Mineral King Road

This will be a long blog post in two or three parts, because there is much to show and much to tell. The main thing you probably want to know is if you can drive to Mineral King. If you have a cabin at Silver City or Cabin Cove and have a smallish vehicle and are a careful driver, then yes. Otherwise, no.

On Friday, June 9, Trail Guy (currently Road Guy), the Farmer, Hiking Buddy, and I went up the Mineral King Road. Road Guy and the Farmer spent 3 days working on the road, and they invited The Wives to accompany them to see how things were progressing.

The assignment for these two determined and intrepid volunteers was “passable and marked”; this was a little hard on Road Guy who took pride in keeping that road in top shape before he was retired. However, the road. . . sigh. Never mind. “Passable and marked” is a tremendous improvement over washed out, collapsed, piled with boulders, tree messes, mud slides, etc. 

They couldn’t begin until the County had the lower parts passable. Once that was done, the Farmer and Road Guy made their way up to the rented backhoe which had been stranded at Lookout since the February storms.

Lest you forget, Road Guy and former roads supervisor volunteered the first 2 weeks of February working with that backhoe to clean out culverts, establish some berms, and get the road somewhat passable. Then the February and March storms came, and it was a very good thing that they had done that prep work. It saved the road. (DO NOT TELL ME I AM EXAGGERATING—instead, pat those guys on the back!)

Alrighty then, let’s begin our tour.

The County Section

Remember the blowout at mile 4.5? It now has a wall and a bridge of planks.

Here is the second washout at SkyHook. The fill has begun; those are gabion baskets on the left and the road will be filled up to the level of the top of those.

The Park

This is above Lookout: passable and marked.

Road Guy said they had been watching that boulder above the road for many years, speculating that all it needed was a little nudge to drop to the road.

See the notch where it was?

Narrow and scary but passable and marked.

It rained very hard the night before and there were new deep mud slicks across the road. Road Guy had his doubts for a brief moment about whether or not we would be able to cross those messes. The trick was to lock in the hubs, then keep rolling, don’t stop.

Narrow, but passable and marked.

A closer look.

Coming to Redwood Canyon, narrow, passable, marked, and look at the next mess!

A “tree mess” is a tangle of multiple trees and roots, unlike a single tree lying across the road. 

The creek at Redwood is roaring. First time I remember ever actually hearing it.

 

These are redwood cones (not to be confused with pine cones or traffic cones.)


Look how many trees were involved in this tree mess.

The mountains beyond, in case you were wondering how things looked.

It is rare to see what the needles of a sequoia tree look like because they are usually many feet above one’s head. (Sequoia=redwood=Big Tree)

We finally made it to the backhoe where it was parked the day before at Cabin Cove. Fancy!

And I got a little demonstration of all the levers and tricks. Road Guy is skilled, experienced, knowledgeable and capable.

Of course I climbed up and sat in the throne. Intimidating piece of equipment.

This has gone on long enough. Tomorrow I will show you what this impressive machine did under the guidance of the very capable Road Guy, all for no pay, all to serve the needs of the Silver City Store and all the cabin folks, and we hope (but do not know yet), the public.

 

More thinking

There isn’t much to report on the Mineral King Road. Work is in progress, but there are People in Charge Who Make Important Decisions, and we are the little people not in charge, awaiting those decisions.

Meanwhile, I am in a holding pattern. Do I continue to draw and paint, without places to sell, building up a large body of work? Or do I just go pull more weeds? 

There is a show coming, but it is a Long Way Off (that’s how I am thinking of the show, capitalized, titled “Long Way Off”). I have been thinking, planning, digging through photos, wondering if there is a way to rework unsold pieces, or if I should just paint over the top, wondering if there are too many repetitious subjects, wondering if I am clever and creative enough to paint new subjects that people might want, or if I am clever and creative enough to jazz up the unsold pieces for Long Way Off.

In order to decide what to paint, I chose the subjects, then looked through my existing paintings to see what sizes were already done. I went through my numerous files of photos, and chose ones that stood out. I don’t know why they stood out, but I just went with my gut instinct. 

The categories are ag, the lake, the river, hills, Mineral King, Sequoia, trees, Hume Lake, Balch Park, Yokohl, and of course, citrus with foothills and mountains. In other words, everything I love about Tulare County (plus Hume Lake in Fresno County). In more other words, places I frequent, not too far away, close and close-ish to home, places I know.

There is plenty of time to figure this out. For all I know, the Long Way Off show might decide that I am passé, a has-been, and cancel the show.

I am not worried, simply curious about what might be next for my ever-changing art business.

Now I think I’ll go pull some more weeds.

Drawing and Thinking

The business of art is fickle, always changing. An artist can just make whatever she feels like making and hope it sells. However, if an artist wants to earn a living, she needs to pay attention to the ever-changing world of what people want, what they can afford. She also needs to pay attention to selling opportunities, another ever-changing set of circumstances.

For a handful of years, there have been three places that sell steadily for me. One was next to a popular restaurant, which has now closed, diminishing foot traffic by the gallery. Another is a seasonal store in the mountains, and it most likely will be unable to open this year due to a ruined road. The third is in a building which recently changed hands, the lease will expire so things will go month-to-month, and with Sequoia National Park being closed so long, the traffic in town has diminished tremendously.

This may or may not be connected, but I have no commissions.

The murals which I thought were in the bag have fallen into indecision on the part of the customers.

So, I am drawing simply because I want to.

I will continue to think, and continue to share my thoughts.

Dangerous and Expensive Gardening

This is a bit incomprehensible to me, but I paid for dirt. PAID. MONEY.

After spending some time with my amazing gardener friend, I learned so much. I have dirt; she has SOIL. We live a mile apart, but our gardening quality is about 1000 miles apart. So, I learned about her SOIL: it is called “nitro mulch” and it costs $50/cubic yard. The nursery delivers for a fee, so I bought some.

She also taught me about something called Milorganite. It is a slow release fertilizer. I bought some of it too.

Finally, she taught me about something called Deer Out, a concentrate that you mix with water and spray on everything that deer might eat. It isn’t poisonous, it is water repellent, and the deer hate it.

I spend a morning pruning, weeding, transplanting, fertilizing, and spreading mulch, because THIS WILL FINALLY BE THE YEAR AT LEAST PART OF MY YARD LOOKS GOOD FOR LONGER THAN THE 15 MINUTES OF SPRINGTIME!

Excuse me for shouting. I am pretty excited about the possibility of keeping flowers blooming.

When I was finished and gathering my tools, I heard a sprinkler. We don’t have sprinklers that sound like that. I followed my ears and found Pippin far too interested in a shrub that sounded as if there was a sprinkler inside of it. 

Trail Guy was off being Road Guy (working on the Mineral King road, more to follow in another blog post when I actually have something to report). I called my neighbor, who has killed many rattlesnakes for me.

This rattlesnake was far far under a compact shrub THAT WAS IN FULL BLOOM. Neighbor had to do a fair amount of hacking to even be able to see the buzzworm. I kept the cats away, and hung around in case my help was needed. At one point I used a pitchfork to pry the shrub up so that Neighbor could reach in with a shovel and drag the beast out where he could finish the job.

A friend texted me a photo of a rattler he encountered on a recent hike. I texted him back that Neighbor had just sent one from my yard to hell. The friend replied that snakes don’t go to hell because they lack souls; instead, they are from hell. 

I’d rather have a hacked up shrub than a living snake. 

Gives me the shivers thinking about it. Let’s just calm our nerves with some photos of the better parts of that dangerous and expensive hobby of gardening, shall we?

Tucker wasn’t around for the snake action. Jackson was, and I had to shout him away from it. The cats are excellent about letting us know when there are snakes, but then we have to be excellent at keeping them away. 

Some day I may have to do my own dispatching of snakes. This one took extraordinary skill, strength and determination, and if it wasn’t for Neighbor, I just don’t know what I would have done.

 

Two bird stories

Bird Story #1

I am working on a book, doing the transcribing, editing, and book design. This is for a friend of a friend, and the book will only have 25 copies, distributed to the friend’s friends. The friend of a friend’s friends.

Never mind.

The book is a collection of stories over ten decades of an extraordinary life. The writer and I have only spoken on the phone once, after I published her first book. By “published”, I mean everything: transcribing, arranging the stories into an order, editing, choosing photos and editing them with Photoshop, proofreading, helping someone to write a foreword, formatting the interior, designing a cover, writing the synopsis (“blurb”) for the back cover, sending it to the printer, proofing it for the umpteenth time, getting it printed. It was fun!

She doesn’t email or text, so when I have questions, I write her a letter, and then wait for the response. This is a slow but good way to communicate, because if one forgets what was asked or answered, the information can be found on a tangible piece of paper.

There are a few references to birds, and a poem about birds is included. So, as a surprise for the writer when she receives her book, I am including a drawing of a bird above the poem. Why not? I love to draw!

The process of shepherding a book from typewritten pages to an actual book is complicated, challenging, and very rewarding. It is a privilege to be able to do this kind of work, especially for such a remarkable person.

Bird Story #2

The title of this post is “Two birds”, so here is the second bird story (no photos).

Pippin was carrying a scrub jay in his mouth while another one was squawking overhead. I grabbed little Mr. Orange Bob Square Pants, shook him, and the bird fell out of his mouth and flew away. Sorry, Buddy. Birds, no. Rodents, yes.

Loser to Best

This little painting was a loser because it wasn’t good enough for anyone to part with his hard-earned dollars, despite the fact that my works sells for prices that won’t scare anyone.

It is titled “Tulare County’s Best”, and although it shows what I believe to be the best that our rural Central California county offers, it wasn’t my best work.

It was my best plein air work at the time, because I was new to that style of painting.

But plein air painting isn’t my best work. 

Shut up about “best”!

I repainted it, and here it is, now deserving of its title.

Tulare County’s Best, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

OF COURSE IT LOOKS BETTER IN PERSON.

Painting in Silence

One day we had no internet. This also meant no cell service (because we don’t have cell service at our house the cell phone works off the wifi) and no landline. So no podcasts, just concentrating on the current painting in silence.

 

I remembered my stereo and popped in a CD when I got tired of my loop-di-loop thoughts. Just sat and drew with my paintbrush and listened to music while painting this classic Tulare County scene for the Long Way Off show.

 

New Motivation to Paint

After goofing off for most of the month of May instead of painting and drawing, I found a new motivation to return to the easels: a solo show to prepare for! It’s a long way off, but I want it to be the best work I have ever done. 

An orange grove painting is supposed to be destined for the dining area of my house, but since I hung this painting of Sequoia trees, there isn’t an empty space nagging at me. However, it might be good in the Long Ways Off show, and I’ll need to paint many larger paintings, so it is TIME to go back to work.

This is how it has looked for months. (I cleaned off the spider webs for you.)

Better sky and distant hills first. 

Then I began working my way forward.

 

When I got to that distant curving road, I flipped it over to better focus on the correct shapes.

Finally, I was tired of mosquitoes and my knees hurt, so I sat down to work on the dirt. 

There are still miles to go. I actually took twice as many photos as you see here but deleted every other one so you wouldn’t fall asleep.

Things learned:

  1. Morning light in the painting workshop is better for photographing the work.
  2. Mosquitos are a real hindrance to concentrating. 
  3. After not painting for weeks, my knees hurt after standing a few hours.
  4. With the doors opened for better light, sometimes my photos blow onto my palette.

I wonder how long this new motivation will hold. That show is a long ways off: October 2024. 

 

Better Painting

After I took a plein air (on location) painting workshop, I tried to incorporate some new techniques into my normal studio method of painting. I didn’t like the results, and apparently, no one else did either, because those paintings didn’t sell.

This one in particular was troubling, because I thought the subject matter would overcome any difficulties.

After goofing off for weeks, I decided to warm up to painting by improving this little loser.

Better sky

Better snow

Better distant mountains and hills

Better Painting

 

 

When it is dry, I will scan it so we can all scratch our heads in bewilderment about how I could have ever thought the painting might sell in its earlier state. 

Guess I was blinded by love for the subject matter of Tulare County’s best features.

P.S. I didn’t mess with the orchards or wind machines because they look fine.