FESTIVE NOEL

Julia Shelby, a San Francisco transplant, started Mountain Melody Womens Chorus in 2005. A bright star in our mountain communities is this all volunteer group of about 18 women, singers all, with two piano players and a flutist.   Shelby chooses  innovative music, with intricate, lively and echoing harmonies. What a treat.
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Also a treat, is Casa Terra Cotta, this beautiful mountaintop estate, loaned to the Calaveras Arts Council for the event. I was  grateful for the sun, but the time of day was brutal for photos.


I ran smack dab into my neighbor Judith, and friends I hadn’t seen in a couple of years, David and JoEllen Gano. A stranger grabbed my camera and offered to take a picture.


What makes the estate so enchanting, is the marvelous windows surrounding you from every direction, providing the best views from the mountain top, at  the same time making picture-taking difficult.


I concentrated on faces and the wonderful music. Dobru’ Noc, a Slovakian Folk Song


This Little Light Of Mine.

The Seal Lullaby


Nothin’ Gonna Stumble My Feet.


After the concert, we enjoyed desserts and wine punch and mingled with guests and members of the chorus. Michael VonErich sung the solo Mary Did You Know? Her deep resonant voice, and the words brought me to tears. I had to meet her, only to discover she is moving away from Mountain Ranch. She told me she grew up singing as a child with Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene, the guys who wrote the words and music to the song. What a talent she is. And what a loss to our community.


Maddie and I walked the grounds and enjoyed the views.


Some people stayed close to the outdoor fireplace.


We all got to sing for Marta Johnson’s birthday, another old friend I hadn’t seen in years.


On the drive home, Maddie and I oohed and ahhed at another birthday, these little newborn lambs on wobbly legs. We both wondered  why are these young lambs born in the cold month of December? We hope it isn’t from climate change, but in my yard I’ve seen a late fawn all through November. A strange year in so many ways.

BRAIN DEAD.

Some mornings you wake up and you are brain-dead. I tried to write my Christmas letter and all I could focus on was the accident and the aftermath. A close friend lost her husband Thursday. And, another friend's grandson was murdered by his own daughter's murderer, the husband/father. A serial killer on our road? Hard to believe.

Suddenly, I felt like I had no good cheer to offer this morning.  Gotta get a grip! Plus, it vexes me that I don't have access to pictures I took and stored with my Motor Home computer, and stuff on this computer is not available from the Motor Home unless I carry a heavy computer back and forth. They were uploaded to Picasa, but I can't figure out how to get them burned to a disk from Picasa.
I pressed a friend to teach me how to put pictures in a Christmas letter, so maybe I'll hear from him today. 

Yesterday, I put up some of the Christmas lights and have a living room full of boxes to decorate for Christmas. Not a card sent. Maybe today will be more productive and spirited. Put on the carols, have some mulled wine...hey, it is time to get into the spirit of Christmas.
Today, I'll just post a couple of old pictures I like.


I love this one of my brother warming his pizza on an iron. He was demonstrating how he did things in his younger bachelor days.


This painting from the Florence Griswold School intrigues me because it has that I'm taking a picture of you while you are aiming at me, effect.


And, this pen and ink drawing of a woman who seems just a bit suspicious of the viewers  motives.
Art heals, but I let the wood stove fire go out to remove the ashes and now I'm chilled. Gotta get a cup of coffee.

MADE IN AMERICA.

Normally when my son Ken visits, he leaves in a suit and tie. He is transitioning from Nevada to California, and stays with me periodically. This time, he was dressed as a huntsman. He brought 4 smoked pheasant for Christmas dinner and took clients hunting again on Friday. I’m not overly enthused about hunting in this day and age, but the hunt clubs provide birds just like stocking a lake. So, I guess I shouldn’t diss the practice too heavily. Better than depleting wild stocks of duck, pheasant and quail.



Anyway, he had wet socks from Thursdays hunt and went to Big 5 to buy another pair. They were identical to his 10-year-old socks he still wears.   A big sign at Big 5 proclaimed, Proudly Made In America. Quality in a pair of socks that will see him through another ten years.
Yesterday, I picked up my wounded Toyota and stopped in Stockton to buy some art supplies, and a few items.  At a Marshall’s store I was surprised to find under garments made in America and socks, made in Italy. There was plenty of goods made in China, as well, but at least I had a choice.
I guess I’ve come to the point where I don’t want to buy anything made in China even though I like and respect the hard-working Chinese people.



I don’t often have a chance to eat Indian food, but at Swagat, I met Misty. She pointed out that Swagat is the best Indian restaurant in Stockton and pointed me to her favorite dishes. All was delicious and such a bargain.
It was nice to get out and away from the rain for a day.


The cook made some of the best tandoori chicken I’ve ever tasted. My own recipe is from a family friend is good, but this was better.


I drove home with the sun setting in my mirror. It was spectacular, but by the time I found a spot to pull over, it was nearly over.

I like it that I can go to nearby Stockton and come home with a bit of India, Italy and Made In America. Don’t we live in a wonderful country?

FISH AGAIN

Yesterday started out sunny. Then misty, foggy, rain was falling all around.  Maybe that is why I’m so stuck on the subject of fish.

Anyway, this little experiment, if you want to call it that, may interest you.

Major William J. Bates of Wayne, PA. keeps his goldfish bowl near his television set. The Major claims the fish swim round and round and ignore the television shows and news programs. But, when there is a western movie playing, the fish stop swimming and watch the cowboys in action.

Hmmm. If only these fish could talk. Guys love the cowboy shows. Maybe they are closely related to fish, maybe they stink, or…I don’t know.  It’s dreary outside. Whazzup, guys?

Gotta fish story?

A TEST OF LEGAL MARIJUANA

The legal marijuana law went into effect in Washington State today. Being in possession of  an ounce of marijuana is no longer unlawful. The new law has been crafted rather carefully.

For at least a year, Washingtonians won’t be able to legally grow or sell the pot they can now legally buy.
And, hanging over it all, federal authorities still won’t say whether they’ll play ball as state leaders in Olympia attempt to put in place the truly revolutionary piece of I-502 – a state system which licenses growers and dealers while taxing the heck out of pot.

I hate the stuff and don’t like the smell of someone smoking it. The bill makes it illegal to smoke in public places. Illegal on college campuses. Illegal to drive under the influence and a test for marijuana can now qualify over use. Occupations that involve driving can still screen for marijuana and randomly drug test employees for use just like alcohol.  Factories where people use precision equipment can choose not to hire marijuana users and can screen potential employees. It can’t be sold near schools or to teens and the usual education against smoking cigarettes of any kind will apply to marijuana.

While I hate it, I absolutely defend and approve of decriminalizing weed. In my community where medical marijuana is legal and the people dependent on it for pain are legitimate users of a drug that helps people tremendously without having to depend on a constipating and addictive narcotic drug. Ingesting it, instead of smoking it, should also be part of the medical package.

And, while I hate it, I hate even more seeing our prisons fill up with young people who now have a criminal record for carrying a relatively harmless substance. Some of those young men and women, have families and could be supporting their families instead of filling up the jails.

And, I hate the idea that the South American drug cartels smuggle tons of the stuff into the U.S. and have their slimy fingers all over ghetto neighborhoods recruiting young kids to peddle an un-taxable substance that should be grown right here, regulated and taxed.

It will be interesting to watch and see how it works out in Washington State before the legalize marijuana initiative comes up again in California and other places. Obviously, after all this time, pot use isn’t going away on its own. I think it will be a good thing if raw marijuana can be possessed and sold, but not in cigarette form for commercial manufacture. I’d hate to see a whole new population of people  stopping into their 7-11 and bringing it home along with their nicotine before more testing of marijuana is done.  Kids will steal cigarettes at a young age in a heartbeat.

FRESH FISH.

Fish should be fresh but these ceramic fish are downright cheeky. On the phone, Jim talks excitedly about the unique opportunity to take close up deer photos at his current place at Thousand Trails in Texas. I’m bummed because I can’t be there, but I’ve got plane tickets to join him. And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jim. (Today we are the same age.) X0X0.


I really love ceramics but traveling as we do, and now, with medical problems and therapy, I have no time for ceramics except to enjoy other people’s.- It is even tougher to get pictures of fresh fish, Jim. Your next challenge.



I once had a pond full of goldfish, but the raccoons discovered it and that ended that.

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After that octopus and shark video yesterday, these art pieces are just too cute.

TOP PREDATORS?

The giant squid is the largest creature without a backbone. It weighs up to 2.5 tons and grows up to 55 feet long. Each eye is a foot or more in diameter. For eons the shark has been considered the oceans top predator until the Seattle Aquarium found sharks disappearing.  One night they caught on camera, a common giant octopus, that had been moved into a larger tank with sharks and other big fish, gobble up a shark. Hmm!

The divers that have photographed octopus and giant squids now know what danger they have been in. Besides their unique ability to camouflage themselves and disappear before your eyes, a giant octopus or squid has the strength to easily gobble up a human.
 check out the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFOEZh1Lbbg




We think we know what the top land predator is.  That’s something to think about.

TORRENTIAL RAIN.

And Then The Rains Came Down…Ah, Uh.  I know there is a song with those words but I couldn’t find it. Oh, well, I’ve always wanted an opportunity to use the weather words “torrential downpour”. That is what we had. The drain on my walkway is overwhelmed and can’t drain off the water fast enough. The river flowing in front of my guest quarters isn’t all that visible from the picture but I was ready to get out the row-boat.


This is what it looks like up close.


And, the waterfall from the roof where it overwhelmed the gutters.


Not exactly scenic. Science says, we’ll be getting more of this kind of aberrant storm with climate change. The Southland is going to get pretty crowded. I COULD be in 77 degree weather watching the deer and squirrels in Texas with Jim. Am I turning into a weather wimp?



Actually, there is real danger here because huge, heavy oak trees, especially if they are leaning, can topple when the ground gets too saturated all at once. I had some major trimming done when I returned home in July and am thankful all of my trees held firm.

POP! GOES THE WEASEL.

We all sang it and jumped rope to it when we were kids. Well, sometimes I forget what generation I’m in. But, surely we’ve all HEARD the song.

“All around the cobbler's bench,
The monkey chased the weasel,
the monkey stopped to pull up his sock.
Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,
a penny for a needle.
That’s the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

I knew what a weasel was since we had chickens and weasels are as clever as foxes at breaking into the chicken coop. My dad would point out their tracks and curse them vehemently.

There are many verses sung in various parts of the world. The song actually originated in London in 1852. Most of the verses were sort of ribald tales of “where the money goes…as in carousing, gambling, drinking, and worse..”

As it turns out, the rollicking little song isn’t about a chicken eating weasel either. The usual chorus in London was,

Up and down the City Road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes-
Pop! goes the weasel.

The Eagle was a well known London music hall where drinks were sold. The weasel was a tool used by hatters, often pawned on Saturday night. Pop was a slang term for hock.

Hmmm! Now I know Pop goes the weasel wasn’t an American jump rope song, nor a simple fun rhyme that was easy to make up verses to match it.  It was an adult fun ditty.  And,  now you know too.

STORMING TO MODESTO

Karen and I battled a horrific storm all the way to Modesto Toyota to pick up my Prius with its newly installed battery pack.  The winds and blinding rain made it a slow, careful drive.  It was still raining as we pulled in. And, then the bad news. We drove all that way and my car needs a relay switch and won’t be ready for two or three days. Guess what?  We called and were told the car was ready. I was not a happy camper.


The rain abated somewhat as we headed home.


At one point we had to move to the turn lane because the driving lane was completely flooded. The old truck is high off the ground, but it is never safe to drive through deep water. We estimated the depth at seven to 12 inches in some places.


We decided to seize the day and pulled into a Mexican restaurant, Michoachan. The atmosphere and the food were just right. Cheerful and delicious. Wonderful old pictures on the walls, except they are under glass and none of them turned out very well. This one of Pancho Villa was decent and reminded me of our stop in Columbia, New Mexico earlier this year where we enjoyed the Cabalgata. Especially Mexico’s nearby county sheriff dressed like Pancho Villa with his  marvelous saddle horn in his image.

It is interesting that the picture does not load with the correct pixelation, but it loaded fine in the blog of March 10th of this year if you want to visit the Cabalgata in full.