All That the Rain Promises, and More......

Stout Grove in the redwoods after four days of heavy rain had many wonders to behold. This shaft of light in the deep woods was a real invitation to "come hither."

These certainly get your attention on the forest floor!

This Ramaria sp. gets to be quite large.

The lobster mushroom, Hypomyces lactifluorum, is really a Russula or Lactarius mushroom taken over by an opportunist.

There was a huge area just covered with these. They are some form of club fungi?

Witches' Hat, Hygrocybe conica, is a petite colorful specimen of the waxy caps.

Mushroom hunting,

Tall people

Are no good at it.

Yayu

Indian Shaker Church

The Tolowa Shakers believe in establishing a one on one contact with the Great I AM. One of the ways they do this is by the use of individual handbells.

Touched by the Tolowa-- Part One

We met part of the future. She was sleeping in a handmade basket her father had slept in 26 years before. Basketry is one of the tribal arts still being practiced today. Mary, the woman who made this basket, is gone now. The baby's uncle is putting the finishing touches on her very own...and quite a bit larger ...basket. he is wrapping the edges with spruce root.

The baby is two months old and her father remarked to us, that she does not "miss many meals." The basket maker is Loren Bammleyn. He combines teaching at Crescent City High School with being an active member of this very living indigenous group.

The grandfather in this family has built a special dance house on his property. On the Winter Solstice, December 21st, the father of the baby will dance in the World Renewal Ceremony. We knew about the Karuk doing this in August on the Klamath River. When we went to boatthe Klamath one year, we found the river "closed" for five days. What better reason to dance than to renew the world. Now we know the Tolowa will be dancing to renew the world on the Smith River and we are invited to join them. There are worlds existing within worlds if we have the eyes to see them. So many ways to be human..............

Touched by the Tolowa--Part Two

The Indian Shaker Church of Washington at Smith River

This sure looks like my Jerusalem Sage.....but it is orange and not yellow????

The road seems to run right into the ocean at Kellog beach.
Every wave brings new possibilites for agate hunters. The shell fragments that have been polished by the surf are each little works of art. The shapes of the stones are as intriguing as the colors and patterns they sport.

The weather was superb. Imagine almost 80 degrees in November! Kellog beach offers agates to those willing to search. The first woman we met leaving the beach showed us a huge agate. She said she had walked south for 45 minutes and all she got was the huge one and these few. The next gal we talked to kept only one of the ones she had found, and gave me the rest of them. How is it we keep meeting these "citizens of the universe?"

Write a Letter

A REAL letter...on REAL letter paper. The archival kind of paper you can only find in a junk store. Eaton deckle edged powder blue translucent loveliness caught my eye and imagination yesterday.

From a time before email was even a word in our common language, a coupon included in the virgin package let me know that for 10 cents I could receive a 32 page booklet on letter writing. I am to include my zone number ---- IF I have one. My dime is going in the mail today with the first of my letters.

When I get a letter, sometimes I brew a pot of coffee and savor the writing in my very favorite most comfy chair. Now let's see who else would enjoy getting mail???????????

Winchuck Water

Such a charming little coastal stream the Winchuck is! It has a life in miniature when compared to the Illinois, or Chetco, or Rogue.

Left home without my mushroom ID book! This was the most wonderful color....glowed from the inside out it seemed.

This road to Peavine Ridge quickly becomes a dark tunnel through a thick coastal redwood rain forest. Other than having a few pot holes....the road is good. Els and Karen found a good bunch of chantrelles up here near the Redwood trailhead a couple days ago.

Sunday Sunshine

The Illinois River Canyon was a good place to be today.

You needed to pay attention to the road surface as well as the riveting scenery.

Pearsol Peak had the first of this season's snow.

Breast Cancer Sitepage:

Linda sent these pictures and email tonight.

.....Blue skies.....from now on! Took my first walk in weeks with Kalmi this afternoon. What a treat.....slowly turning colors, butterflies,flowers, birds, and the biggest treat was a flock of about 30"crirdkkking" Sandhill Cranes flying south. What a neat sound to hear them talk. I feel the best I have in months, and just soaked it all up on this gorgeous day. Before I was too feverish or weak to get out. Now I am getting connected with Mother Earth again!! And she is glorious in New Mexico now.

page:

Linda is out of the woods! Her treatment for breast cancer allows her to resume her life of joy as a thriving, creative, productive woman. Some women cannot afford the mammogram that could save their lives. Click Every Day.

Another Dulcimer Birthday....

You can hear the voice of newest dulcimer.

Another Dulcimer Birthday....Part Two

She's "Back in the Wood," as Carole refers to one of the major passions of her life. There lives a new four string, deeper bodied model as of October 1st. The absolutely perfect join of the two pieces of the back showcases the natural grain in a gentle sunburst pattern.

The sound holes echo the voluptuous symetry of the body.

An amethyst stone found a home in the scroll

Every one of Carole's creations are one of a kind. Each one sings with it's own, very unique voice, determined by the tree of it's origin, and the shape and size of the body and the thickness of the wood....etc. It appears to me that being a luthier is as much an art, as it is a science.

Training

Training

Look who I saw on my way to town yesterday...

Running the Rock and Roll Marathon in Tucson means that a live band will be playing at every mile post of the 26. Mary did this marathon two years ago and is going to repeat the fun soon. Chris was riding with her today. Somedays Elwin is on the bike. Boy do I want to film the day the cowboy rides...........

Buckwheat Bonanza

We hear that Madelyn will have her Third Birthday celebration tomorrow. We were lucky enough to be invited to today's party. Bacon, scrambled eggs, and homemade salsa were on the menu as well as the bodacious buckwheat cakes.
Billie and Elwin made it a Two Can Event!

This chef weilds a spatula with the best of them.
Madelyn has now had her SECOND birthday celebration for this year. Elwin very kindly made buckwheat cakes for us all this morning at 8 AM. His friend Billie, a fine fiddler from Texas originally, helped him with the wing ding and then entertained us royally. Mary, always such a gracious hostess, used her most dramatic china: square red plates. Equisite red/purple roses from the garden graced the table also. The food and the company were splendid.



As soon as the dishes were done, Billie kicked off the music with this barn raiser.





Dancing before noon assures the celebrant a long and happy life.

Trash Dog Tribute

Els does believe that "IF YOU ARE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM." We have seen her stop and pick up garbage--if needed-- on almost every walk we have been on for years. Thank you Els. You remind us that we are able to make a difference in the world we will hand to our children ..... and their children.

A recent letter to the editor suggested that a drop off site in town would help keep people from going up into the hills with unwanted items and pushing them over a cliff. Part of the $30,000 grant money, could be used to set up a dumpster in town where people could drop off unwanted items for free or for a small fee. There also needs to be a serious education effort on recycling the excess of our grossly consuming lifestyles.

Ed Gross is a retired forest service person. He and Jerry Darbeyshire, also a retired USFS person, know the back roads of the area like their back yard. Harve Timeous completes the original group. Ed uses the computer to keep track of sites needing attention, and inform the "can do clean up crew," of important news. This is a rare version of the gentian and a lovely perk for those on this particular trip.

Can you imagine rounding a corner in our pristine watersheds......and seeing such an abomination?

Celebration of Accordians

What's better than one accordian?? Two accordians!

Five Butterfly Species....

Came to the Accordian Festival held at the East Fork Swimmin' Hole on the Illinois today. Some of the other locals arrived too -- to cement the folklore of what happens on the "Road to Pluto."