Category: Personal

Soothing Subject as a Distraction

As I write this post, the Paradise Fire (part of the KNP Complex fire) has been obscuring all views at home and giving me a passive smoker’s cough. It is threatening our cabin in Mineral King (mandatory evacuation) and possibly our home in Three Rivers (voluntary evacuation).

How is a Central California artist to cope?

By painting her favorite type of scenery.*

This was how it looked when I last showed you.

See how the colors look now? This is before I began painting, and it has a funny tint due to the smoky orange light outside.

To help me focus, I flipped it upside down, flipped the photo upside down on the laptop screen, enlarged it tremendously, and proceeded to draw with my paintbrush. The goal was to be as accurate as possible, working back to front in the scenery, and matching the mountains to the best of my ability while squishing the scene onto a canvas of different proportions than the photos. (Trickinology, remember?)

When this is dry, I will add the windmachines, oranges, signature, and edges.

Then maybe I’ll go househunting in Lemon Cove where they don’t have wildfires.

Nope. I am NEVER moving again.

Yeah, I know, “never say never”. Been here almost 23 years and I truly do not want to lose this place or to move.

*along with answering texts, phone calls, and emails from many concerned friends, listening to Mike Rowe’s podcasts, continuing to pray in less than coherent phrases throughout the day, and hanging out with cats.

citrus painting

Long Stay in Mineral King

Labor Day is the traditional end of summer. We had a nice long stay in Mineral King leading up to Labor Day, a great time of variety with a sense that there was plenty of time to do everything. (Of course that was a false sense because there is never enough time – new things will always crop up.)

I painted.

Things definitely slow down as Labor Day approaches. ONE CAR in the parking lot?!

This tree often confounds me when I paint this cabin so I took the opportunity it examine it up close.

I painted some more. What are these pink flowers?

We went exploring.

Look at the blue sky!! And the green ferns! Such bright clean colors after weeks of smoke and months of drought.

The Farmer found a heart-shaped rock.

Trail Guy led us to the old stamp mill site below Timber Gap, where the tram line brought ore from mines on Empire.

We showed our friends where we got married almost 35 years ago.

We saw alpenglow on Empire several evenings.

This is a last hurrah for some flowers at a spring. (Asters and Sierra Gentian, which you can learn from Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names).

Franklin Creek is low, which makes for easy crossing.

The aspens are showing some yellow.

Franklin Creek was perfect for “icing” my knee. (much better, thanks for asking)

Hiking Buddy and I saw this strange sight below the Eagle/Mosquito/White Chief trail.

These little white daisies (nope, don’t know the name) open in daylight. I photographed them too early in the morning for you to see their charming little faces.

We went for a long hike with neighbors from 3 other cabins. That is a 4-year old, wearing a sparkly skirt with a cat’s tail on the back. She and her 6 year old brother made it the entire 9.5 miles!!

No, really!

It was a very long walk on a trail that is sometimes scary.

This is the place where wildflowers are usually very abundant. On Labor Day weekend after a dry winter, although we had some decent rain during the summer, there is no evidence of any such floral exuberance.

And that is all about Mineral King for a little while. Maybe. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Mineral King: Feet in the Water.

Two friends and I began our visit by stopping at Atwell Mill (campground closed again this year, due to the presence of a Fisher Cat) and walking down to the East Fork of the Kaweah River. There were about 1/2 dozen tree messes, AKA “tree failures” in trail crew lingo. You can see the East Fork and a painting of it in 2015 here.

Looking straight up gave us the visual relief of a blue sky.

This was our destination.

We climbed above the bridge to put our feet in the water.

The next day we went to a different bridge, where we put our feet in the water again. Normally I blow past this area on my way somewhere else, but this time it was the actually destination so there was time to contemplate matters of consequence, or, in modern lingo, “chill”. Spending time there, we looked up to see a weird tree formation.

We also meandered down the Nature Trail a bit (but not to put our feet in the water this time).

On our last day together, we headed another direction where there was no bridge. Feet in the water was the only way to get to the other side where we spotted a few wildflowers. Smoke, slow water, but the grasses were still green.

Explorer’s Gentian is one of the good things about my least favorite month.

9 New Things Learned in August

Is it redundant to say “new things learned”? Maybe so, because if they haven’t been known previously, then they are new. To me. To you, also, I hope. And if not new to you, you can revel in the feeling of “I already knew that!”

It cost $41.50 to send a copy of the Cabins of Wilsonia to England. Really! And the man was happy to pay it, because he found one for more than $91.50 online in his country. He also found a paperback copy of The Cabins of Mineral King for 13 pounds (can’t find the symbol for that on my American keyboard).
It would cost $635 to repair a blown speaker on my 4 year old laptop. WHAT?? Not worth it. If I need good sound, I will plug in the Bose speakers. Why did the speaker just go all rattly like a cheap car stereo? My other laptop got wonky at 6 years old. I thought about going to ifixit.com but taking apart the laptop feels very risky.
People can get a fungus in the ear. Gross, eh? It can be treated with a mixture of white vinegar and water. If this doesn’t do the trick, you can buy a microscopic bottle of Athlete’s Foot Treatment for $49.95. I am not making this up (nor am I talking about myself here.) Sorry if that is too much info. I learned it in August, so now you get to learn it too. You’re welcome.
If it feels as if the end of the world is near and if you like to learn about End Times, here is a very helpful sermon, clear and simple information that feels somewhat encouraging. Happening Now. Political warning: it leans right politically, so if that is annoying to you, you know in advance and can make a decision about watching or not.
I learned that my tolerance for too many conversations, too many activities, and too many people is waning. The busy nature of Mineral King in August wore me out, and sometimes, I needed to hide.
Crocs make clogs almost worthy of being called hiking boots. So far, so good, nay, GREAT!
I declined an opportunity to teach a drawing workshop. This is because with a mask requirement, it is too hard to read people, and to understand their muffled voices. It is also harder for them to understand my muffled voice, and even harder to breathe. I knew this already, but didn’t realize how much of an obstacle it is to learning until I found myself dreading something that I usually look forward to.
Swimply is a new way for people to earn money at home by renting their swimming pools. Good thing my neighbors haven’t done this or I would owe them thousands.
My friends have a strong influence over me. One gave us a miniature battery operated blender tool for whipping cream or making a fake latte; another friend told me about putting 1/2 and 1/2 with cocoa powder in her coffee. I have always drunk my coffee black, but I decided to combine these 2 things – whipping 1/2 and 1/2 with cocoa powder into my coffee. Whoa. Better keep that one as a treat and not make it a habit.

Naked Ladies are the only growing thing of beauty in my yard in the crunchy, smoky, brown, dried-up month of August.

Reporting on Sundry Items in Smoky Mineral King

I went to Mineral King with the weight of the world on my shoulders and heart. Terrible things in the world, the country, the state of California, and among several dear friends made me want to run away. It was a relief, but it wasn’t very pretty. My knee hurt, so I didn’t hike. Instead, I did a few chores, lots of knitting, sitting, and reading.

Here is one strange chore: Trail Guy and I noticed a tremendous number of nails near the old dance floor, so I took up a big magnet on a pole and together, we cleaned them up.

We stopped by the Honeymoon Cabin/Mineral King Preservation Society Museum to see a new item – a stamp from the stamp mill below the mines on Empire peak (and a couple of other unidentified metal objects). This is a surprisingly heavy piece of metal that smashed the ore to separate out the precious metals. I didn’t even try to lift it (my knee hurts).

In other news, I got some new “hiking boots”. Heh heh, this is what passes for hiking boots in my world of peculiar feet. Did you know Crocs makes a type of clogs with “Vibram” soles? They even have adjustable straps, fastened with Velcro. I hope my knee stops hurting soon so I can try them.

I spied some going-ons near the cabin. It was the wedding of a neighbor we don’t really know (because we are closer to her grandparents and there are way too many grandchildren to keep up with on their one weekend/year visits). They set up some sort of an archway, and I snooped through the trees.

Finally, I delivered another painting to the Silver City Store. It had to dry in the trunk of my car for a few days before I could leave it at the the store. Still striking while the iron is hot, in hopes that the great sales continue at least through Labor Day weekend.

Mineral King August Tradition

The Mineral King Preservation Society has been hosting a concert for several (five? ten? I can’t remember) years. It happens on a platform that was initially built for dancing back in the days of the Mineral King resort. The musicians are a married couple who call themselves Mankin Creek. They are bluesy, folksy, terrific!

You can see the edge of the platform. On it, and around the edges too – might have had 100 people.

Dinner is provided – sandwiches from Sierra Subs, grapes from The Farmer (our hiking partner).

Farewell Gap had nice light.

I messed around with settings on my camera, found “super vivid”, and decided it would look better painted this way.

But, this is how it looked with real alpenglow, not enhanced by the camera’s fancy settings. It is the best!

Some of the staff from the Silver City Resort were uninhibited about dancing and really added life to the evening. Afterward I talked to them (they sell my paintings for me!) and learned they are from: New Hampshire, New York, Nebraska, Michigan, San Diego, and Orange County. Uninhibited about dancing and undaunted by travel.

These events make me tired. I need to spend time just sitting and knitting to prepare and to recover. The color in real life is pretty close to “super vivid” light on Farewell Gap.

Taking a walk with a friend is also a good recovery activity from too much time in a crowd.

And look who we saw on the way down the hill after the weekend. Didn’t get his face – Trail Guy was driving and not too keen on sitting in the middle of the road while waiting for a good bear pose. My inability to get good animal photos is one of the reasons I stick to landscapes.

12 New Things I Learned in July

July was another month of learning odd facts, interesting tidbits, touching stories, and annoying experiences.

A friend who knows odd facts said that the biggest danger while sailing across the Atlantic Ocean is running into cargo containers that have fallen off of ships. Eventually someone will figure out a way to locate those missing Seatrains and turn it into a teevee show.
Got an answer about Iron Springs and Soda Springs from my friend Fort Worth Jim, a geologist: “The water has carbon dioxide in it which makes the water acidic. Acidic water can dissolve iron but when it flows out it loses its carbon dioxide, and iron is forced to precipitate out of the rock.” (But will I remember this info?)
Remember I told you about the inefficiency of Home Depot last month? The saga continued. After not being able to fit the mini-fridge in Fernando, I took it back into the store to put it on will call. The self-checkout had neglected to provide a receipt, so it took a very long time to set things up. Trail Guy and I returned for the fridge the following week, and it was gone. They chose another model for us through lots of computer tapping and lots of wasted time, and when we went to retrieve it, it didn’t exist either. We picked a third model, loaded it up, and figured it was a done deal. Then I started getting phone calls to come pick up my “merchandise”. The first caller didn’t even identify the store, much less the “merchandise”. The second caller did, so I called back to be sure I wasn’t getting charged for two. Sure enough, I was. Much computer tapping, hold time, exchange of various numbers and dates, and now I think it is solved. THIS IS WHY I HATE TO GO SHOPPING!!! Excuse me for shouting. If it isn’t at the Three Rivers Mercantile, I don’t need it.
Maybe we should have hooked this fridge up in the workshop instead of the new one from Home Disaster.
Sometimes when our cabin neighbors leave, they give us their extra groceries. That way they don’t have to toss them or take them home. It is fun! We don’t always consume everything, of course. Last month we received a tub of potato salad, something I don’t usually eat because I just don’t like potatoes or raw onions. Trail Guy had a bite and said it was sweet. “Sweet?” I read the ingredients, and the third one on the list was SUGAR!! Really?? In potato salad?? Why on earth?
Peripheral neuropathy makes toes go numb and can be helped by L-methylfolate, a B vitamin referred to as a “medical food”. I don’t know if it works yet but I do know that numb toes are a nuisance while hiking (or walking or standing to paint or just being alive). I wish I didn’t have to learn about this.
If you know this amazing lady, congratulate her on a promotion to Chief Ranger at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area!
There are some people who exceed the average definition of generosity in life. These are people who donate organs, people who pay for meal services for recipients of organs (one of my incredibly generous blog readers is paying for a meal service for my friends Rachelle-of-new-lungs and Steven-the-husband-of-the-century), and someone who received a heart and now helps transplant patients and their families. Her name is Ava and you can see her story (and give if you are so inclined) here: Ava’s Heart.
Some customers/friends have been wanting a logo for many years. I recommended someone to them and it didn’t work out. Why didn’t they think to ask me, or why didn’t I think to offer? Because logo design is not my main thing, but after a year passed, I got the courage to offer my feeble design services. More will be revealed in the fullness of time. What I learned was this: ask!
Fake Crocs cost less, have a thicker sole, are narrower, and don’t have a visible brand name; they are made in China and sold by Amazon. Lesson learned. I liked the color, but I got a blister on the TOP of my toe (hunh??) and tripped twice while walking in them so they will become hang-around shoes, not walking shoes.
Sending cookies from Three Rivers to Los Angeles costs $14 via UPS and $9 via the Post Office.
Is Three Rivers in a third world country? Our neighborhood went 5 days with extreme minimal water due to a failed pump and unavailable part. This coincided with the largest power bill we have ever had, while our A/C is on a voluntary rolling black-out discount because there isn’t enough electricity in California. (Can you believe that hydroelectric power – using rivers – is considered non-renewable energy??)
My neighbors are very generous and let me use their swimming pool. What I learned while in the pool is that Cleveland Sage smells terrific and overpowers the smell of chlorine.
Swamp onion does NOT smell like Cleveland Sage.

P.S. Stupid HD just sent me a check for the amount of the fridge. WHATSA MATTUH WITH THOSE PEOPLE??

Things I learned (and probably forgot) in previous Julys.

July 2020 ° July 2019 ° July 2018

Meandering in Mineral King

Warning: Long post ahead.

For some reason, choosing a destination and then chugging up a steep trail just isn’t floating my boat this summer. We did a quick down-the-road-and-up-the-Nature-Trail.

These are fireweed. They are common in Alaska, and I recently saw them on a Russian photographer’s Instagram post.

Sierra Currant – still haven’t formed berries. You first saw them here.

This bridge on the Nature Trail is listing downstream.

Almost back to the cabin from walking the Nature Trail. Looked as if it might rain – nope, bluffers.

We took a meandering walk with some cabin friends. When Trail Guy asked where we wanted to go, the friends said anything at all was fine with them. I said, “The aspens are calling me”.

First, we went up the canyon toward Crystal Creek. This year the wildflowers are doing very well where it crosses the trail. This might be normal, but maybe I never paid much attention before because I was always aiming toward other patches of flowers. This year I am thankful for any green and any flowers that I can find.

We meandered to Soda Springs, and along the way we saw my favorite flower: Explorer’s Gentian.

I would like to know why some of these places are called “Soda” and others are called “Iron”. They all look like bubbling water that turns the ground orange; they all have the same yucky taste. Onward to the aspens. . .

Then we meandered down the old route AKA “old Farewell Gap Trail”. Nope, not a trail – it is simply a route. It was GREEN!! As we meandered, we found some things that normally wouldn’t be seen if we were thundering along a trail. Bane Berry is new to me – learned from one of my books that it is poisonous. (Good thing our friend held back from tasting it in spite of being tempted.)

What’s this? More Iron Springs? Soda Springs? Rusty Water?

Back at the cabin, I admired the Corn Lilies in bloom. This is an unusually heavy year for flowers on these plants that are usually just green, looking like and getting called “Skunk Cabbage”.

And thus we conclude another Mineral King meander.

Doing Nothing in Mineral King

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD.That title is not exactly true. We sat around, took a short walk to Crystal Creek, visited with neighbors, rearranged garbage in the dumpster and examined the difficult lock, met the temporary law-enforcement ranger, napped, watched the curtains flap in a windstorm, enjoyed a bit of rain. I also painted, read and knit. But we did not hike, because it was too hot.

The overcast provided relief from the heat, as did the precipitation one afternoon.

We pried ourselves off the porch and ambled up to Crystal Creek. (This photo is darker than reality in spite of messing with it on the computer.)

It is a banner year for baby’s breath close to Crystal Creek.

Crystal Creek was very low but adequate to water some very nice wildflowers in their prime. (To learn the names, perhaps you might like to buy a copy of Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names.)

Walking back, we admired the corn lilies, which are having a rare year of bloom. Can you recognize the Honeymoom Cabin from this side?

Federal Highways has big plans to redo the Park’s section of the Mineral King Road, and part of the plan is to expand and pave the parking lot at the end of the road. There is a juniper of historical significance in the parking lot, now in jeopardy. You can see the dead tree to the left; the juniper to the right is just fine. It is somewhat camouflaged in this photo.

The blue paint lines mean the tree is going to be removed. I don’t want it to be removed! Does anyone know a certified arborist who can verify the health of the tree? Maybe the Park would listen to someone with Important Papers and Capital Letters. (My Most Important Papers about being Exeter Woman of the Year in 1998 don’t count, nor do the capital letters DBO).

Here is a more familiar angle of the Honeymoon Cabin, which serves as a mini-museum for the Mineral King Preservation Society.Meanwhile, back near the cabin, I found more corn lilies in bloom, a new mint, and a blooming swamp onion.

Above Timber Gap

Over the Fourth of July weekend, our cabin neighborhood was full of friends who happen to have cabins near each other. That’s the best way I can describe our little enclave of rustic shacks in Mineral King. Some of the neighbors spent a day on the trail to Hockett Meadow for a 23 mile hike. Some of us did something a bit more manageable.

It was a beautifully clear day when we set out around 9 a.m. No matter how many photos I take of this scene from the bridge, each time I am sure it is the best it has ever looked.

Sometimes I take this photo downstream too. This time I took it because soon the 2 trees by that cabin will be gone.

We went to Timber Gap and then up to the left (it felt really really up-ish), back down into the gap, and crashed around until we stumbled on the old wagon road built in the mining era.

This is the view over Timber Gap to the Middle Fork of the Kaweah drainage. If I study the view and squint hard, I can pick out Alta Peak, the mountain that is visible from our house.

This is the view of Mineral King from the slope above Timber Gap on the west. (It is where I took my reference photos for the giant Mineral King mural in Exeter.)

We headed back into Timber Gap and decided we were all game to find the old wagon road.

Trail Guy said it is hard to find from Timber Gap, and I agreed, except that I always manage to crash around and stumble across it in spite of the vagueness of that method. Once again, it worked.

There were five of us, but we took no selfies or group shots. After this photo, I put my camera away because: 1. I have taken many photos of this before and 2. it was prudent to watch my steps carefully.

On the Fourth of July, we had a little spontaneous flag-raising.

It almost took a village, but mostly it took Trail Guy and a Yacht Master.

God bless the USA and God bless our neighbor-friends!