ANIMALSCAPES ART SHOW.

 

Hidden Giants by Lori Kelly.   The rules behind this competitive art show called Animalscapes, of Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, required depictions of animals from our area. I know we don't have elephants.

 

Chains to Flowers by Jim Sells.  A second elephant, embracing an unmistakable theme, and preciously done, reminded me that we do have elephants in Calaveras county, in the rescue acres at PAWS, the Performing Animal Welfare Society. They definitely live here.

 

Black Tail Deer by Laurie Williams.  The animals I see the most is deer.

 

Companions-Sifu Berchtold. And these pesty little beauties, the pileated woodpeckers.

 

Whee! By Juliana Tillman. Visitors can vote for a favorite. I spoke with an arts council friend who was a judge and she was surprised at the outcome. She did not reveal her choice as discretion is important in these things. None that placed would have been my picks. I find that happens a lot at art and quilt shows.  I quickly decided this one was going to be my fav. The opening event was one where you could meet the artist, and I met some of my favorite artists. Not all had an entry, but they do turn up for the arts.

 

Meet the artist, Juliana Tillman  I managed to corral the artist, I'd never met her before.

 

Spotted Owl-Forget Me Not, Diana Boyd.  There were many owls entered in the competition. Held at Kautz Winery, I learned that the Owl is the symbol of the Kautz Coat of Arms.

And, two real owls there to raise money for Wildlife Rescue organizations. This is a barn owl.

 

And this sawwhet owl is three years old and looks like a baby. She bites, the rescue worker told me. Her role in life is to tear her prey to bits and she is good at it. On an African Safari I took in 1997, that point was made so unforgettably clear, I could never again view deer as Bambi's nor lions as talking characters. The wild is something to respect and I never cross that line and feed wild animals. I love watching, though.

 

Bell Meadow Bears, Karen Nina Kling. Baby animals, no matter what specie, are adorable.

 

The Threat by Marta Magstrali.  Named the threat, huh!  The most petted piece in the show. You couldn't help but run your hands over this unique fellow.

The little mouse on his behind made me smile. What an enjoyable piece of art.


And, then I came upon the piece I voted for. This Horse Head by Larissa Stephenson. So real looking I wanted to reach out and pet its nose, even though the feel of velvet would be missing.


The show had a musician and young women passed out champagne and hors d'oeuvres. It was lovely and I'll see the show again when it moves to Amador County. I'm meeting a friend from Discovery Bay there for lunch next month.

 

I met Art Director, Susie Hoffman. I stopped her to take a picture of her feather earrings, very Native American looking. She bought them in Paris. She is director at Town Hall Arts, Galerie Copper in Copperopolis. She invited me to visit and I will get there one of these days. I love that I live in a community where the arts have such  great prominence. For the rest of my photos click the link below:

2016-1-15-AnimalScapesArtshow

BRENTWOOD FRIENDS, THE ARCHIVE.

From everything I read, networking with friends and family is healthy. Meet my high-school friend, Faye Gebo. If I'm lucky, I get to see her about once a year or every other year. I spent Wednesday night with she and her partner, Dave Goodwin.

Her only child, Celeste is like one of those miracle babies, it almost didn't happen. I haven't seen Celeste in about 6 or 7 years. She loves the para-normal, high adventure, nature, and her fur children.

This is only part of the family.

Through Faye's living room window, we watched a parade of jack rabbits, cotton tails, ground squirrels and ducks. They see deer, and infrequent foxes and coyotes, too.

Somehow, I just never tire of watching wildlife of any type.

Dave is an avid golfer, three times a week, at least. We went to his favorite Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Afterward we played a silly game, called "What's Your's Like?" Dave commented, "It brings up topics for conversation," and it did.

On Thursday morning, I made my way to the Alameda County Sheriff's Archive and Museum. Bud Harlan, former deputy sheriff and avid volunteer was discussing the old Harlan Family House with two visiting archivists from Dublin. The house is from Contra Costa County and is on the National Register of Historical Places.  Bud has family records going back to the 1800's from the Livermore Valley.

A third archivist, lost his hearing in an accident, from a blow to the head. Totally deaf, he prefers to use a microphone to talk to people. I've never seen an apparatus quite like his, but it was very comfortable talking to him this way.

The Association President, Bill Rhodes is very good about finding better ways to display our collections. His strength is in the museum end of things. The uniforms, and regalia of all types are here. And, the sign, Fick The Pugs has an interesting story. It is a replica of a butcher paper sign as wide as a building from the 1960's protests in Berkeley. The protestors at that time were much too polite to reverse the P and the F. Now the F word is so common, it amazes me to this day.

During that riot, the deputies were given birdshot and told to reload their rifles and replace the buckshot. But, someone failed to do that, or didn't unload enough of the buckshot and a another protestor sign went up over a building with holes in the windows proving that was the case. The sign, partially hidden reads:  Birdshot?? Bulls_it! Buckshot.

Every time I go, there is something new, or newly placed. The group has made good use of the old, and now rebuilt, guard tower to display items. They electrified the guard tower and will have an old siren and a search light operable for demonstrations when visitors come. The original building did not have electricity. It was electrified later and the light and siren added. The original tower had a sign on the door reading:  "Aim the B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) away from the Highway when firing at inmates."  That sign was actually original from Camp Shoemaker days. The Sheriff got the property from the Federal Government. There are many stories in this building, some funny, others desperate and still others heroic.  If you know a story about this place, contact me and I'll record it for the archive.

TYGART LAKE STATE PARK, W. VIRGINIA

Instead of giving Clarksburg a second look, we decided to head for Grafton, W.Virginia which is the turnoff point to Tygart Lake State Park. At only 20 miles, it saves the longer drive into the Appalachian Mountains where stops are few and shoulders narrow.  I enjoyed seeing old barns and shooting them from the window,


They are kind of an endangered species.

.


Road signs warned that the road was rough. And they were worse than this in many places.


No mention of an extremely narrow one-way to get to the park entrance. One car wasn't quite close enough to the curb and it was almost a choice between, should we hit the car or ruin our mirror on the telephone pole? A three-inch clearance is scary, but we scooted by.


The road into Tygart Lake was rough as well.


And the distance was supposedly 3 miles off the highway. Well, if you count the first sign of human activity it might have been 3 miles.  Navigating hilly, hair-pin turns, with a few  peek-a-boo peeps of the lake and marina through the trees; at least two miles of cabins, then, finally, we find the camp ground. Three miles?  Nope!


The "good" spots, and  few of them, were taken. Not exactly level as you can see this guy has four boards under one wheel and he tried for five under the other.


This is hill country, nothing is level here.


This sign is sort of mystifying since all the garbage cans are open without covers? Raccoons can easily pull over a plastic can and check out our garbage. So far, we've seen a wild turkey, deer, ducks and a chipmunk.


It took an hour to get set-up for the night because the terrain is uneven, narrow, and difficult to maneuver with recent rains adding deep muddy ruts.  But, it is, in the end, wilderness, and beautiful and peaceful.


These older campgrounds were never built for such as we. We have no right to complain. Adversity is what makes you remember, and we won't ever forget our trip to Tygart Lake. Kind of makes me remember how critical we, of Murphys, are of flatlanders moving to the mountains for the clean air, and rural atmosphere, who then complain about lack of shopping and narrow, unmaintained roads.  Same thing. We do have to keep things in perspective and remember you give up certain creature comforts when you are on the road. For me?  Gladly. It is a great lifestyle.

AJO, ARIZONA

Yesterday, before we left Painted Rock, this little fox came out of a hole and decided to catch the last rays of  sunshine.

As the sun went down, a partner popped out of the hole and we watched them cavort, and peek and scamper in and out of their den which is right next to the road in the park.  Then, when it got dark, they took off and went hunting. Taking pictures was tough with the low light and their quick movements, but, doncha know?  We  love this kind of entertainment.

As we were leaving the park, and on arriving, too, we saw gigantic power lines being installed. Jim speculated it was a new solar installation. As we rounded the bend, there was the sign.  ABENGOA, Solana Generating Station.  We love to see that happen. It is interesting that at Painted Rock, and at every campground or boondocking site we stay, we are the only RV with lights on in the early morning.  Thanks to our solar. We get up and enjoy the quiet mornings with plenty of power.


We  drove to Ajo, Arizona, did our laundry, drove around town, went to the visitors center for sight seeing  information and visited the VFW. They allowed us to park overnight .  Jim took a notion to photograph our view from the dining room window every morning, just for the heck of it. Sometimes they are diamonds and sometimes coal.  I kind of chuckled over what is sure to be a coal picture today.  Light is just breaking and he went off to help the post volunteers  set up tables and canopies for a big chili cook off.  Looks like we are in for a fun day!
Last night we had a beer at the VFW bar. For a small town, they lost 16 guys to WWII and they have three graves right on site. I’ve never seen that before. We’ll probably learn more about it today.

ARMED ENCAMPMENT

Last night, shots rang out and I knew the feral pig hunters were actively patrolling. The picture above is a skinny pig compared to the pictures my neighbor, Gary Gonzalez  got of five pigs invading his yard July 4th.  Sunday night,  one of my Hanging Tree neighbors in a golf cart-like vehicle, with a powerful strobe light and a cross bow,  was cruising the road flashing the woods looking for pigs.  I’d planned to take a cool evening walk  Monday night and thought better of it. Not only because of the hunters but because Gerry Baumgartner, another Hanging Tree neighbor reported he had been visited by a bear twice in the last two weeks and the neighbor above him has had three visits from two different bears. Both have armed themselves with canned horns.  Its beginning to feel like an armed encampment here.

Bears and pigs are related and their meat tastes similar. I know that for a fact since I once butchered a bear for my brother who hunted and killed a bear in neighboring Tuolumne County when he was only 18 years old.  Bears and feral pigs compete for the same food. Both can be aggressive and can and will attack humans if cornered or threatened, though that rarely happens.  In the 1980′s I encountered feral pigs in Wilseyville and Railroad Flat, the upper, mountainous western part of Calaveras County. I’ve lived in Murphys since 1978 and have never seen a bear within two miles of my place, nor have I seen feral pigs. I find it somewhat disturbing to realize that the bear population and feral pigs are wandering into new territory. It makes me wonder what shift in the environmental balance caused them to hunger out of their range? From past experience, it is usually human activity that upsets the balance. In any case, one neighbor was feeling very sympathetic to the feral pigs being hunted and considered setting out corn for them.  It seemed to be the right time to get educated about feral pigs and the damage they do. I looked at a couple of sources but Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has the most thorough information on feral pigs and I copied my pictures from them:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wildlife/PUBL/wlnotebook/Pig.htm
There are approximately four million feral pigs in the United States. Fact:  more people are killed by pigs than sharks. Domestic pigs were originally brought here from Spain and allowed to propagate in the wilds of California. Russian razorbacks and pigs from Germany were brought to New Hampshire, the Carolinas and California in the early 1900′s. They are ferocious fighters, can produce two or more litters per year and live for 25 years. They’ve become a serious problem in 23 states.
Mountain lions, bobcats and bears will feed on young pigs but the adult pigs are voracious predators. President Roosevelt once watched a pig dismember a jaguar.
” They especially relish acorns as well as hickory and beech nuts in the autumn. At other times of the year they eat forbs, grasses, leaves, berries and other fruits, roots and tubers, corn and other agricultural crops, insects, crayfish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, mice, eggs of ground-nesting birds, young rabbits, fawns and young livestock, such as lambs, calves, kids. They can also kill larger livestock that are weak from illness or injury. When fresh meat is not available, feral pigs will also readily scavenge carrion.”
They destroy wetland habitat, muddying the waters, breaking down the banks of rivers, destroy aquatic plants and have been known to corner larger prey and hunt as a group, breaking  legs and getting an animal on the ground. Their powerful bite can snap a kneecap or crush a peach pit with equal ease. They have been known to gnaw down a small tree and trample bushes in the wild. In domestic gardens and landscaped areas the damage is formidable. So, I say to my neighbor, don’t feel sorry for these invaders and let us support our hunters. In Wisconsin, they can be taken at anytime. In California, hunters need a pig tag, unless you are defending your property or livestock.  I’m told they are  better tasting than what we buy at the store. Luau time.

CRITTERS I'VE MET

Growing up in the country gave me a deep appreciation for the critters we share the planet with. On our trip, I can't say we viewed a lot of wildlife, but we did run into these gorgeous pelicans in Venice, LA.

 

Our campsite was visited by this group of javelinas at Big Bend National Park in Texas.

Also this handsome coyote, fearless in bright daylight.

In Louisiana's Bayou Signette State Pk. a busy armadillo regularly passed through the campsites. 

At Jean LaFitte National Park, this beautiful fat squirrel. 

 This picture was also from Jean LaFitte. Its always a thrill to see wildlife. (More on this tomorrow.)