Quickity Peek at the Mineral King Road
Trail Guy, The Farmer, and The Supervisor (retired) worked on the Mineral King road this week, clearing culverts and cleaning gutters. This was all volunteer work, sanctioned by the Park.
The contractors repaired the damaged parts that were marked by Federal Highways; our guys did preparations for the winter, with rain predicted up to higher elevations in a few days. Their goal is to prevent the sort of troubles we had last winter.
The weather has been mild, and with all the water from last spring and summer, there are still WILDFLOWERS IN DECEMBER! (Yeppers, Trail Guy took the camera and came home with these photos).
Two Outings
In 2023, I participated in exactly one art boutique/fair/bazaar. ONE. It was in Exeter on a Saturday at the history museum/art gallery, CACHE. This was the inaugural event, the reviews are mixed, and I am guessing it won’t become an annual event.
However, I had a good day! One painting sold (Citrus Row) and many smaller items too, all adding up to YES IT WAS WORTH IT.
Being sort of accidentally semi-retired this year*, I decided that a good day of work deserved a good day of hanging out with friends. Because I still live in the same area where I was reared (children are reared, vegetables are raised), when long-time friends return to the area, they often request a get-together. This isn’t always practical, but it is usually a real treat.
I left the house at 10:30 AM and got home at 5:30 PM, just to “go have lunch”. This is why I often turn down such requests, unless I have recently had a good day of work and don’t have any looming deadlines.
The drive was interesting (I actually left Tulare County!), the company stellar, and lunch was delicious.
Our post-lunch walk was exactly up my alley.
Two outings: one work, one semi-work related, both social, one closer but more taxing (talking to people all day makes me tired), the other far but entirely up my alley with 2 close and long-time friends in the country surrounded by foothills and oranges.
*Because I had no work this summer I may have forgotten how to work.
Thank you—Inconclusive Conclusions
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME YESTERDAY TO TELL ME WHAT THEY SEE AND DON’T SEE IN THE EMAIL BLOG NOTIFICATIONS!!
Please excuse me for shouting. I am so touched by your responses and willingness to help.
In my attempt to see a pattern about who can and who cannot see photos in the email notifications, I learned this:
- Mac laptop – some can see the photos, some cannot
- Mac desktop – some can, some can’t
- iPhone – some can, some can’t
- iPad – some can, some can’t
- Android phone – all can see the photos
- Non-Mac desktop – all can see the photos
There must be some settings that we don’t understand on our iPhones, MacBooks, Mac desktops, and iPads. Now I might have to dig around on settings for Mac mail on every device they manufacture.
This hurts my apple-shaped heart. At least I know it isn’t a problem with my blog (using WordPress.org) or the subscription form.
One more thing: I sent out the blog post and left for the day. All your wonderful comments arrived, but I wasn’t at my computer to approve them. So, if you commented and wondered if it “went through”, it did, and once I approved it, it appeared.
You deserve a beautiful picture as a thank you for making it to the end of this post. (I hope you get to see it!)
(I didn’t put the price because I don’t want you to think I am thanking you by trying to sell you something.)
A Pleasant Walk Through Exeter
A week or two ago, I had some time to kill in Exeter. (That is an unpleasant metaphor—forgive me!)
So, I went for a walk. We think we know a place because we drive through it, but walking is the best way to really take in our surroundings. It’s also a good way to find new ideas for drawing or painting. These aren’t necessarily subjects that will sell, but they will be useful to my drawing students who are learning to accurately see shapes, proportions, perspective, values (darks and lights), and textures.
First, I passed a park that someone once told me was called “Spit & Whittle”. However, there were no benches for old guys to sit on, so maybe I had the wrong park. However, I saw this curious structure, imminently drawable in my view.
I walked along a basic neighborhood street. The yards all had little lawns in front, some green, some unwatered, and only one lawn-parker. I wanted to relandscape, but no one requested my opinion. So, I just admired the view of Rocky Hill.
And of course there were some trains. Exeter is a little catty-wompus on a map because it was built around railroads, which follow the shortest route rather than an exact N-S-E-W grid.
From downtown, there is a view of Alta Peak. There are also American flags, Christmas decorations, fall color in some trees, and markers in the middle of the street, warning against parking on an upcoming evening because of the Christmas parade.
Then I felt compelled to visit the building where my studio used to be. I paid for that brick step, so sometimes I like to just visit it.
It was a real privilege to be located in the building of the poppy mural.
And sometimes I miss being there in the heart of such a great little town, sharing space with a terrific gift shop (Rosemary & Thyme), enjoying the patio outside.
On my way to retrieve the pick-’em-up truck with its new tires, I passed this building. The details on older buildings are so charming, and always strike me as good subjects to practice drawing or painting. Bricks aren’t easy, nor is shrubbery but when one is learning to draw, it’s all hard.
Then it was time to go to the Courthouse Gallery CACHE to teach the final drawing lessons of 2023.
I love to teach people how to draw, love my drawing students, love this location in this little town that I also love.
Aw shucks, isn’t that just sweet?
And remember tomorrow, the little holiday gift bazaar at CACHE, from 10-4.
Thoughts About the Misuse of Words
Occasionally I feel the need to blow off some steam. Today is one of those occasions.
A friend once told me that editors are guardians of the language. Someone certainly needs to be—look what is happening to the world of communication.
Have you noticed that everyone is advised to “do research” now? No one I know is actually conducting experiments to learn what works or interviewing witnesses to learn what is true. Instead, we cruise through the internet, looking for opinions and ratings. How did we learn about products, services, current events in the olden days??
When did people stop being crazy about things, or simply enthusiastic, and become “passionate” about whatever topic they are pursuing? Did everyone read the same marketing material, the instruction manual on how to present oneself as sincere, earnest, and genuine? Someone has said that the secret to success is sincerity, and once you learn to fake that, you’ve got it made. Now it seems the secret to success is to declare that one is “passionate”.
When did giving become “gifting”? The verbization of nouns really bugs me. I personally do not “gift” people; I give to them.
Why did we stop graduating FROM places and now simply graduate places? Who started this ridiculousness?
When did “literally” lose its true meaning and come to mean its very opposite, “figuratively”? “I literally shot myself in the foot.” Oh yeah? How are you walking these days? Maybe you should have taken gun safety training more seriously.
Why do so many otherwise well-educated people insist on using the article “an” in front of the word “history”? It begins with a consonant, and the proper indefinite article is “a”. Really, I have noticed that those who have advanced degrees seem to be the most guilty of this. Maybe they think the real way to pronounce “history” is “istory”.
As you can see, I am passionate about language and have been since graduating high school, an historic event now; I literally have lost my mind doing research on the best ways of gifting you, my blog readers, with this vital information.
If you aren’t too disgusted by my diatribe, perhaps you will benefit from this information about the upcoming Holiday Gift Fair. (This is the proper use of the word “gift”.)
Nine New Things Learned in November
1. There is a new(ish) brand of ice cream called ReThink, made from milk high in A2 protein which is easier to digest. This is the same protein that is in goat and sheep milk. I read about this in the Farm Bureau newsletter (thanks, Mom!) I haven’t tried it; it probably isn’t available in Tulare County.
2. California Fair is an insurance company that only provides wildfire coverage; if you need more than that (well, duh, yes), you have to find supplemental insurance. And no where in California is it possible to get coverage against snow damage; to add insult to injury, insurance companies will always fight you if a tree damages your home or cabin, blaming you for not removing a diseased tree. (This is why we need to think about good things like ice cream.)
3. The time changes are dangerous, and some big companies do special training (one company calls these “safety moments”) twice a year to help their employees adapt.
4. There is a creepy stalkery to “smart” phones. A friend showed me the icon she chose to represent me in her contacts list and beneath my name was my high school and date of graduation. EXCUSE ME? My friend didn’t know this about me, nor did she enter it into her phone. WHO/WHAT DID THIS??
5. The Beatles have a new song. How is this possible?? Through the magic of technology. You can hear and see it somewhere on the internet but I am not enamored enough by the “Fab Four” to spend time searching it out. The song is called “Now and Then”, and is more multifaceted musically than their simplistic early creations. (I like the Carpenters, Steve Wariner, Casting Crowns [among many others] so what do I know about pop music from the ’60s?)
6. I finally made hoshigaki persimmons! They weren’t ready when I took this photo about 3 weeks ago, but they are now and wowsa, are they ever good.
7. I finally dug up my sweet potatoes. Two plants yielded these three winners. I think the size may have been limited by the gopher baskets.
8. My taste in cars is very consistent. While at the 4-way stop a few weeks ago, I spotted a car with a body style that pleased me. I felt happy that it was not a Honda Accord, proving to myself that I can be flexible. I took a photo and sent it to a friend who is very into cars. He told me that it is a Toyota Celica, from the very same era as my current Accord. Oh good grief. (A friend asked me how the car search was going, and I told her that I’m not looking—instead, I upped the towing package on my AAA card.)
9. I finally found a way to delete the Pinterest button off my website homepage. Sometimes if you just click around enough, you stumble across the right method. However, now I think the comments aren’t working. If it ain’t one thing, it’s anuthuh. Why did I delete the Pinterest button? Because I deleted my Pinterest account. I’ve also quit Instagram and completely ignore LinkedIn. There’s enough to do, and I prefer reality to virtual reality. (Surprised??)
P.S. The commenting part of the blog has been misbehaving but comments are coming through anyway. So to those of you who soldiered through, thank you!
Perfect Fall Day in Three Rivers
Thanksgiving was a perfect fall day in Three Rivers. We went for a walk to take in the clear air and last hurrah of autumn colors.
Finally, a reminder for you (and for me, since I don’t get to keep endlessly lollygagging around). Besides, you might like going to Exeter tonight, to their annual city-wide party! I won’t be there but other artists will be at CACHE and all the stores in town will be open and there will be eats and treats. I am a stay-at-home-after-dark-wet-blanket kind of non-party person. But I wasn’t always, and this is a very fun event.
P.S. The commenting part of the blog has been misbehaving but comments are coming through anyway. So to those of you who soldiered through, thank you!
Thankfulness
The Library of my Youth, Chapter 1
I grew up in the country, with the choice of asking Mom to drive me or riding my bike if I wanted to go somewhere. (One did not bother Dad, because he was working; we were Mom’s work.) She rarely denied me when I asked her to take me to the library 2-4 miles away (we moved closer when I was in 6th grade), which was (and is) very small.
It was a challenge to find new books to read in that tiny building, but I never gave up trying. We either didn’t know about or didn’t have the option of ordering books from other county libraries as we do now. And I remember the first time I went to the library in the big town instead of the little burg—it was mind-boggling in its enormity. So many books, so little time!
Over a year ago, I was asked to paint an outdoor mural on the library of my youth. Within a week, I drove there with sketch paper and a tape measure. I met the librarian, who turns out to be a close friend of my sister-in-law. (Welcome to Tulare County, and never talk bad about anyone!)
Immediately, I began scouring my memory for ideas, and without knowing the budget, I came up with 3 versions—each one emphasizing different aspects of that nondescript rural unincorporated town, and different sizes for pricing options.
Alas, the Asker didn’t return my phone calls. I saw him in person, he apologized, and then still didn’t follow up. So, I let go of that dream.
Several months later, the Arts Consortium put out a Call-To-Artists, for not one, but TWO murals on the library of my youth. WHAT?? That was supposed to be MY mural.
Allll-righty-then, at least I had a headstart. I designed a second one, did the best presentation sketch possible, and even wrote an (unasked for) explanation and a (also unasked for) heartfelt statement about why I am the most qualified for this particular project. I met the deadline, and then waited to hear when I could begin. (Can you say “overconfident”?)
The deadline to notify the winner came and went. Silence. I asked the Arts Consortium who got the job, and the reply was that the selection committee was unable to meet. More months passed, and I asked again. This time the answer was that the selection committee was unable to decide.
I gave up, let go, moved on, while wondering what in the world is wrong with organizations and why I allow them to waste my time. I lost the big Catholic church murals—might as well add this to the pile of missed opportunities, and make a note to just deal with individuals in the future, rather than large outfits.
Then, 14 months after I was asked to paint a mural on the library of my youth, the Arts Consortium emailed that I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR THE JOB!!
Stay tuned to see the sketches, hear the explanations, and learn when it will begin.