LUNCH WITH JOAN.

I met my friend, Joan Higgins, of Mi-Wuk Village for lunch. In the past, we would go to Diamond Jim's, but alas, the restaurant is closed, the economy has leveled so many things. Mi-Wuk is about 18 miles above Sonora and while the restaurant is closed, the scenery isn't. I meandered along enjoying the passing pine forest, the smells of cedar, cones rolling about the roadside, passing  glimpses of yellow aspen and bursts of vermillion and burnt umber in a bush peeping out of the green. Mi-Wuk elevation is 4,000 feet.

People who move to mountain "retreats" like their privacy and getting away from city traffic. Joan and her husband retired among the quiet and beauty many years ago. Now, winter has driven her off the mountain until warm weather returns. But, home is still where the heart is and October has stretched out the good weather this year. During the rim fire, she had to leave the area because of the smoke.

Joan drove to Sonora and picked up a bake your own pizza and made a salad for lunch.  Fresh out of the oven and delicious. We laughed. We could just as well have met in Sonora,  there are a number of restaurants along the way besides Diamond Jim's. But truth to tell, we both prefer to sit for an hour or two and yak. I hadn't seen Joan in two years. The last time, we met at her winter escape in Arizona. Like me, she is widowed. Our husband's were life-long friends.

Jim and I visit small places often as we travel and for years I ignored the history in my own back yard. The Mi-Wuks, who now prefer to spell their tribal name Me-Wuk settled this area hundreds of years ago. They built cedar shelters like the the one in this picture and also tee-pee shaped, moveable dwellings as well. Their habit was to grind acorns into flour to make a flat Indian bread, fish the rivers and hunt small game. They traveled over Sonora Pass and traded with the Eastern Sierra Paiute Indians, camping along the way. Archeologists have found their acorn grinding holes and the obsidian arrow heads the Paiute traded with them. In fact, Sonora was founded along a Me-Wuk Indian trail.

We said our goodbyes, and promised to meet again. We have a lot in common; both of us were raised strong Catholics, we both are one of seven siblings and we have many friends in common. The Me-Wuks now run the only Indian Casino within our three counties, Alpine, Toulomne, and Calaveras. I have Mi-Wuk Indian grinding holes on my property in Murphys. I'm glad the Me-Wuk have better resources than they used to, but neither of us care to frequent their casino, and we both treasure the Motherlode.

TRIP TO OREGON.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent in Oregon with my building contractor, who is also my son, to meet with an Oregon Engineer to check the plans to see if they meet code in Oregon. I usually take pictures of Mt.Shasta and Black Butte, but they were shrouded in haze. I enjoyed the fall colors in this dry section before reaching the Oregon border from California.

We stopped at a rest stop at Willitts and my Prius  gave a check engine light. I called my roadside service. The dispatcher was somewhere in Iowa and didn’t know what a rest stop was. He kept asking for a nearby street. I kept telling him we were on an Interstate traveling North and any nearby tow service would know where we were located. Anyway, after 40 minutes, the car started and never peeped the rest of the trip. Western States really do have a great system of rest stops for travelers, every 30 to 50 miles along I-5.

Doug drew the plan on pilings, something more economical than a conventional foundation. He could calculate loads and stresses but he could not calculate wind and uplift.  None of the books and information from the county gave him a wind calculation for the area. Meet Charles “Bud” Furrey of Precision Structural Engineering, Inc. at Medford. What a super guy. He was instantly helpful and did the calcs for Doug, then checked Doug’s plans thoroughly and pronounced them excellent. He told us the county will not accept plans from a non-engineer, which we knew, and he was glad to write a letter saying he approved the plans and provide his stamp for a very reasonable fee. Doug was really sweating this because a California Engineer he went to was very unhelpful about wind calcs.

We tromped my property, and measured the exact points where the building will be built and noted other tasks, tree limbs to be cut and so on. We were so busy I forgot to take any pictures. We had a late dinner and spent the night in a local hotel. I didn’t get my camera out until we were back on the road for home. The cascades peeking from behind a wall of green.


More fall color.
And, home sweet home.

FINDING PERSONAL TIME.

Jim always says, “When you get off the road, you rant about politics, things you can do nothing about.” He is right, of course. Being on the road keeps my nose out of the newspapers and the egregious crap that goes on in Washington seems more distant through the computer. We decided we need to find  personal time to do something fun each weekend. Without a doubt, chores pile up while I’m gone and tasks never ending are always waiting. I watch very little television, but a package offer from Direct TV and AT&T for phone, internet and television was irresistible. The installer came on a Sunday, she is an independent contractor.  Yesterday afternoon, we watched two movies back to back.  I’m home through December and they offer all those expensive movie channels for three months free.

But, life doesn’t always cooperate with your plans . My neighbor/friend had an emergency. She fell on a muddy down slope at Mellones Lake and twisted her knee and cut her foot. When ice and rest didn’t help, she called. We spent five hours in the emergency room.

Saturday night, son Ken and his wife Laurie visited, had a drink and took us out to dinner. I forgot to take a picture which means I was having a good time and forgot all about blogging. A good sign. Besides, I picked this Bob Hope eggplant in my neighbor’s garden, which he shares with Karen and I, and Jim isn’t too fond of eggplant.  It’s so pretty I hate to cut into it. I’ll put it in a fruit bowl for a couple of days with some bright red peppers.
A very simple recipe, my own experiment, is to saute an eggplant, chopped up in spicy olive oil. I like Vigo but any one will do.  When almost soft,  steam in the pan covered until cooked through, five minutes or so. Season with a splot of lemon juice fresh or bottled and a couple of tablespoons of Kikoman’s Honey Pineapple teriyaki glaze. Yum. Good on the side or over a minimum amount of rice. I’ve also made the sauce myself, with crushed pineapple etc.

RECIPE FOR DISASTER.

I am not a fan of the National Rifle Association. Especially when I learned that they are now profiting and manufacturing guns that they are also pushing and marketing to kids. I was appalled when I found an offer to a Boy Scout Troop for an NRA rep to come out and teach seven and eight year olds how to use firearms. Their poster child is an eight year old girl who can handle a rifle like a pro. (I couldn't find that video but I found 6 others. These are parents teaching their kids to shoot. Not the NRA.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLRyvgKr4sU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDIiMzg3ht4

On Yesterday's blog about Urban Shield, while all references are to "training", the end goal is for a military complex to be roaming our streets to "protect" us. I AM ALARMED. I HOPE YOU ARE TOO. I had not seen this speech from President Obama until a reader posted it on my blog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s

I mentioned President Eisenhower's reference to the Industrial Military Complex. It has been ages since I heard that speech. But, here it is in full. You can click to skip the ad, the speech is very short and to the point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

If we do not safeguard our freedoms and separate from the military complex, we are courting disaster.

URBAN SHIELD? INSURRECTION?

Countries where the military is strongest have the potential to be taken over by the military.  Many years ago, Sinclair Lewis stated:  
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."

Right now, as a country, we have private prisons with profit makers attempting to keep them good and full, because it is profitable to do so. That is in itself a scary proposition that poses a threat to the freedoms we cherish in this country. We don't lose freedom we give it away, inch by inch by well-meaning laws.


While I was at the archive on Thursday, I saw posters like this for Urban Shield. I asked one of the guys for an explanation of what it is. He told me SWAT teams have been determined not to work very well, so law enforcement agencies all over the U.S. and in Israel and other countries have formed this militaristic organization to address violent incidents, a shooter threatening a school, a homegrown terrorist who bombs a car or building. Urban Shield zips in and takes care of it. They are always actively ready.

I brought up URBAN SHIELD on the internet and there are training videos of how things work. It reminds me of the same training a SWAT team gets. It is a readiness program. At first, I could find no information about how they are funded. None on how they work in response to a real emergency that makes them any different or superior to a SWAT team?

One site the language was so confusing, I couldn't understand what they were saying.

This site, for Boston was more explanatory:

Annually, the Region conducts Urban Shield Boston, a continuous 24-hour exercise, during which first responders are deployed to and rotated through various training scenarios. This is the largest exercise ever conducted in Boston, involving over 600 emergency responders from 50 agencies. The goal of Urban Shield is to test and evaluate specific public safety capabilities that have been developed, or enhanced, with the investment of funds received from the Department of Homeland Security through the UASI grant program and supports the regional objectives in Goal 1: NIMS.

HOMELAND SECURITY IS FUNDING THIS.  Hmmm!  I'm remembering President Eisenhower's words, "Beware the Military Complex."

Urban Shield Boston is a national model, full-scale exercise, designed to assess and validate the speed, effectiveness and efficiency of capabilities, as well as test the adequacy of regional policies, plans, procedures and protocols. This exercise incorporates regional critical infrastructure, emergency operation centers, regional communication systems, equipment and assets, as well as personnel representing all aspects of emergency response including intelligence, law enforcement, Explosive Ordinance Disposal Units, Fire, EMS, etc. The link below:

http://www.mbhsr.org/?p=86

It appears to be just a once a year exercise. A training exercise. So, how does it operate? And what will it morph into if funded as a full time "protection service", as in a military like service, like the National Guard, only  always on the street?  Do we need  a new layer of the military that roams the streets for, as suggested, 24 hours a day patrols in constant readiness?

Then I hit on a site from Oakland and I was in for a surprise. This is a group against Urban Shield that describes it as a venue to buy high priced, high class military weapons to use on the streets of our cities to be prepared for incidents like car bombings, etc.

Kind of makes me wonder who convinced the department that SWAT teams don't work well. And, makes me think that our police right now are more militaristic than ever. We have more incidents of shoot first and ask questions later.  You might want to check out the link below:

http://forusa.org/events/2013/10/25/facing-urban-shield-day-action

I can see the value of this excellent training. But I question where it is going and hope that if you are set to vote on a permanent installation, nationwide, of military security on our streets, that you think long and hard about it.  Educate yourself. Ask questions.

Right now we have a constitution that isn't being used very much as in protecting the General Welfare of the People.

We have a FDA and an EPA that don't obey their own laws and rules. We have Corporations that write our laws to suit their interests rather than the interests of the General Public with the help of bought and paid for lawmakers we vote into office.   And, some would say we are facing insurrection and rebellion against a document a 5th grader can understand, a document that has held us in good stead for 200 years.

The 14th amendment to the Constitution, Section 3, states that no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution. Section 4 of that same amendment states the validity of the public debt incurred shall not be questioned, and shall be paid, excluding aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States.

Certain members of Congress have deliberately sabotaged and/or refused to fund the government and the debt ceiling, actually celebrating it. As such, these members are guilty of insurrection and rebellion against the United States Constitution, and thus should be impeached and removed from Congress.
THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS. THEY ARE FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

A VISIT TO ALAMEDA COUNTY.

The Alameda County Prison at Santa Rita houses the Sheriffs Office Archive and Museum and is run by volunteers. It has been a pet project of mine for many years, but with my new traveling lifestyle, I make very few meetings. New at the jail since my last visit was this array of solar water heaters. I quickly counted 22 of them. WOW, was I impressed. What a savings for the taxpayers.

Three new solar array installations also new. This powers the training center and related buildings

Another array sits on the hillside behind the jail complex.

This one only looks like it is sitting in the weeds. Instead it was the position of my camera. Interesting to me, one of the volunteers told me, one of these arrays is connected to a robotic track that turns them to follow the sun to get the most benefit from the sun. Solar is getting cheaper and cheaper as more people wake up to the savings. The jail has huge generators on-line as back up for any type of power failure.

Newly rebuilt, the "old" style guard tower is now manned by a mannikin. The guys are looking for someone talented enough to paint a realistic face and hair on this "officer."

My cousin Toni Moore lives in Pleasanton not far from the jail and she invited me for lunch. She fixed a marvelous chicken salad for lunch.

Her oldest son had a nearby dental appointment and joined us. Kurt introduced me to his girlfriend, Yolanda, as cousin Mary and I kept thinking, no he is cousin to my kids.  They are all about the same age since Toni and I went to High School together.  But, he is right. We are second cousins and it has been way too long since we've visited. Cousin and auntie or uncle are used pretty casually to include anyone you are closely or distantly related too. It works for me.

GONE FISHING.

It is Alameda County Sheriffs Office Archive Association meeting day today. I drive 122 miles one way, so no blog this morning.

I cut up my brush yesterday without pain. I got tired earlier and quit sooner. Be back tomorrow.

HEALING DEMANDS ITS OWN PACE.

I've always loved gardening, and the weather has been balmy and inviting. Finished the succulents and lined them up against the wall. These plants were in two over crowded containers when Karen and I started. She takes care of my plants when I travel, so I no longer do any planting without consulting her, first. She told me we'd have to put them under shelter for winter, so we decided on lightweight pots that aren't too heavy to lift.


I now have a worker who comes to help with the heavy lifting, but he tends to come when he feels like it. I've felt quite fit, so, I got the loppers and pruned the sucker growth around the second-growth oak trees in about five places.


His last two visits my helper was supposed to remov two small citrus trees for me. They got too big for the greenhouse. I moved them years ago. The lemon froze, the lime and orange didn't flourish.  I took a  hand saw and cut them down. It was hard for me, but I know my upper body is still weak. Jim walks every day, I walk with him every other day, and my strength and endurance has improved in my legs and back. For months and months, I would try the exercises given me and I would "over do" it and be back in pain. Suddenly, I seem to have turned a corner since the accident and I can now walk a brisk mile without great pain. When it hurts, by the next morning, the pain is gone.


Then I tackled a pretty big branch for my little hand saw and my shoulders and neck were telling me, "you'll be sorry!"  This is stuff for fire control and needs to be done.  This morning, I'm not sore enough to complain. My simple yoga every other morning has kept me toned,  but not enough to build muscle.  Now I feel confident I can do the therapeutic exercises I've been given and resume muscle-building tasks. I'm amazed at how the body refuted my efforts at various exercises until it was ready to heal. Now, let me see how well I do at chopping all this stuff up today.

SQUARE DANCING MEMORIES AND WORK DAY.

An old  friend of over 40 years is ailing. Anne Williiams'  husband, Fred,  was our square dance caller for 15 years in the 70's & 80's.  I spoke to Anne's caretaker, Tynna, and she told me all of the food was stolen from their refrigerator and freezer. Anne's house is in a remote location and they often don't lock up. Now she has a security system.

In the past, when I've gone to visit Anne,  Tynna would fix  lunch or tea and cookies. This time I brought lunch in the form of a couple  boxes of groceries.  Tynna is a former "Army Brat" and can do 80 push-ups, she told me. Anne uses a walker, but Tynna took  her to a square dance and Anne's face lit up and she danced  in her walker. Anne got so excited she called me while I was on the road. Her memory was pretty good on this visit.

When I told her I wanted to take a picture of them, Anne very neatly reached down to cover up the hole in Tynna's pants. "My go to church pants,"  Tynna joked.

Tynna calls Anne, mom, and hauls her everywhere in a small motor home she owns. They were at Lake Alpine earlier in the year and got snowed on. Anne wants to go to the beach. That is next on the agenda. They delivered some of Anne's  paperback books, (she had a bedroom full of paperbacks) to people displaced by the Rim Fire. I asked Anne if she is in any pain. She said no, but she doesn't like being helpless. She is fortunate to have Tynna for a caretaker. A leak in the roof? Tynna fixes it. A rough spot on the floor? Tynna fixes it. More important  is the stimulation she provides an old lady who gets to see everything within reasonable range rather than the limiting four walls of her house. (I visited last week.)

Yesterday was beautiful weather. Karen and I made up a batch of soil and re-potted some plants and put in a batch of succulents and herbs.

I hauled out the old sewing machine and did some mending late in the afternoon. I bought a new machine just before my husband died and now I can't figure out how to use it anymore.

Jim spent about five hours installing a whole house fan on the motor home. We also have a glass chip that was fixed in Texas  and is now beginning to spiderweb. The Glass Doctor said he couldn't fix it. We have another guy coming on Thursday who is  equipped for a special repair.

LAKE ALPINE, EBBETTS PASS.

Jim and I both have work to do. Me, at home, him on the Motor Home, but all work and no play is not a good idea. We decided to play on Sundays. He also goes “off the leash” as in off the diet. We drove up Ebbetts Pass to Lake Alpine. This view area is at the 6,000 foot elevation.


Granite boulders tossed like children’s toys give the eye some change from the mono-color of so much green at mid-day when pictures are kind of flat looking.


The many colors of green.


Aiming my lens far across the canyon to the opposite side where a touch of yellow resembles fire.


The hazy background made this tall sentinel evergreen stand out like a beacon.


And this moss backed old grandfather tree has personality. The pictures probably don’t do it justice but the views along Ebbetts Pass really make it a beautiful drive.


When we reached the lake, the water level was lower than I had ever seen it. Kind of scary. Everyone I talked to said the same. Jim had never been to Lake Alpine.


Couds and lack of sunshine make for some interesting contrasts.


If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see near the top of these huge granite boulders the permanent and low water lines.


A lone fisherman on the point.


Like these two women, we walked around and did some rock climbing. Something I wouldn’t have been able to do just three  months ago.


Jim really gets into his photography. That’s why his pictures are so good. He told me this morning he took them all in watercolor mode.


If I tried to plant a tree in my yard, from seed, where there is reasonable dirt and just ignored it, it wouldn’t grow.

A fisherman too far away for me to talk to. We drove to the opposite end of the lake. But look directly above his hat and you can just see the normal water line.


This couple is camped at the Lake. Tried fishing Saturday and gave up because it was too cold. They said they normally get browns and rainbows here. (Trout).


A tree that was determined to grow out from under a rock. The scenery and the fresh air, in the mountains is invigorating and gorgeous.


A touch of yellow among the pines. In the middle is a white pine that everyone around here likes best as a Christmas Tree.


It’s been about three years since I’ve driven up the pass. Beyond Lake Alpine, the summit is a over 8,000 feet.  I’ve passed this old cedar post cabin with the broken down rock walls numerous times and told Jim, I’m going to stop and take a picture of it before it disappears. It is shuttered and closed up tight for the year.  No telling how long it has been there. It was 41 degrees cold up the pass. It was nice to return home to a hot late lunch and a video.