Bumper Crop

It's a good year for apricots in the Owens Valley. I'm actually on the verge of getting tired of them. In addition to eating them raw, savoring the sugary skin on my tongue, I've been freezing them for fruit smoothies. My friend Kirk made a solar dryer for the cherries that blessed us before the apricots, and has been drying buckets of apricots as well. This week has been blackberry week up the creek. I've gone out four mornings and each time came home with a bowl that I could pay $20 for in the store. I made a crisp with a topping of oats, ground walnuts, small amounts of quinoa flour and flax meal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a molten blend of earth balance and honey. Delish! But not quite as good as the prizewinning sorbet made by Tom yesterday to finish off the pizza party he threw. The sorbet somehow captured the absolute essence of the experience of eating fresh berries off the vine. Mmmmm. Made up for the fact that yesterday morning I both twisted my foot in the orchard and had blood running down my leg from the thorns. Yes, I was wearing pants.

I know you urbanites can walk to the corner and get a killer cup of coffee and then go see great art. But you're not making me envious this week. Cheers to summer's bounty.
Tule likes her some blackberries too!

ManzaKnights at the Relay

Finally I am living somewhere with a Relay for Life Event. This one raised money for my local breast cancer support organization - they made a big difference for Misty when she was diagnosed a couple of years ago. So we got a team together from work and put on a good show. I'm very proud of us. We raised over $600 and walked 103 miles. Not bad for our first time. And we all had a great time. Relay is no sad and sorry forced march. It is a celebration of life and a builder of community. I recommend you find a Relay near you.
I love these crazy people!

We lost Rita just a week ago. I'm happy to report that Misty is going strong.

Banjo Man Walking


There is no finish line until we find a cure. As my wise mother says, however, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Equal Time for 395

A few days ago Tule and I drove back to Carson City for the surgery so nice I had it twice – the gum thing that didn’t work the first time. We had a beautiful drive up Highway 395 through the eastern Sierra. Since I have waxed poetic here about Nevada, it’s only fair to share the joys of this scenic drive. So here are, in south to north order, my top ten things to do on 395. OK, it actually goes to 11.

1. Have lunch at the Ranch House Café in Olancha. I used to mock the espresso sign on this old roadhouse restaurant in the not-quite village of Olancha. That was before I stopped in there a couple of years ago after playing with the dogs somewhere. I ordered a grilled cheese with tomato. They grill their tomato before putting it in the sandwich. The result is a surprising improvement over the standard. Still a pretty standard place, but nice people and a good sammie.
2. Visit Manzanar, naturally.
3. Grab a bagel at the Great Basin Bakery in Bishop. I’m trying not to eat refined flour and sugar these days, but the Great Basin makes the only bagel in town that I want to eat. Get it toasted with the pesto cream cheese. Also an array of delicious, fresh, mostly organic breads. A vegan chocolate chip oat cookie with walnuts and maple syrup, pecan cinnamon rolls worth going off the wagon for, and really good coffee.
4. If you’re out for a hike, pull off at the Toms Place exit and drive up Rock Creek. Not only do you have the option of hiking to many scenic lakes, the store serves a mean cream pie.
5. Drive right by the exit for Mammoth Lakes.
6. Swing into the June Lake loop and enjoy the scenic drive through June Lake. Get a boat at Silver Lake and enjoy the aspens, the beautiful lake, and the surrounding mountain scenery. Evidently fish too, but that’s wasted on me.
7. Refill that coffee at the Latte Da Coffee Shop in Lee Vining. Not much for food and no bathrooms, but very nice people, views of Mono Lake, good vibe, and tasty coffee. And a nice spot to renew that fantasy of how great it would be to live in Lee Vining.
8. Go visit Bodie, the remarkably preserved old mining town out in the hills. The first time I went to Bodie, we made a long rambling adventure of it, coming in on a little used dirt road offering us some other mine remnants and opportunities for walks among aspen.
9. Take a break at the day use rest areas along the Walker River between Bridgeport and Walker. Good place to use the potty, walk the dog, stretch our legs, and enjoy the incredible Walker River Canyon. This is the prettiest part of the drive and the most treacherous in the winter. But now that it’s June, breathe deeply of the trees and the sun and enjoy a break.
10. Enjoy a bite to eat at Walker Burger in Walker. They serve out of a window but have lots of options including a veggie burger, and delicious fries. Eat your lunch in their shady patio with plenty of character. And use their clean bathrooms.
11. As you can tell, a good bathroom means a lot because traffic on 395 is usually too busy to pull off and pee alongside the road. Walker has a public bathroom behind its town park. Signs lead the way and offer travelers an opportunity to relieve themselves without having to buy anything. I applaud Walker for their thoughtfulness.

I know people swear by the Whoa Nellie! Deli at the Lee Vining Mobil station, but the one time I ate there and tried a vegetarian option, it was pretty gross. The word on the street is stick with the fish tacos. But Whoa Nellie! didn’t make my top ten.

Viva Las Vegas!

Are you really married if, during your ceremony, Elvis didn't sing I Can't Help Falling in Love with You? I guess the jury's out on that one. But let me tell you, it does not suck to get married at the Viva Las Vegas wedding chapel on Las Vegas Boulevard. My friend Kristin did just that this past Saturday evening. And a good time was had by all.

I generally hate Vegas and have precious little good to say about a trip there after the mercury has crept into the 100+ territory. But this was a good cause. So we feted the happy couple with good humor and cheers. Kristin, for her part, wore strappy turquoise sandals and sported an Elvis handbag. Elvis did his part too, although he more resembled Tom Jones. Even the Hawaiian dancer put on a good show during the musical numbers.

All in all, not a bad way to tie the knot.

Horseshoe Meadow

Drive down to Lone Pine and head west, then south, then up and up and we arrive at Horseshoe Meadow at about 10,000 feet. It’s part of the Inyo National Forest. There are a couple of campgrounds, a pack station and trailheads to a number of lakes and a few passes that connect backpackers with the Pacific Crest Trail. Or if you are feeling lazy or under-conditioned, you can go play in the meadow. Guess what we did yesterday?

Cottonwood Creek runs through the meadow and contains Golden Trout, a local prized and protected species. They aren’t very big, but evidently are very beautiful in the sunshiney air. We prefer them in the water. Lots of flowers in bloom in the meadow and along the way. Actually more along the road up the mountain – lupines, a purple penstemon, a little paintbrush, something that looked like a phacelia, and no doubt some astragalous. In the meadow, little purple shooting star and a yellow buttercup-type flower. And tiny brown butterflies.


The first time I came to Horseshoe Meadow was maybe four or five years ago when Brian the Botanist (as opposed to Brian the Wilderness Ranger, mentioned elsewhere,and Brian the Poet) came to town. We went up botanizing with his friends Kathy and Del from Darwin. He was gathering astragalous lentiginosis for his PhD work. Del brought spice cake which we enjoyed in the parking lot up top after crawling around the meadow looking at a variety of tiny flowers low in the gravel. Great day, wonderful to discover such a beautiful place so close to home.

Of course it is work for the car to climb up the switchbacks and I’ve had a couple of friends who refuse to do the drive due to the narrow road and steep drop-offs. I’m not sure why that doesn’t bother me – I guess it helps being the driver. And the views down over Owens Lake are stunning. In fact yesterday, I did some aerial scouting of potential canoe routes down near the lake. And I take it slow and downshift.

So we had a small adventure in the meadow, marshy spots, a pretty little rush of water, blue skies, breeze, and precious few humans. Took a nap on a rock while Tule chewed on a bone she found. Just enjoyed being outside. It’s been a long time, due to school, since we’ve gotten to go out so much. For me, this is heaven. Next time, we’ll exert more energy and go to one of the lakes that I like so much.


Today, we are being more disciplined and cleaning house. OK, I’m cleaning and Tule is still conked out from yesterday’s effort. One long neglected chore was moving the bed out and getting some leftover parts from kitty snacks. 'Nuf said. I think we’ve earned more play time. One of these days I’ll have to get back to work on the thesis, but it’s not this weekend. Life is, indeed, good.

Pinchie

The only episode of the Simpsons that I remember is the one with Pinchie. Homer is aghast at the price of restaurant lobster and decides to raise his own. Problem is, Pinchie becomes a coddled pet. One day walking Pinchie on the beach, a crab comes up and grabs his nose. Homer tells Pinchie, “You don’t have to take that from no punk-ass crab.” This is also the episode that has a sign outside the church that reads, “No shoes, no shirt, no salvation.” But I digress.

The reason I remember this episode is that Jenn and Mike made me watch it repeatedly when I introduced them (at least Jenn) to the joy of eating lobster. Of course for me that has now been translated to eating artichokes—same process and dipping accoutrements, but no screaming.

The modern version of Pinchie is now living in a fish tank in Brian’s living room. He (Brian) catches crayfish in Billie Pond and the river, eats most, but has saved one that he calls, yes indeed, Pinchie. The others have donated their torsos to fence decoration, similar to the finger puppets we made when my sister got the urge to boil up some crayfish from the creek at Grandma’s house.

A couple of days ago we went out canoeing again in the lower Owens River. The crawdaddies were all out sunning themselves, a few inches below the surface, on logs and other submerged perches. We must have seen a dozen of them. That stretch of river was pretty clogged with tules and had many log obstacles. It reminded me of alligator bayou outside of Baton Rouge which I explored in a canoe in November, 1996. Just after meeting Jenn and Mike. And crawdad country.

So Pinchie came full circle on a glorious day on the Owens Bayou. I apologize to the universe for all the lobsters and crawdads that I have participated in slaughtering. But they sure have made for good times with special people.

Sing along here.