wondering if you are stuck at home, or “sheltering at home” or “self isolating”, or “in quarantine” or “sequestered”. If so, maybe you need something fun to read today.

I’m having a few thoughts about the current state of events.

  1. Dave Ramsey said, “The fear is more contagious than the virus”.
  2. If you are bored staying home, watch the stock market – it’s pretty exciting.
  3. No bread in stores? I guess the virus is causing people to forget to worry about gluten.
  4. Such weird hoarding. In response to that, here are funny pictures that two separate friends sent to me. I don’t know the origins so cannot credit anyone.

And, just because this is a beautiful time of year AND WE GOT RAIN AND SNOW, here is another photo for you. (Excuse me for shouting – precipitation is very exciting!)

My final thought is a question to ask when something unpleasant takes place in life: What does this make possible?

I’d love to hear your answers.