Away in Gilroy, Chapter Three

QUICKETY CORRECTION: Yesterday’s flowers were NOT zinnias; they were dahlias. I couldn’t remember the name so made a substitution. Thank you, Jane, for setting me straight!

After finding lunch on our beach day (easy drive from Gilroy to the beach), we thought about heading back to Gilroy, but there was way too much traffic heading that direction. We made the very prudent decision to do our waiting in Santa Cruz rather than on a freeway. I’d never been there before. Wow, so much noise and color and crowds and distraction from the ocean.

Why do people want to pay for all that fake stuff when the ocean is right there??

Those rides actually compete with the beach?? Incomprehensible to my simple, easily-satisfied, easily entertained rural self.

The carousel was too loud for me but the displays were really well done and interesting. So much history! We watched riders try to grab a ring on each round and toss it into the clown’s mouth. If I had grabbed a ring, I might have been tempted to keep it. I wonder how many they lose that way.

It was very well maintained, quite impressive. I love beautiful architecture, so I was very fascinated by how it looked, rather than the whole arcade/carnival/entertainment aspect.

We laughed ourselves silly with the funhouse mirrors. My mental image of myself is like the one on the left; the way I want to look is like the other images.

Someday I might finally find some sort of self-acceptance. Meanwhile, I’m heading to the beach.

A lighthouse!! Too far to walk, particularly with the tide rising, and the parking meter might run out of those quarters. I am NEVER too tired to keep going on the beach. It’s a sickness. A weird deficit or disorder or syndrome.

LOOK AT THESE WAVES!!

Since this is supposed to be a blog for my business, we interrupt this program for a commercial break. AROUND HERE, my show in Tulare at the museum/gallery, is open Thursday-Sunday, 10-4, through August 30 at 444 Tulare Avenue. Besides Tulare County scenery, there are beach paintings so this is an appropriate interruption. These paintings are each 5×7”, $100, on panels that sit on tiny wooden easels. (Take three—they’re small!)

Finally, we cut back to the boardwalk, walking along the spit that separated the river from the beach. We didn’t find out the name of this river (the Santa Cruz River, perhaps? San Lorenzo River), but hustled back (that parking meter).

Maybe tomorrow I will get back to the business of art on my blog. I’m supposed to be. . .:

…using pencils, oil paint and murals to make art that you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.

Away in Gilroy, Chapter Two

Yesterday we were at Rio Del Mar beach with my Texas friends who were staying in Gilroy (hence the title of this series of posts).

Mrs. Texas carries a bag at the beach to collect pieces of driftwood for making mobiles, one of which hangs at my kitchen window.

The sun came out in the afternoon at Rio Del Mar beach. Glorious!

These are very dear friends of 39 years, and we thoroughly enjoy one another’s company, whether being serious or silly.

Jee-um in earrings?
Mrs. Texas with a LONNNGGG ponytail.
Don’t poop on my head, you birds!

A friend texted while we were at the beach to ask for some help on a painting, and I responded with this.

She said I look like a tourist. Indeed, I was a tourist!

Finally, we headed out to find a place for lunch. The first and closest place was out of clam chowder (to be expected at 3 p.m.), and Mrs. Texas asked for a recommendation of somewhere else that might still have some. I said, “Don’t ask him to send us to his competition!”

She said, “We came all the way from Texas for some clam chowder!”

The guy was great and gave us a recommendation, so off we went, this time in the Texas truck rather than on foot.

We found the place, but this ain’t Instagram and I am not going to waste your time with pictures of food. Instead, look at this zinnia garden next to the deli. It was most totally excellent, as delis tend to be, particularly after walking miles on the beach.

Tomorrow I’ll show and tell you what we did next. Thanks for reading along!

Away in Gilroy, Chapter One

Do you remember (or care?) that I went to Texas last year? (Here is a link to the opening chapter.)

My Texas friends are in Gilroy, California (yeppers, the garlic capital of the state or maybe the country or even the world), and since that is only 3-1/2 hours from me, I went to see them.

To get there, I went over Pacheco Pass, the same way I went to Monterey last fall. However, while last year I blew past the beautiful hills, this year there was road construction, which provided opportunities to take some photos. These are awful photographically, but very paintable. That’s why artists say they are using “reference photos”. Well, that, and because of the snobbery against painting from photos as opposed to creating the scene oneself or painting plein air. But that’s another topic for another day.

Mrs. Texas provided a list of places to go and things to see and do while there; all I cared about was being with her and going to the beach. (Big surprise, eh?) So, we hung out, played a fun simple game called Shut The Box and a more complicated one called Assassin Code Names while catching up and laughing, went thrift shopping (the thrill of the hunt overcomes my aversion to accumulating possessions), and of course, went to Trader Joe’s.

There were a few walks, because they are on the edge of town, surrounded by agriculture and golden hills. It is so beautiful there, not hot compared to the Central Valley. But it is a very desirable place to live for folks who work in the Silicon Valley, so traffic can be a problem.

Gilroy’s old courthouse is now a restaurant. It rivals the fancy courthouses I discovered when I was in Texas. (scroll to the bottom of the posted link)

Rio Del Mar was Mrs. Texas’s beach of choice, based on many years of living in Gilroy. 

Like many California beaches, it was foggy in the a.m.

 “Rio” is Español for river, and sure enough, a river flows into the ocean right there in Aptos. “Rio del Mar” means “river of the sea”. 

We found some interesting items: a fisherman caught this skate, and there were a few jellyfish, including this weird little rectangular one with a blue border. 

Mrs. Texas gathers little shells and pieces of driftwood to make mobiles with, one of which hangs outside my kitchen window in Three Rivers. 

Rio Del Mar Beach has a “shipwreck”, which is the SS Palo Alto, an oil tanker built of cement when steel supplies were low during WWI, not needed after all so converted to an amusement ship and parked by the pier in Aptos in 1929, and currently just serving as a bird place and a diving destination since the pier went bye-bye in 2023. You can read about it here.

What are Mr. and Mrs. Texas looking at??

WEIRD!!

A buried bird, with a blue foot and one blue toe sticking out of the sand. Mr. Texas offered to exhume it, but we more delicate women declined the offer. (We may have even squealed a little while running away.)

This is too long. See you tomorrow for Chapter Two!

Good Reception, Going Quiet

The reception was well attended by people from all different parts of my life. I was especially touched to see several of my drawing students there (no extra credit for attending; no demerits for skipping.)

Here are some photos provided by attendees.

I love my drawing students and miss them when we don’t meet for two months in summer.
There was an enormous selection of finger foods which looked delicious, but I stuck to water. Too much talking and handshaking and hugging to be dealing with a plate of food.
Father John, formerly of St. Anthony’s Retreat in Three Rivers is a very accomplished painter who encouraged me back when I began oil painting in 2006.
Kim is a fabulous realistic pastel artist and also a fabulous pianist. Her tunes in the background were perfect.
I was thrilled to see some MK friends! (and learn that others stopped by a day or two later on their way to MK—thank you, G & D!!)
This is the only decent photo of the ones I took before the reception began. I was a little worried that no one would show up, so maybe I wasn’t giving photography my best attention.

Why is this chick so smiley? Because: A. Her favorite dress still fits after 30 years and she rediscovered that it has pockets; B. She is going quiet on the interwebs for a week or so; C. She will be with her first friend from Three Rivers and her very dear friend from Texas next week.

Nothing to see here, folks.

AROUND HERE will be at the Heritage Gallery in the Tulare Historical Museum through August 30. Days/hours are Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays, 10-4. (444 W. Tulare Ave.)

P.S. It is ALL FOR SALE.

Socializing in Mineral King

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!)

Some weekends in Mineral King are just action packed, all about the people. Who has time to hike? Or just sit quietly while contemplating matters of consequence? Go home if you want solitude, you delusional creature!

It was the annual cabin owners meeting, which is traditionally the weekend when we see the most cabin folks. (Yes, I know, duh.) This year’s meeting was the most energetic, enthusiastic, and optimistic that I remember. The president of the board for the last umpteen years has stepped down, and a dynamic rock-‘em-sock-‘em git-‘er-dun woman is stepping into the role.

I walked down to the meeting, but accepted a ride for the final stretch because I was late. I left on time, but so many people stopped me to ask a question about this or that or something else that time got away.

Here’s only a few of the folks present. I chose this photo because it shows almost no faces, and I am a respecter of privacy.

Sarah read a beautiful tribute to the retiring president that made many of our eyes leak.
John has served us well. He wanted a plaque. (Please, NEVER give me a plaque for anything, please!!)

This is Eddie, our county supervisor. Three years ago, he told me that I could paint a mural on the Ivanhoe library. Then the bureaucracy kicked in, and after jumping through all the hoops, meeting all the deadlines, returning all the emails, and counting my chickens before they hatch, I gave up. After the meeting, without my prompting, he told me that it is almost time for the mural to happen. It began with a conversation about one, ballooned to a competition to paint two (which I was told that I won), and apparently is now back down to one. Until there is a signed contract or money exchanges hands, it is simply conversation. (Links to the posts about the library are below.)

This is a friend whom I have admired for many years. It was because of this hat that I went searching until I found my own version. I would like to draw this photo.

And this is me (wearing the straw hat based on my friend’s hat above) with my good friend Sharon, my most faithful blog commenter!!

Two different people approached me separately to say how much they enjoy my blog. That was my highlight of the day. (Hi Eliza, one of my tens of readers! Thank you, Glenn, you faithful reader!)

Here is some token scenery from an after-dinner walk to the bridge. I don’t think Bearskin will make it through the summer. (That’s the snow patch in the shade on the right side of the right-hand peak.)

Library of my Youth, Chapter One

Library of my Youth, Chapter Two

Library of my Youth, Chapter Three

Library of my Youth, Chapter Four

Mineral King Road (and Men at Work)

The road is under construction, and the schedule keeps changing.

The two men on Sequoia’s hazard tree crew came to do some work on the most recent red fir dropped by our place.

We always stop by the dumpster on the way down. Trail Guy rearranges the bags of trash so we can get the most mileage out of the dumpster, which is for cabin folks who live far away and don’t want to haul their trash back to LA or the Bay Area or the Fresno airport. It is a very fine service for our cabin neighbors, and I wish someone else would do it.

We waited for the pilot car for about 20 minutes, parked in the shade of course. Other people like to snuggle right up to the flagger, not minding the sun. They probably have A/C in their vehicles.

I just looked around, took a few photos, read my book, and waited until the uphill traffic came through.

There are so many shiny culverts along the road. Sometimes when we look ahead, we think a car is coming because of the metallic gleam.

The oaks providing shade were full of mistletoe.

Down in the heat and the dust, it is hard to imagine that we were just here:

It is always worth the drive, even without A/C in the old Botmobile.

Odd Sights in Mineral King

This first one isn’t odd. I’m just warming up here. It is a plant called Coulter’s Fleabane, which I misidentified in Mineral King Wildflowers as snowberry. Maybe. Still trying to figure it out.

The cottonwood was prolific, abundant, and fascinating. Very soft to the touch, but elusive when one tried to gather it.

Once again, I failed to put a dime or a quarter in my pocket so that you can appreciate the teensy size of these daisies.

What is this? We don’t know, so I sent the photos to the local historian.

What is this on the trail??

Oh, just a little changing booth for a bride. Check out those heels on the bridesmaid. That’s an unusual sight in Mineral King, especially on a trail.

These dressed up gentlemen were receiving instructions. I think they were waiting for the bride, rumored to be an hour late.

And there are the guests, waiting for the action to begin. We didn’t bushwack down to investigate.

Let’s just end with a calming, more usual type of sight. These are penstemon, but the name escapes me at the moment. Besides, since discovering that snowberry is really Coulter’s Fleabane, I’ve lost confidence in my flower identifying abilities.

Ten New Things Learned in July

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

1.Tales of TB, available at the BookBaby Bookshop, got a publicity boost by one of the few remaining newspapers in the area. OF COURSE I THINK YOU SHOULD BUY A COPY! (But go to the BookBaby link because Amazon always says “temporarily out of stock”.)

2. A gift shop at Hume Lake had some marvelous little workbooks for learning pretty lettering. Have you noticed in the last ten years or so that “everyone” seems to know how to make very attractive signs for coffee shops, weddings, and restaurant menus? Apparently you can learn to do this by following a workbook. If my life wasn’t full of painting and drawing already, I’d be tempted to take this up.

3. How does one NOT get attached to a car after driving it 24 years? Especially if it is a body shape, color, and transmission that one loves to drive, has a leather interior, sunroof, Yakima rack, very cool tail lights, and a spoiler… Pete, the new owner, said I can borrow it any time I like. I’ll be seeing it around town. It was a real blessing to have Pete want the car—no advertising, no dickering over price, no fuss over the things that no longer work (he already has the same year/model except that his is automatic and really really worn out.)

4. People die. Often. When I received 25 postcards to mail to people about my upcoming art show, first I sent an email newsletter. Next I had to decide who to mail real postcards, so as I compared the email list to the postal list, I was sadly surprised by all the names and emails I had to delete. STOP IT!

5. The older I get, the less inclined or able I am to tolerate or ignore listening to people who pepper their sentences with unnecessary “like”. Podcasts that might have interesting content get shut off after about the tenth “like”; interviewees who cannot speak without “like” “like” “like” —Nope. Not listening. Don’t have to. Also, if they end every other sentence or interrupt sentences with “right?”, then I am gone-zo. Buh-bye.

Me too.

6. June in the Garden by Eleanor Wilde is an excellent novel about an autistic woman named June who gets into awkward and difficult situations because of her literal interpretation of almost everything. It got so uncomfortable that I had to stop reading at times, but then I gave it 5 stars on GoodReads because it was that good! (5 stars is the highest rating).

7. “Ninety years ago, the Forest Service decided to “improve” the watershed by installing forty-one dams and deflectors in the valley on both the East Fork and some of the tributaries. Some of the structures were dry stacked rock, some were masonry with cement, some were dirt, some were logs, and one was a board. The apparent goal was to create deeper pools. The river and creek channels have shifted considerably since then, and I suspect you found the remains of one of the log dams.” (From Laile Di Silvestro)

8. Have you ever heard of The Jesus Prayer? I hadn’t, but stumbled across this on the World Wide Web (The Brighton Jotter) and looked it up. Here is what I learned: “The Jesus Prayer is a simple, easy prayer to recite and remember: “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It is also sometimes abbreviated to “Lord Have Mercy” as is used in liturgical services of Orthodox Christianity.” It is supposed to be helpful if you find your mind wandering while you are praying (You mean some people DON’T find their minds wandering??)

9. A friend gave me a copy of a new book, The Mules of Mineral King, by Kevin Alltucker. Why had I never heard of this?? Why have I never met Kevin, a cabin neighbor? What a great book! Here is the link to Amazon for you. (K&TC do NOT buy a copy because I won a copy for you on Saturday!)

10. A friend told me about a thing that makes bug bites stop itching. Because we have mosquitos at home and up the hill, and Horrible Biting Flies up the hill, I bought one. It is a battery-operated gizmo that applies heat directly to a bite, and WHAM, just like that, it stops itching. Here is the link to the big A: Beuer Insect Bite Relief Pen.

And that’s all. There will be more posts about Mineral King this week, which is also the week of the reception for my art show, August 7, 5-7 PM, Tulare’s Heritage Gallery (in the museum, 444 W. Tulare Avenue).

Meandering and Socializing in Mineral King

Mineral King is very social for this pair of introverts, Mr. and Mrs. Trail Guy. This is how it goes: any trail we walk includes running into people we know. Sometimes we run into people we know in the parking lot, then other people are waiting for us back at the cabin when we’ve been out and about. While we are visiting with those folks, others stop by to check in. Most people only come up the hill a handful of times a summer, or maybe only once, and they are very understandably excited to be there, and want to say hello and catch up. Trail Guy has a buddy about 1 mile down the road who invites him to his birthday party every summer, and I have a friend directly across from us who wants to be with me every moment she isn’t chasing her brother around.

Thank goodness we don’t have a phone at the cabin any more.

This is my friend holding the birthday present for Trail Guy’s friend. We decorated some scrap paper using 45-year-old crayons and used a bit of yarn from my current knitting project for the ribbon. My little buddy went through the odd assortment of cards I had on hand, and we found an envelope that matched our wrapping paper.

Brother didn’t want to go to the party. He is single-minded about baseball (New Yank Yorkie fan), and the party was decorated with San Francisco Giants stuff. He chose to stay back and play catch with his dad.

We played one game at the party. The birthday boy sat in a chair, trying to hold still, and everyone had 5 minutes to draw him. He then chose his favorite drawing, and it just wasn’t very fair for all the others to have to compete with the Central California artist. (Of course he chose mine—did you doubt?) I took it home and finished it under better light and while wearing glasses. He thought it looked like a fat girl face. (I didn’t photograph it for you, not wanting either to expose his identity or put a dent in my professional reputation.)

Let’s look at a grouse instead. No wonder the miners ate these birds. . . they are fearless, slow and easy to pop on the head. (Fear not, no head-popping took place, and the only shots taken were with my camera).

I walked down the Nature Trail to the little footbridge to see if the Monkshood had bloomed. It has been many years since I’ve seen it, although I look every year.

Yippee skippee, here it is!!

Felwort, another one that I have only seen in this one place along the Nature Trail is also in bloom, although there was only one.

Twinberry is another one I have almost seen no place else except by the footbridge on the Nature Trail.

There will be more about Mineral King, but it is now August, which means Monday is time for a Learned List.

See you Monday!

No, not literally.

White Chief Again, continued

Yesterday’s post was stopped when my friend and I crossed the creek in the middle part of White Chief canyon.

It’s been awhile since I’ve gone further than this, but my friend was very interested in seeing the mining tunnel.

We didn’t go inside, and we didn’t go a whole lot farther because we were slow, just enjoying being there without a particular schedule other than getting back in time for a cabin friend’s 9th birthday party that evening.

Besides, I just wanted to soak in as many wildflowers as possible. The rocks, caves, and tunnels are interesting, but it is green and flowers that float my boat.

Sierra columbine
We are overlooking Timber Gap in the distance.
Larkspur, monkeyflower, Indian paintbrush
This lupine has leaves best described as “gurple”. (That’s Hoope’s Sneezeweed in the yellow.)
Everyone’s favorite juniper
So verrrrry green on the way down.

About 1/4 mile to go, and now Timber Gap is above us in the distance. It was a terrific day of hiking to White Chief, steep trail but short and very well worth the effort.